Sometimes my not-so-lofty thoughts strike a nerve out there.  This time I struck a number of nerves.  I’ve had several comments to my last blogs (take a look at them) discussing the need for resellers to learn how to consultative sell but each of the comments only sees a part of a quite complex issue. 

One comment decried the use of the word “reseller”, saying that UC requires so much more than just “reselling” or “selling” the products.  While I heartily agree with this, the challenge is providing a term that everyone in the industry will understand.  I’ve tried describing the group as telecom dealers/VARs/SIs but that’s pretty darn cumbersome.  I’ve tried calling them “solutions integrators” but no one in the industry recognizes the term, hence they have no idea who I’m talking about.  A group that I managed several years ago – the CT Pioneers – came up with the term “convergence integrators”, which I still think is a great term to describe the telecom dealers, VARs and systems integrators who are now providing converged voice, data, and video solutions – but the UC people take exception to the term “converged” as being outdated.  Out of desperation – and lacking in creativity – I fell back on the term “resellers”, which everyone in the industry seems to understand, even if it does fall waaaaay short of what is actually being provided by this group.  Any suggestions? 

Another comment talked about the role of the vendors in providing “sales training” which in fact is really just product training (features and benefits).  I heartily agree with the person making the comment that the vendors have done a great disservice to unwitting resellers who think they’re actually getting sales training for their sales staff!  In point of fact, the vendors themselves, with their “sales training”, have contributed significantly to the inability of most resellers to really “sell” solutions and address customers’ business needs.  And resellers aren’t the only ones who have paid the price – so have the vendors themselves.  In one of my white papers, “Survival of the Fittest”, I talk about what vendors can do for their resellers to aid in the transition from low-margin product selling to higher margin consultative selling. 

And yet another comment, from a distributor, talked about how they are working to get their resellers to begin “consultative selling”.  Kudos to that distributor (wish I knew who they are)!  However – and of course there’s always a “however” – in reality the answer isn’t as simple as getting resellers to start using the consultative selling approach.  Consultative selling requires a change in the mindset of and a commitment from everyone in a reseller organization – from the CEO/owner to the technicians.  In another of my white papers, I talk about the changes that a reseller business has to make to compete in UC, and many of the changes are associated with consultative selling.  It requires an investment in “real” sales training from a third party organization.  It means taking sales people out of their comfort zone.  It means that the technical team has to be able to take the “business needs/problems” that the salesperson identifies and “translate” them into solutions based upon technology.  It’s just not simple – but the rewards are well worth it!  Ask the few resellers who have made the financial and training investments in switching to consultative selling and they’ll all tell you it has made a big difference in the growth and profitability of their company.  And by the way, consultative selling is not just for UC – it works just as well for selling straight data or telecom.  I know – I’ve done it!

Tags: Unified Communications Information //