Direct Sales Scares

The tale of dimwitted deal grabbing: A solution provider sales rep has been working for months on a prospect only to have his legs cut out from under him by a direct sales rep who gets wind of the discussion and offers a price far, far below what the partner could get from a distributor or the vendor itself. The kicker: So-called channel-friendly management refuses to wage a fight for the VAR with so much as a whisper.

STEVE BURKE

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Can be reached at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].

The commission-theft case: What about the direct telesales rep who has the audacity to change an agent commission filed by a customer, knocking out a partner that has built a trusted client relationship? We&ve heard stories of these zombie direct sales reps passing deals off to favored partners or making complete end runs around solution providers to steal the deals.

The short-memory mystery: How about the vendor that, upon losing a rep, immediately sends in a direct sales SWAT team to grab all prospects in the pipeline regardless of the once-tight sales rep-solution provider field engagement that may previously have existed?

The disloyalty dilemma: How about the many solution providers that have brought a channel-indifferent vendor to the table, only to have that vendor&s direct sales force bid to take the deal direct? In this case, there&s a happy ending when the vendor is foiled by the customer, who has a long-established relationship with the solution provider.

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The “on your own” crisis: How about the vendor that ignores a VAR&s repeated e-mails and cries for sales support on a multimillion-dollar prospect? Even more horrifying: The deal is won by a longtime direct sales rival of the vendor that ends up laughing all the way to the bank.

The “don&t ask, don&t tell” scare: The oldest horror story in the book is the case of the disgusted solution provider that complains publicly or even privately about a vendor via e-mails only to find itself threatened with termination from the channel program.

In the spirit of exposing vendor horror shows, send your favorite tales from the sales crypt to [email protected]—with or without vendor names. We&ll print the best ones.

STEVEN BURKE is a bona-fide champion of the bread-and-butter VAR. You can contact him at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].