New Agent Model An Opportunity For PC Connection And You

The reasons are many, but the biggest obstacle is that solution providers understandably are not comfortable with giving up their clients' names to a supplier that not only wants to sell more product direct, but often has a service organization as well.

But there is a place where I believe the agent model could work if built, marketed and executed properly. There is also a company that I believe has the best chance of selling such a model--PC Connection, the New Hampshire-based e-tailer whose branding signs are so visible inside the ballpark of the best team in Major League Baseball, the Boston Red Sox.

The e-tailers--which incorrectly call themselves direct marketers and also include behemoths CDW and Insight as well as a number of smaller players--may be the place where agent models could work. The reason? Their core competencies are price and delivery to small and midsize businesses. Their customers often want a single supplier to obtain not only product but also service and support.

But we all know that providing service and support to small and midsize businesses isn't so easy.

CDW and Insight push their service offerings more so than PC Connection, which ranks third in size among the three. Many solution providers are concerned that CDW, with its price advantage, is a major threat. Insight is in the same boat. And both have bigger service organizations than PC Connection.

Smaller e-tailers, many of whom are regional, don't have the firepower to spend the type of resources necessary to make an agent model work. PC Connection just might be the best positioned because it is less threatening to solution providers yet is still large enough to make an impact.

If PC Connection were to introduce a program whereby VARs provided services to small and midsize clients buying from PC Connection, we just might see a partnership that could work for a large number of solution providers that don't much care about taking title to product. We all know that title-taking or not, VARs can and do influence not only what is purchased but also where it is purchased.

If PC Connection were to offer a small commission to VAR partners that send business its way, manufacturers might be able to play as well. Manufacturer agent programs don't work well because of the potential-to-steal-the-service-business fear factor. PC Connection would have to make it clear that it is not after that business. Manufacturers might consider running agent programs through PC Connection, which--with the right type of marketing to solution providers--could position itself as a product outlet to end users that want to leverage the service capabilities of VARs.

Vendor contracts with the e-tailers loosely prohibit resale of product to VARs, which this model does not violate. Distributors, of course, cannot sell to end users or they would risk losing their VAR customers. The distributors do supply the e-tailers, which are part of the indirect channel.

No doubt there are lots of details that need to be worked out. But this model would be a way for e-tailers to leverage the solution provider channel to drive their own business without violating their vendor contracts. It wouldn't be easy, but worthwhile business ventures rarely are, and PC Connection might be in the best position to pull it off. Co-founders Patricia Gallup and David Hall picked the right baseball team, why not the right agent model as well?

Make something happen. I can be reached at (516) 562-7812 or via e-mail at [email protected].