Direct Depravity

Over the past few years, vendors of all stripes have invested heavily in building hybrid models that include direct sales via the Web, and in the thousands and thousands of direct sales reps whose very livelihoods depend on winning business—even if it is business the vendor already owns via a channel partner.

Case in point: A solution provider spots an opportunity in a major enterprise account it has been working for several years. The partner alerts the vendor; a direct sales rep from the manufacturer gets involved in the deal and demands that the partner show value-add. The partner does the legwork. The vendor sales rep deems the value-add less than worthy, and the vendor takes the deal direct. Another case in point: A longtime account informs a solution provider that a vendor's direct sales rep has entered the account with a much better price. The customer takes the offer and runs with the cash savings.

These cases are real. And they are not unusual.

The point is, the hybrid model has destroyed what for years had been a high degree of loyalty between partner and vendor. Many channel chiefs now maintain that a hybrid sales model is a foregone conclusion. But not if you do the hard math. Vendors that take the test will find that each and every time, the channel is more economically efficient. Vendors, meanwhile, spend more time and money trying to fix the hybrid model than they do investing in the channel.

The final irony of the hybrid model is the wall Dell has hit as a result of its direct mantra. The fact is, the channel is doing a better job servicing clients in a solution-driven IT industry. Moreover, solution providers are taking the game to another level by transforming themselves into MSPs. The hybrid model is the very embodiment of the emperor's new clothes. The emperor is naked. But no one wants to tell him.

What kind of direct sales depravity do you see in the marketplace? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].