Fastest Of The Fast Growth VARs Share Their Secrets

Growing your business in the past year's economic climate was no mean feat, and the three VARs atop the 2009 CRN Fast Growth list certainly aren't run-of-the-mill companies. All three were on hand Wednesday to share some of their strategies for success with peers at the CRN Fast Growth Conference in San Francisco.

Perhaps unsurprisingly in a year of increased government spending, two public-sector-focused VARs were Nos. 2 and 3 on the list -- FedStore, based in Rockville, Md., enjoyed 2,681 percent growth in 2009, and Vienna, Va.-based MicroTech, grew by 693 percent.

But the No. 1 spot belonged to BlueWater Communications Group, a New York-based VAR that plays squarely in the private sector. BlueWater grew a whopping 3,605 percent over the past year, thanks to what CEO Bob Cagnazzi described as a commitment to delivering Fortune 500-quality IT solutions to midmarket customers.

Cagnazzi, Andrew Cayouette, vice president of sales and a principal at FedStore, and Tony Jimenez, president and CEO of MicroTech, shared the stage for a panel discussion at Wednesday's CRN Fast Growth event with Robert C. DeMarzo, Everything Channel senior vice president and editorial director. Here's what they talked about:

On A "Secret Sauce" For Success

"We built a team that would add real business value for our customers, not just technical execution," said Cagnazzi of BlueWater. "We've been fortunate that we've been able to deliver business process value to the customer. In essence we tell a customer, it's our job to take their current IT environment and turn it into a business value for them."

On The Value Of Strong Marketing

"I think we're phenomenal at marketing," said MicroTech's Jimenez, whose company sponsors the undefeated UFC fighter Cain Velasquez and several other mixed martial arts stars. "We don't ever want to go into a fight without somebody knowing who we are."

On Compensation And Talent Acquisition

"We've found you really get what you pay for in this business when it comes to salespeople," said FedStore's Cayouette. "So we pay for it up front, but with a commission structure as well. And there are accelerators we've built on to the top of that structure, but nothing too complicated. We've also found that it's better to take on experienced individuals rather than to try to groom salespeople from the ground up."

On How Long The Rise In Federal, State And Local Government Spending Will Last

"For as long as we pay our taxes," said Jimenez.

On Areas To Invest In For The Coming Year

"We're continuing to make investments in the unified communications space," said Cagnazzi. "The business value of that technology hasn't been as good as maybe it's been advertised, but we're on the cusp of that happening. We're also investing in video services and virtualization, as well as Hardware-as-a-Service."

On The Proper Business Philosophy

"I have a lot of people who work for me who believe in the product we sell. Because if they truly believe in it 100 percent, they can sell it with their heart," said Jimenez. "So for motivation, there's such a thing as positive reinforcement, but there's also negative reinforcement. I live in fear of some guy across the room pointing at me and saying, 'That guy completely failed on something he sold to me.' "