50 Local Leaders (1)

By CRN Staff

3:00 PM EST Fri. Mar. 04, 2005
From the March 07, 2005 issue of CRN

ACER AMERICA	WHO: MARK HILL Vice President, U.S. Sales WHY: Improved distribution policies and back-end rebate structures PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE HANDLED BY U.S. CHANNEL: 100% TOTAL NO. OF PARTNERS: During 3Q 2004, 7,200 VARs bought and sold Acer products in the U.S. ELITE PARTNERS: No tiered program NO. OF U.S. CHANNEL EMPLOYEES: 10 in channel marketing ADVICE TO ANOTHER CHANNEL EXECUTIVE: 'Keep it simple and maintain absolute channel integrity. It's a very simple mantra but one which is not always easy to follow. The channel has a long memory' BIGGEST MISJUDGEMENT/LESSON LEARNED: It's not always the money spent on MDF that brings the best results REPORTS TO: Rudi Schmidleithner, President, Acer Pan-Am
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES	WHO: GARY BIXLER Senior Manager, North America Channel Marketing WHY: Created Peak Performer Club, which rewards partners for reaching quarterly sales targets. PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE HANDLED BY U.S. CHANNEL: More than 50% of North American sales in first 3 quarters of 2004 TOTAL NO. OF PARTNERS: More than 10,000 in North America ELITE PARTNERS: 200 Gold and Platinum, which generate 60% of channel revenue NO. OF U.S. CHANNEL EMPLOYEES: 50 in North America ADVICE TO ANOTHER CHANNEL EXECUTIVE: ‘A happy, successful partner is one of your best marketing tools. Getting them in front of other potential partners and customers should be a top priority and then let their testimonials take over from there.’ BIGGEST MISJUDGEMENT/LESSON LEARNED: Underestimated the power of getting evaluation units into the hands of the channel. REPORTS TO: Robert Stead, Director, Worldwide Regional Marketing
ALTIRIS	WHO: ROB WELLMAN Vice President, Strategic Alliance Sales WHY: Provided a Web-based opportunity registration system. PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE HANDLED BY U.S. CHANNEL: 85% of all revenue TOTAL NO. OF PARTNERS: 517 ELITE PARTNERS: 4 strategic alliances with top-tier OEMs NO. OF U.S. CHANNEL EMPLOYEES: 284 sales and marketing employees ADVICE TO ANOTHER CHANNEL EXECUTIVE: 'Partnership is not just a press release. In other words, there is a difference between partnering as a core business strategy and having a partner page on your Web site.’ BIGGEST MISJUDGEMENT/LESSON LEARNED: Some of our regional business partners got lost in the pond while the company was focusing on larger relationships. REPORTS TO: Greg Butterfield President, CEO
AMERICAN POWER CONVERSION	WHO: PETER KLANIAN North American Director, Partners and SMB WHY: Provided APC’s Mobile Availability Center (a truck with InfrastruXure demo units) for customer education events. PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE HANDLED BY U.S. CHANNEL: 98% worldwide TOTAL NO. OF PARTNERS: 20,000 ELITE PARTNERS: Top tiers account for 25% of channel revenue in the U.S NO. OF U.S. CHANNEL EMPLOYEES: 100 ADVICE TO ANOTHER CHANNEL EXECUTIVE: '‘Stay in front of your partners. You cannot shape your programs and drive your sales team to support partners unless you understand what is happening in the field firsthand.’ BIGGEST MISJUDGEMENT/LESSON LEARNED: Thinking one program could fit all our partners. REPORTS TO: Ed Bednarcik, Vice President, Global Sales
AUTODESK	WHO: STEVE BLUM Vice President, Americas Sales WHY: Added Channel Growth Funds to help partners evolve into value-based business model. PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE HANDLED BY U.S. CHANNEL: 80% worldwide TOTAL NO. OF PARTNERS: 150, which represents a decline ELITE PARTNERS: 80% of channel revenue comes from top partner tier NO. OF U.S. CHANNEL EMPLOYEES: 50 to 60 ADVICE TO ANOTHER CHANNEL EXECUTIVE: '‘Growth in vendor revenues comes through growth in margin dollars for channel partners.’ BIGGEST MISJUDGEMENT/LESSON LEARNED: The complexity of what’s involved in getting a program off the ground. REPORTS TO: Ken Bado Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales

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