Toshiba Mulls VAR Perks

One of those changes would be to increase the money awarded to Toshiba-certified Platinum solution providers. Lumpkin declined to reveal the amount of the increase, but said some of the compensation would be tied to customer-satisfaction ratings.

Lumpkin also acknowledged what solution providers have been saying for several years: Toshiba&'s partner compensation rates are among the lowest in the notebook market.

“People are talking about our reimbursement level being pretty low compared to the industry standard,” said Lumpkin, a former Ingram Micro executive who has been with Toshiba for about three months.

Dan Hogan, vice president at DSR, an Elkridge, Md.-based solution provider, said a change in Toshiba&'s compensation would help increase profits. Hogan noted that five years ago Toshiba was one of the leaders in service compensation at $100 per incident, but the vendor has since cut that rate to $55. “It would be nice if they came out and put themselves back at the top,” Hogan said.

At the same time, Toshiba is considering increasing rebates and incentives for product sales, according to Lumpkin. Among the ideas being discussed are rebates for Silver-level providers—Toshiba&'s lowest level—for bringing in new customers. Currently, those partners are ineligible for rebates. Toshiba also is contemplating increasing payments to Gold partners. Lumpkin said Toshiba&'s QuickStart program, which offers a limited 5 percent rebate to new partners, has helped the notebook maker lure new solution providers to its program, and he is looking for ways to enhance it.