Stegner: Synnex VAR Community Will Be Different

"The intention of Synnex is not to have just another customer community. There are some great ones out there now. There's no sense in just adding another one. It's gotta have its differences. That allows a reseller to determine which customer community is the best fit," said Stegner, Synnex's senior vice president of senior vice president of marketing, North America.

For one, he expects to cap VARnex at about 200 members, less than half of VentureTech's total. Second, he plans to offer some unique Synnex services to solution provider members, services that many VARs may not know exist today, he said.

"Since joining Synnex , I've been saying 'I didn't know we did that' a lot. One of our tag lines is 'More than just a broadline distributor.' A lot of people, including myself, did not fully understand that. There are some things that we can do that I was not inclined to do in another group," he said.

For example, Synnex's Concentrix group has 3,000 employees in the U.S., The Philippines and China focused on business process outsourcing services that can be better utilized by solution providers, he said.

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"I'm not big on outsourcing, but I am big on utilizing the same company," Stegner said. "That gives me more control. Each individual VAR has a separate pain point: it can be receivables, payables, purchasing. If you're having issues in one of those areas, I can do that. That's a big plus, to be able to utilize my own company to do that."

Last month, Stegner held an introductory meeting for about 100 solution providers about VARnex. Feedback from that event will help shape its direction, he said. Synnex plans to hold two regional events for new members in the second quarter, followed by a national meeting in the fall of 2008, he said.

VARnex's recruitment efforts are focused on key customers currently buying from Synnex and not on poaching members from VentureTech or TechSelect, Stegner said. However, he pointed out that some of those big Synnex customers could belong to other communities now.

"It's a customer loyalty program, not a stealing a customer program. In order to have a successful program, [members] have to find value in your program, and see if it's a good fit for their business. The important thing is to put offerings together that reach across different customer sets," he said.

When he led Ingram's VentureTech Network, Stegner was a firm believer in loyalty. At one point, he pared the group's membership after finding that a number of members were buying more products from competitors. The move caused a furor at the time, but remaining members later admitted it made the group stronger.

"I've never been a believer of belonging to three country clubs. You pick the best fit for your needs and that's the one you participate in," he said. "If we do this correctly, and offer the resellers programs to help them grow their business, we won't need to sell them on the commitment."

The program will be heavy on midsize solution providers, but it's important to have smaller companies to, he said. In addition, VARnex will look for members specializing in technology areas and vertical markets, he said.

"If I have a vendor with a great offering say in the medical field, I can drive that down to a doctor's office, or a hospital utilizing the reseller. I want to draw on that," he said.