Niel Nickolaisen, CIO and Director of Strategy Planning, Headwaters Inc.

By Timothy Long, CRN
November 21, 2008 12:00 PM ET

There's one very important reason Niel Nickolaisen, the only end user on the 2008 CRN Top 25 list, is on our roster of executives who've had a real impact on the channel this year, and it is this: He reminds us all of the basic reason for the very existence of any VAR or solution provider--to provide a value-added service to a customer.

Nickolaisen, who's CIO and director of strategic planning for Headwaters, Inc., knows the true value of the channel and he's embraced a number of VARs as trusted advisors. But he wants more. And he's the kind of customer everyone in the channel should pay attention to.

"The channel needs to do a better job of listening," says Nickolaisen. He describes a recent cold call he received from a VAR who started out the conversation asking, 'How do you handle data?' Nickolaisen said he didn't give that VAR the time of day. "I don't have time for a canned pitch."

Besides, he's already got a stable of channel partners, and some of these relationships go back a decade. The one thing they all share? "They listened before they pitched me."

It can't be more clearly stated.

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