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50 Local Leaders (1)

By CRN Staff, CRN
March 04, 2005    3:00 PM ET

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

CONTINUED >>


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