Channels Of The Future Breakfast With CMR

Computer Market ResearchThe Leader in Channel Data Management
How does Social Media Result in More Channel Revenue?
Presented by Mike Dubrall, the Gilwell Group, September 10, 2009
COMPUTER MARKET RESEARCH
Expertise in channel data channel management; allowing partners and manufacturers to make better sales, marketing, inventory management and financial decisions . CMR’s SaaS products include Co-op/MDF, Channel POS, Deal Registration. Special Pricing Authorization, Salesforce.com integration.
3545 Aero Court - Suite C - San Diego, CA. 92123 | Phone: 858-279-6668 | Fax: 858-279-6686 | Toll Free: 877-CMR-6661
www.computermarketresearch.com

Gilwell Group provides research, consulting, and enablement services to help organizations measure, manage, and improve partnership productivity through the use and understanding of next generation products and tools.
Michael DubrallManaging DirectorGilwell Group, LLC
Channels of the Future Research Service
(Vendor and Reseller surveys)
Social Media Education for Vendors and Channel Partners
Channels of the Future Consulting
(Community Development)
MIke Dubrall on LinkedIn
@MikeDubrall on Twitter

“I think social media has potential but I am not tuned into it enough to make good use of it.”
North American Reseller
Image Credit – Greg Verdino

Today’s Agenda
Social Media Today
Channel Marketing Programs
Solution Provider Sales Activities
Channels of the Future Research
How Resellers Are Using Social Media
Channel Top Ten
The Growing Importance of On-line Communities
Next Generation Partnering Strategies

Social Media is Really Big
The speed of acceptance for social media is staggering.
400 M social media users
75% of adults now use Social Media to connect with each other. Forrester
Crossing Over Into Business
Awareness Magazine 9/08

Entire Ecosystems have developed around the most popular sites
Twitterholic.com
CNN has more than1,000,000 followers
pwytter
50 Great Widgets For Your Blog40+ Tools For Google Calendar
SKYPE TOOLBOX: 50+ Enhancements for Skype
GMAIL TOOLBOX: 60+ Tools For Gmail

Companies Are Discovering That Social Media is Not Easy or Free
The issue of (IP) control is dominating the discussion
Few metrics in place / no easy way to calculate ROI
Its difficult to justify a concerted effort
Lots of “Horror Stories” and few company guidelines
Evangelists are framing the discussion from a market perspective – but the potential consequences of social media on the entire value chain are staggering (changing sales process, new analytics, different business models, streamlined communications)

Social Media Data Points
Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months
1.5 million pieces on content are posted on Facebook daily
25% of user searches end with user-generated content
1/6 college students are enrolled in an on-line curriculum
80% of Tweets come from mobile devices
Boston College stopped issuing email addresses to incoming students
78% of Wikipedia entries are not in English
There are 200 million blogs. Half are updated daily
70% of 18-34 year olds have watched television on the web
We no longer search for the news – the news finds us!

Social Media Implications
Social Media is not a passing fad, it is a more efficient way to communicate
The way customers get information and make purchase decisions is changing
Information flows almost unimpeded throughout the value chain and distribution channels
Industry and channel is experiencing a reset – not a pause
Social Media Today

Today’s Agenda
Social Media Today
Channel Top Ten

Distribution is Changing in Response to Web 2.0 Tools + Technologies

12
Channels of Distribution
Vendor-Developer
Distributor – Master VAR
Regional System Integrators
Agents
Specialty Resellers
DSF
OEM
GSI
On-Line Stores
Direct Marketers
Application Partners - Alliances
Vertical Solution Providers
Retail
Customers

Communications
Partner Management
Sales Management
Territory Management
Traditional Channel Growth Framework
Objectives
Partner Execution
Whole Product
Partner Marketing
Go-to-market Strategy
Infrastructure

New tools are appearing weekly.

Today’s Agenda
Social Media Today
Channel Top Ten

26
Channels of Distribution
Vendor-Developer
Distributor – Master VAR
Regional System Integrators
Agents
Specialty Resellers
DSF
OEM
GSI
On-Line Stores
Direct Marketers
Application Partners - Alliances
Vertical Solution Providers
Retail
Customers

The communication path is increasingly complicated (and automated)
Reseller
Vendor
End User
Distributor

Vendors are using social media to communicate directly with end users. How much do you fear that resellers are falling out of the loop?
0…..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..6…..7…..8…..9…..10
Not Afraid Very Afraid
4.8

The old way of selling
Buy contact lists and do mailings
Advertise anywhere: Google ads to billboards
Engage call centers and follow-up cold calls
Contact prospect and try to get an appointment
Start the sales process
QUALIFICATION
PROBLEM
IDENTIFICATION
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
PRESENTATION
NEGOTIATION
CLOSE
If channel partners (and vendors) ignore changes in customer purchasing behaviors, they risk their (and their vendors) business future. Social media is not going away!

The old way of selling
We used to say:
a satisfied customer tells three people
A dissatisfied customer tells 10
Now we know:
A satisfied customer tells hundreds of people
A dissatisfied customer tells millions

Today’s Agenda
Social Media Today
Channel Top Ten

Most resellers understand that on-line communities, business and social networking, blogs, on-line storefronts, and social media sites like Twitter are increasingly important ways to communicate with customers – but don’t have enough time or customer pressure to figure out the best ways to use social media.
Reseller employees (especially at growing resellers) regularly visit business networking sites like LinkedIn and commonly read blogs that pertain to their business or customers.
Vendors are taking advantage of new social media tools to build marketing relationships directly with end users, sometimes at the expense of their channel. (Cisco ASR 1000 Product Launch)

Resellers do not consider their web sites to be effective marketing tools. (Reseller on-line presence is an impediment to growth.)
Communication with customers is increasingly on-line. Over 40% of reseller salespeople are using mobile devices like Blackberry & iPhones to access the internet while doing business.
More than 30% of resellers are implementing on-line communities to improve communications and drive down support costs. (Most are doing it poorly!)
Resellers expect their major vendors to provide training and leadership on new ways to market their products over the Internet.

Outdated / Static reseller websites are an impediment to a healthy channel
Customers increasingly expect a credible on-line presence

Resellers that report revenue growth are significantly more active with social media than resellers that report no growth or revenue declines.

Today’s Agenda
Social Media Today
Channel Top Ten

Social Media Sites Where Resellers Congregate
Networking sites
LinkedIn - Plaxo
Branded On-line Communities
Google / Yahoo Groups
Meetups
Dual Presence Sites
MySpace
Facebook
Tactical Sites
SlideShare – Flickr
Issuu – Schribd
Podcast – Podcastalley
Experimental Sites
Twitter
Digg/Delicious/Stumbleupon
Training/Communication Sites
YouTube – Yahoo Video
SlideShare
Blogs

Channel Top Ten
LinkedIn
Blogs
On-Line Communities (Branded and Open)
Facebook
MySpace
YouTube
Twitter
Yahoo and Google Video
Tactical Sites (SlideShare, Issuu, Flickr, Stumbleupon, etc.)
Google

Flicker Posting photos for tech support and on-line use
EMC = 18,639 on Flickr Hewlett Packard = 43,507 Microsoft = 211,098

SlideShare

Podcast (Podcastalley)Posting podcasts for easier access

The world’s biggest on-line chat room

Twitter

Blogging for Information

LinkedIn Sales Prospecting
153 results for Dow Chemical, Vice President Sales
115 results for John Deere, Vice President Sales

LinkedIn Research

LinkedIn Services

What Resellers Are Doing (Or Should be Doing) On-line

What Resellers Should Be Doing
Planning for Change
Connect with vendors via social media
Evaluate and upgrade your on-line presence
Current web sites are an impediment to channel growth
Encourage employees to develop and use their on-line presence for business - WITH GUIDELINES
Find out where customers congregate on-line, identify them, and make contact with them
Create professional on-line communities for customers
Evaluate vendors and push for leadership and funding

Today’s Agenda
Social Media Today
Channel Top Ten

Branded On-line Communities Bring it all Together
Reduce Support Costs
Direct/Indirect Support Call deflection
Faster issue resolution and fewer escalations
Elimination of alternative support channels
Lower-cost support for multilingual customers, spike handling
Drive Marketing & Sales
Enhanced SEO and Word of Mouth Promotion
Reduced cost of acquiring prospect/customer information
Increased close rate and higher average order size
Accelerate Innovation
Decrease costs of gathering customer feedback
More efficient product and service launches
Better targeting of products and services
Faster Issue identification and resolution
Source: Lithium Technology

Branded On-line Community Systems

Tying Branded Communities Together
Getting content directly to
the existing installed base
Master Consol Distributing smart, non advertisial content such as blog posts, events, white papers, news, video clips to hundreds or thousands of partner community systems.
Like AdWords for“smart content”
With a distributionsystem that is
transparent and Channel aware
Partner communities
Allow selected vendors to syndicate content with
their customer community.
Reseller A Reseller B Reseller C Reseller D . . . . . . Reseller N
Customer Base
Customer Base
Customer Base
Customer Base
Customer Base

Today’s Agenda
Social Media Today
Channel Top Ten

Successful Strategies for Vendors
Don’t Dabble. Commit.
Adapt content to the medium
Identify/Recruit Super Users
Vendors need to lead their partners
Educate them to make them more productive
Find the best tools and make them available
Map end-user customers to social media usage
Map partner activity to social media usage
Drive resellers to the sites you choose
Fund development of web sites linked to an improved on-line reseller presence

Take Aways from Today
Social Media is not a passing fad, it is a more efficient way to communicate
The way customers get information and make purchase decisions is changing
Information flows almost unimpeded throughout the value chain and distribution channels
Customers, Resellers, and Vendors have many more ways to do business
Your on-line presence is now at least as important as your physical presence
On-line business activity is different than “face-to-face” or “voice-to-voice” business. Be careful.
There will be winners and losers in social media

Adapting to Change
What would you do if you weren't’ t afraid?

Thanks
For more information
Mike Dubrall
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedubrall
or
Channels of the Future group
3545 Aero Court - Suite C - San Diego, CA. 92123
Phone: 858-279-6668
Fax: 858-279-6686
Toll Free: 877-CMR-6661
www.computermarketresearch.com

Channels Of The Future Breakfast With CMR

by Gilwell Group, LLC on May 08, 2009

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