Many IT manufacturers fail to understand the business workings of their reseller channel, according to a survey released Monday.
Many of the manufacturers polled, for example, didn't know discount levels or growth rates of key business initiatives.
"We have to start realizing that resellers are techies who own the relationship with their SMB clients. For the most part they are NOT marketers or salespeople," said Robert Cohen, president of Integrated mar.com, in a statement. The firm published the study in conjunction with Channel Management International.
Mr. Cohen added the results of the survey suggested that sales and marketing efforts must be moved back to the manufacturers in order to "find ways to leverage the resellers' relationships in a much more automated fashion."
The survey polled a total of 252 resellers and manufacturers.
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