by Linda Hartman

At the end of every year vendors such as Sun, IBM, HP, etc… put millions, yes millions, of unused dollars for channel market development funds to the bottom line. The vendors would rather see their VAR channel using the funds to grow their business.

I can hear the groans from the audience as I type... "Getting these funds are too difficult."  "There are too many rules about eligible expenses" (i.e. they won’t approve golf tournaments).  These are common, and in some cases, valid complaints.  But a well-formulated, long range reseller marketing plan and great communication can help a VAR business of any size get more than their unfair share of marketing dollars.
These are some required steps:

• Clearly state your goals
• Example: Expand deep into my current customer base

• Try to encompass your supplier partner’s needs 
• Example: Expand deeper into current customer through a  storage solution offering

• Create an integrated campaign that involves your vendor partner at some point
• Example: A multi-touch email campaign with an offer for response,  leading to a live in-person event, that will be followed up by a sales call

• Create a sales follow up plan with expected number of leads, the time it will take to cultivate those leads and the expected revenue from those that are closed.  Then follow through on the plan.

  With this kind of pre-planning, most of the detail that suppliers will ask for on their submission forms is done! Vendor partners are looking for revenue and those that can create well-thought-out, executable sales and marketing strategies will be the ones who get the largest piece of the pie!