It is often said that “competition improves the breed”—this is certainly true for value-added resellers (VARs). Although most VARs know what it takes to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment, there’s always room for improvement.

With a greater focus on customer loyalty and improved profit margins, the average VAR would benefit from embracing new strategies that offer better opportunities for themselves and the customers they offer their services to.

Out with the Old, In with the New

One way VARs can usher in the new year is by rethinking how they use information to generate profit margins. Spreadsheets featuring static pricing and inventory data can easily lead to uncomfortably narrow margins, while manual approval processes introduce time lags into the sales process itself.

These problems do have some workable solutions:

• Real-time pricing and inventory data allows VARs to have up-to-date information, allowing them to best maximize profit margins.
• Customer agreements offer a faster and easier method of gaining sales approvals, reducing the time between the quote and sale.

In the face of thinning profit margins and relentless competition, VARs can gain the upper hand by leveraging these improved processes. This not only adds value to the products and services they offer, but also grows their customer base.

Greater Collaboration Throughout

Typically, procurement and sales processes feature a number of moving parts that should be in sync with one another. Collaboration among all aspects of the operation puts everyone on the same page, giving VARs a clearer picture of the company’s financial and strategic outlook.

For example, a growing number of VARs are partnering with telecom agents to provide cloud services. By collaborating with telecom agents, VARs are able to provide an expanded portfolio of services beyond physical hardware, while maintaining existing relationships with their current clientele.

Exceeding Customer Expectations

When it comes to customer satisfaction, today’s VAR is held to a standard much higher than ever before. Nowadays, it has become especially important to gain customer trust and loyalty through a combination of speed, accuracy, and transparency.

An enhanced 360-degree view of the customer is necessary for building customer trust and confidence. Customer-oriented approaches toward the processes and tasks of the companies VARs deal with can minimize errors while ensuring successful quotes and order fulfillment.

As the year comes to a close, it’s important for VARs to understand how they can further improve their performance, especially in the face of tighter profit margins and the need for greater efficiency in procurement and consultation.