Arecont Vision Declares: "We Don't Have A Partner Program"
By: John Honovich, Published on Mar 17, 2015Login to read this IPVM report.
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Comments (25)
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Why invest in this product line when there's no commitment on their part.
Protecting partners after the fact is a non-starter.
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Paul Haake
Having been in IT VAR space for many years, I prefer this model. I DO NOT like certain camera vendors that only give next tier project pricing. I don't believe that some Platinum partner that has done NOTHING in a deal should be able to come in and beat me just because they are a platinum partner. I believe any deal I work is mine - and some large integrator shouldn't be able to swoop me (athough we all know the large integrators will just blow the install anyway).
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Josh Penfold
All partner programs that deal with tiered pricing do is make a huge mess. Companies with huge discounts will sell on Amazon or ebay and then other partners will buy cross channel while saving money over distribution. The idea of protection brand value and reseller loyalty is a sham at best.
On a side note though, I have always thought project registration was illegal when used for any kind of state or federal project. Its basically telling the first company to register that as long as you bid at the cost the other companies pay in hardware then they cant undercut you and is in effect rigging the bid.
For the Most part many manufacturers have no clue on how to run an effective sales channel, and if i had the backing I am sure I could rake in the $$ doing channel consulting. I see blantant illegal programs, ones designed to punish authorized dealers more then unauthorized, and the list goes on.
Only way to have a partner program is to segment by type of reseller, comrehensive MDF and marketing programs to support dealers and customers, detailed POS reporting, and a fairly balanced omnichannel approach if taken.
Sales managers at these companies should not be designing the programs. I have seen companies doing multimillion in sales yearly trusting their channels to people I wouldnt trust watching my 4 year old.
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Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
We have a partner program that utilizes the project registration discounts. It works very well for us. The amount of discount or percentage is based on the partners level in the program. We also protect the integrator for 90 days so another integrator does not come and steal the business away. This works very well for us and we have a lot of loyal dealers who like the program There is a caveat though all projects must a meet a minimum 15k dollar amount in order to qualify for a project registration The amount is based on distributor pricing since all project pricing gets passed thru our distribution channel
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Josh Penfold
I really do not feel those types of programs are good for the industry. Protecting a dealer who may not be the best fit, best qualified,and may not be the customers choice seems to harm the market. Though many want to deny it, any business becomes a commodity at some point and profits fall, that is what drives innovation. Anything that works to preserve the "old ways" only makes the opportunity for market disruption to happen. The security industry is in a profitd ecline for both cctv and physical security as it becomes easier for end users to diy, internal company staffs do installs, and prices drop. It happened in IT and many markets before it. We have a healthy business and serve customers nationwide, do remote installs, hardware sales and I am sure steal projects away from local companies. We just do it very well, know the products we use, and have a business model that is much more effecient then many traditional companies. Its not a wrong model, its just one of the new ways you have to do business to succeed.
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Jay Frezell
I am biased because I represent Arecont, however I would like to point out a couple quick things.
1. The deal registration is typically much more than 5%. (as stated in the story) Depending on the opportunity, effort and communication with the Integrator/Distributor and Arecont the enhanced pricing can be very significant.
2. The first one to respond to a tender does not always get the registration! No registration is offered without the regional rep and regional sales manager being consulted. In fact most registrations are done long before a job hits the street because the integrator and regional Arecont sales staff have been working in conjunction. Done in this fashion the support and registration are significant.
I know Arecont's system is not perfect, but the intention is to truly reward the integrator and/or distributor who does the product positioning work. This typically drives good two way support and communication with the local rep, creating a great partnership....and in the end that is what matters.
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Jason Spielfogel
Errrr, let's not pretend that project registration for special pricing is something Arecont came up with. Almost every manufacturer, including the ones who have partner programs, also have project registration pricing.
12 years ago at GE Security we had discounts for project registration, discounts for using multiple components of the offer (System Discount), and then tiered value-adds and rebates for higher volume partners. Literally every company in this space I've worked for has had some sort of combined program for partners and project registration.
Arecont didn't invent anything new with project registration, and doing discounts for such isn't a "this or that" pricing strategy as their response may imply.
However, what a partner program does require is internal resources to manage it. It requires a solid team of marketing and sales leadership to plan, implement, police and reinforce a partner program. If Arecont chooses not to use their resources for such programs (or lacks the resources to do so) then doing a partner program for them is probably not a good idea, and project registration would be the far simpler approach.
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John Honovich
Update: Arecont has announced the project registration can now be done online.
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