David Bromwich, Specialist in IT & Telecommunications Sales at Hays, shares his thoughts on the result of the 2012 ‘What Channels Need To Succeed’ Survey by The Channel Partnership. An expert in all aspects of the IT & Telecommunications sales markets, he would be happy to hear from anyone interested in this post by email or on LinkedIn
The 2012 ‘What Channels Need To Succeed’ Survey asked 250 participants, working across a mix of managerial and front-line sales roles in the technology and telecoms industries, a range of questions regarding their relationships with vendors and how these could be improved. There are some interesting findings in the results, which suggest that while most VARs are relatively happy with their vendors, there is some clear room for improvement in a number of areas, often reflecting changes in the approach to sales more widely.
A key trend that appears in the results is a desire to have a greater understanding of the commercial value of both the products offered by vendors and the insights trends surrounding the product, including market trends, competitor activity and customer needs. Training on products and technology were seen as the most highly valued support features from vendors (51.2%), with training on skills and competencies following closely (46.4%). Commercial insight and more training were both seen as having a high impact on increasing sales, beaten only by brand awareness.
Furthermore, lack of effective training on products and services was frequently listed as a frustration (22.6%). This shows the importance of training for VARS and suggests that, while a number of vendors are providing this support, there is still room for improvement. This is further highlighted by the fact that 52.4% of participants rated their vendor’s support as good and 35.7% rated it as satisfactory, with only 8% rating it as excellent. While the majority of vendors are not performing badly, it does appear that there is plenty of room for improvement.
These results are not surprising, considering the wider changes that have taken place in the sales industry recently. The end user now has much greater access to the features and pricing on products than was previously available. They do not need salespeople who will only reel off a list of features before launching into price negotiations. As part of the wider culture of solutions selling, VARs need to be able to explain how the product will make life easier for the end user and the value it will bring to them. Vendors need to support VARs in this.
What more could vendors do to support VARs in the changing marketplace?



Jonathan Davies, Specialist in IT Outsourcing Sales at Hays, shares his thoughts on for common objections an outsourcing salesperson may face. An expert in all aspects of the IT outsourcing sales markets, he would be happy to hear from anyone interested in this post by email or on LinkedIn.
According to a study conducted by PerDM, outsourcing is currently a growing trend as companies look at ways to cut costs. However, despite the current popularity of outsourcing companies, it is important for salespeople to be aware of potential objections they may face and think about how to deal with them. By thinking about objections a client may raise, you can plan and prepare for how you will deal with them, which may make the difference between winning and losing a sale.
Below are 10 common objections that a client may raise regarding outsourcing:
1. “We’re worried about additional costs that might come up.”
2. “You won’t be able to dedicate enough time to us.”
3. “An internal person would be more familiar with our network and systems.”
4. “We won’t be able to build up a good relationship with an external engineer.”
5. “We’re worried about security risks.”
6. “If something goes wrong, our workers will be unproductive until you have time to resolve it.”
7. “Will you prioritise clients who pay more over us?”
8. “We don’t want to harm morale in other departments.”
9. “We’re worried this will disrupt continuity in our internal processes.”
10. “We don’t want to lose control over the workings of our company.”

Which of these are the biggest objections to your service? How would you respond to them?



Many businesses struggle to hire the best salespeople for their company, which can quickly become an expensive mistake. It can take about three months to hire a salesperson, three months to train them and six months to identify and remove them if they are underperforming. This means there will probably be over a year in which your company is not making the sales it should be, making it extremely important to get it right first time.
The reason for this is often that the company is not looking in the right places or for the right kind of person. Hiring salespeople is different from making hires for other positions. There are many factors that are difficult to quantify, with personality and cultural fit often being more important than knowledge or experience. While the latter qualities are of course desirable in candidates, they are generally things that people can be trained in, whereas the former are not.
For this reason, it is important to consider a number of soft skills, such as determination, listening skills, passion, motivation, rapport, confidence and commitment. Many of these factors are difficult to assess in a short face-to-face interview, which is why at Hays Sales, our consultants take the time to get to know our candidates as well as our clients, so that they can always make the best recommendations for both parties.
Hays Sales are experts at identifying talent and work closely with both clients and candidates to understand your individual hiring requirements. To find out more about how our expert consultants can help you, please visit http://www.hays.co.uk/sales



We have recently released our annual overview and salary guide for the sales market, which covers all our specialist sectors in depth, including FMCG, Energy & Oil, Construction, IT & Telecoms, Media & Communication and Manufacturing. Interestingly, the report shows that despite the ongoing challenges presented by the global economy, companies continue to invest in their sales force as they look to increase their market share.
The technology market is performing particularly well, as companies look to recruit technically astute members of the sales team to expand revenue streams in new products and technical advances. This is leading to high levels of competition for the top talent, with counter-offers often 15-20% higher than a candidate’s current salary. Cloud computing in particular has played a large role in this growth and candidates with knowledge and experience of selling cloud computing solutions are extremely highly sought-after.
The survey also provides detailed information about bonuses and commission received by salespeople, how happy sales people are in their current roles and how companies can recruit and retain the top talent.
To view the report in full, please click here.
To find out how our expert consultants can help you to find your next job or find the perfect candidate, please click here.


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