D&H Distributing Targets Education, Training at 2018 Conferences

D&H Distributing is putting the spotlight on education and training at its upcoming conferences, and taking the central focus off of sales – as was done in the past – the distributor announced Wednesday.

For the approximately 400 partners attending the upcoming D&H Technology Conference: West Coast event, March 22, they can expect a revamped educational training format that features a new, revolving schedule of seminar sessions.

D&H Distributing’s Mary Campbell

“We’ve found in recent years that customers were gaining more benefit from the education elements of the show than they could ever get from simple price discounts or sales opportunities,” said Mary Campbell, vice president of marketing at D&H. “Therefore, knowledge, training and customer input [have] become tantamount to our trade-show offering. We’re happy to engage our customers more through these venues, providing the opportunity for two-way feedback and education.”

In a recent interview with Channel Partners, Dan Schwab, co-president of D&H, told us that one of the company’s three top changes happening at the small-business distribution operation was a focus on education and training. In fact, D&H put the focus on education and training at its 2017 Fall Mid-Atlantic tech conference. The other two top changes are its commitment to and investment in all things SMB, and hiring more salespeople who focus on the small-business reseller.

As the D&H conference evolves, the distributor continues to strive to provide a resource that best helps partners navigate market changes and supply the tools to help them succeed. To this end, D&H is offering conference attendees a more flexible schedule of seminar sessions.

The new format provides a more convenient, customizable roster of learning opportunities to better accommodate attendee schedules. Vendors scheduled to present include Microsoft, Intel, HP, Lenovo and Cisco, while more than 60 D&H vendor partners will be present on the show floor.

Attendees also have the opportunity to visit with D&H services, support and sales teams to learn more about the distributor’s partner enablement and sales resources, such as the Partner Services Marketing program, digital-signage solutions, financial services and refurbished products. The event will also feature a D&H Cloud Solutions booth, spotlighting a roster of the company’s cloud partner vendors such as Webroot, Dropsuite, and Intermedia — three vendors that are making their debut at the West Coast conference.

There will also be a day-long series of engagement activities, including D&H’s VAR track program and a meeting of its K-12 Advisory Board. These sessions gather a selection of resellers together to solicit input and real-world feedback on what specific challenges and requirements D&H customers are experiencing in the field, the company said.