Adapting to the Next Normal With a Solutions-Based Mindset

By Brandon Williams

Brandon Williams

As the traditional workplace shifts to a remote setting where employees increasingly work from home, companies need mobile technology that allows them to capitalize on the next frontier of work while still maintaining their bottom line.

Because many companies must now manage a disparate workforce, the deployment, use and security of their mobile devices has become as big a part of the buying decision as the devices themselves – sometimes even bigger. This is driving a need for reseller partners and technology vendors to have deeper conversations with customers about the solutions – not just hardware – they provide.

To adapt to this shift in customer buying behaviors, resellers will need to adapt their strategies as well. From providing training and troubleshooting to financial programs and marketing strategies, technology vendors can help resellers adopt a solutions-based sales approach to help customers maintain their business relationships and profitability in both the near and long-term.

Enhanced Training and Support

Since many workers are no longer bound to desktop computers within offices, companies are increasingly deploying mobile devices to support their workforce. When choosing these devices, battery life, wireless performance and faster processing are often key considerations — something that hasn’t changed with the shift to remote work. However, in addition to these features, companies need secure mobile solutions and the ability to efficiently manage a larger fleet of remote devices.

With customers demanding more than hardware, resellers must shift their approach and mindset. Vendors can train resellers on how to have conversations with customers about their specific pain points, and help them incorporate the right services into a sale to address those pain points. Connecting partners with software providers is an important element as it allows them to provide a more comprehensive offering to customers. For example, understanding what security requirements are needed for a customer to comply with their industry’s standards can help resellers guide customers to a solution that directly incorporates the specific requirements. By asking a broader range of questions, resellers can easily expand a sale well beyond the device to a complete package to the customer. This leads to increased partner profitability and a happier customer who did not have to work with several vendors to find a complete solution that fit its employees’ needs. 

Maintaining Profitability

This year has also seen tightening capital across industries, a trend that may impact reseller partners well into the next year.

For small and mid-sized partners, this often means marketing resources are tight. Many resellers won’t have a marketer, let alone an entire marketing team, which makes managing today’s industry shifts a challenge. Since many reseller marketing programs relied on in-person events such as trade shows or conferences, companies need guidance on how to adapt to the current environment. Programs such as market development funds (MDF) can help resellers sustain their business by providing financial support to a range of awareness-building and demand-generating resources and services. This will help the resellers maintain business continuity, benefitting not only them but customers and vendors alike.

Customers are likewise seeing budgets tighten this year. As capital expenditures become constrained, the…

… mobility market is primed for growth of technology-as-a-service and other models that give more purchasing power to customers, with an increasing reliance on operational budgets. For example, $3,000 for a mobile device without any added features may cause a customer to experience sticker shock. However, a package that includes software, cloud services, management and security along with the device itself for a low monthly bill will likely seem a more attractive investment.

Flexible financing and as-a-service offerings will help resellers not only create monthly recurring revenue streams but also develop stronger customer relationships and retention.

The Future of Mobility

As we saw this year, the future is unpredictable, but technology investments are critical to insulating organizations against the unexpected. Training partners to sell beyond devices and focus on the broader solution allows them to differentiate their offerings to customers, helping them compete. While the shift from a hardware to a solutions-focused mindset has been gaining momentum, the current landscape provides the motivation the industry needs to make lasting change.

In the future, more resellers will become agile solution providers who work in lockstep with technology vendors to stay ahead of unforeseen market changes. Consumer brands will continue to push B2B technology providers to be more innovative, but the resellers and vendors that go to market with a solutions approach backed by training and financial support will rise to the occasion.

Brandon Williams is director of Panasonic‘s U.S. mobility channel, where he leads sales programs and teams. He previously led sales and business development for Panasonic’s public sector mobility business in the Midwest, was director of performance data and accountability for the Illinois State Board of Education and was a sales manager and education market lead for Motorola. He has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Follow him on LinkedIn or @PanasonicNA on Twitter.