General Consultant Discussion

Sorry I just don't get these. Actually I do - but only from the standpoint of the companies who gather up all these VARS and charge them a fee. I think the company itself probably makes a ton of short term dough from desperate VARS. But what VAR wants to be listed on a grid which essentially is a shortcut aid for end users to submit RFP's and requests for free consulting? Unless I'm missing something all that these group marketing projects do is bring together VARS so they can compete against each other. I know these groups survive because the lucky winner goes on to tell how great the group is and the losers just cower, lick their wounds and hope for better luck next year. So people renew and hope. Sounds like a casino in some ways. I've never joined these groups so I am purely speculating -- and I could be all wrong. However I've seen these groups come and go over the years and from my vantage point all they are now is RFP clubs. My turn. Your turn. Let's all bid against each other and race to the bottom line for a customer who is probably very risky, not too loyal and may change partners at the first sign of a bill that isn't priced at $50/hr in 15 minute increments. .02 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10649285.htm

ERPVAR.com is Adrian Montgomery and Kathy Graham, correct? They have had a booth at Summit last year.

@John - Yes I used to belong to MAS90Consultants.net which had a geographic map of MAS resellers and you paid for rights to a state. It worked great for a while and then dried up.

There is no substitue for a well-planned marketing strategy, including a properly designed website. We have neither of these, but we're actively working on them. I'm not convinced that prospective customers search for these groups of resellers on the Internet. If I were working again as a customer, I would always search for the software publisher first and deal with whoever they recommend.

I think it is Adrian and Kathy - and I'm speaking broadly about this strategy not these specific people/group.

My question is how many ex-Sage salespeople can become sales and marketing consultants to the channel? At some point there'll be too many and some will have to find real jobs again. Just because they worked for Sage doesn't mean they know what they're doing. (I also am speaking broadly.)

This approach works for some. For me, it reminds me of the old adage: ""The worst place to end up in an RFP process is second place."" I guess it works for some but ... like John said: no substitute for well-planned marketing strategy where you generate your own lead flow.