When was the last time you were delegated to the purchasing 
officer while trying to close a technology sale?  This is a 
common complaint among technology value added resellers (VARs), 
and a growing problem as technology continues to commoditize. 
Let’s face it, computers, networks, and common software 
applications are no longer viewed as high-involvement purchases. 
Price has become the differentiator.  But how can you reposition 
yourself to avoid this delegation process? 

Michael Bosworth, in his book Customer Centric Selling, says 
that, “We are delegated to the people we sound like”.   In other 
words, delegation is a symptom of a greater problem in the VAR 
organization.  If you are selling commodity product, then it 
makes sense that price will become the determining factor when 
the purchase is made.  If you sound like a product salesperson, 
you are bound to get pushed to the product purchasing group. 
What happens when you reposition your product?  Take the area of 
network security as an example.  A buyer can purchase any number 
of firewalls on the market today.  Some sold through companies 
like yours, while others are carried by discount computer stores. 
To the average end-user, both provide the same benefit; they keep 
unauthorized users out.  But you can reposition this product by 
uncovering the value and sensitivity of a customer’s data and 
asking the question, “Can my client detect and stop an intrusion 
before their digital assets are compromised”?  I would argue 
that very few of them can.  If you can prove that people are 
attempting to access systems using spyware, Trojan horses, or 
other types of malicious code, you can demonstrate a need to 
look further than a hardware firewall.  In fact, with today’s 
assessment tools, in a matter of minutes you should be able 
to show a customer that they need a greater level of data 
protection.  This is not likely to get delegated to purchasing.

Taking this approach, there is a small percentage of buyers that 
have identified a need and are looking to buy technology.  There 
is a much larger group of potential buyers that don’t really 
understand the need I just identified. In just about every case, 
the first buyer is also working with a provider to solve the 
issue.  The remaining potential buyers don't understand that they 
have a need simply because no one has been able to show them the 
problem.  This is where your value proposition replaces price as 
the point of differentiation.  In my example I pointed out that 
most companies lack the ability to detect and respond to an 
attack against their data.  This same group of companies is 
largely unaware of what threats are real, and what measures 
should be taken to prevent a compromise to their data.  Every 
one of these companies represents a potential buyer.

Value proposition is an over used phrase; however, this is where 
the majority of VARs are losing opportunities.  With tight 
budgets and a focus on getting the business done, VARs cannot be 
order takers; they have to become consultants.  This means having 
enough understanding to show an economic buyer their need and 
having the ability to guide that buyer through the process of 
implementing the solution.  This is intellectual capital and it 
is the only margin sustaining product a VAR can offer.  If you 
are stuck in the purchasing office, you are not positioned with 
the right value proposition and you have not demonstrated that 
you have intellectual capital worth paying for.  The first step 
is restructuring your sales approach around the business problem 
you are trying to solve.  Once you have a solution that addresses 
a real business need, you can then demonstrate business value to 
your prospective client.  Equipped with the right solution, VARs 
can stay away from the purchasing department. 

David Stelzl, CISSP is the owner and founder of Stelzl Visionary 
Learning Concepts, Inc. providing keynotes, workshops, and 
professional coaching to technology resellers.  We work with 
executive managers, sales people, and practice managers who are 
seeking to become market leaders in technology areas that include 
Information Security, Managed Services, Storage and Systems 
solutions, and Networking. Contact us at mailto:info@stelzl.us 
or visit: http://www.stelzl.us to find out more.