Who's # 1?, Channel Partners Rank the OEMs

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Who's # 1?, Channel Partners Rank the OEMs
By Ken Stewart

We learned a lot in our recent Channel Partner Loyalty Study for Western Europe, and thought we’d share just a bit of recent findings. We began by analyzing the current state of six OEM MPS programs, their capabilities, and their partners’ loyalty drivers and detractors in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (U.K.). We included OEM MPS programs in each country, including Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, Ricoh, and Xerox.

So which OEMs received the highest marks from partners?

We used five factors to compare and contrast OEM prowess, evaluating such factors as:

product range and service; promotional marketing support; training; compensation scheme; and flexibility with cost structures.

In France, Konica Minolta scored the highest with an average score of 7.4. The next closest competitor was Xerox with an average score of 6.3. Lexmark landed in last place with a meager average score of 4.3.

Ricoh received the highest marks in Germany, with an average partner ranking of 8.5 across the five categories. HP ranked second with an average score of 7.2. In this case, partners felt Canon could use the most work, ranking the OEM at just 4.2 on average.

Competition in the U.K. was fierce (and a lot tighter than in the other two countries). However, partners once again selected Ricoh as the highest-ranked OEM to partner with, giving the company an average rating of 7.5. But Konica Minolta came in a close second with a partner score of 7.4.

Partners Value the Relationship

No OEM program was perfect, but most partners were balanced in their review of the various programs—pointing out the positive as well as negative aspects in each. Despite some undercurrents in the relationships, partners expressed a consistent desire to work with OEM partners. Channel partners valued strong relationships that delivered mutual benefit for both parties, and were most frustrated with the increasing conflict in account acquisition from direct branches.

But OEMs have a tightrope to walk, balancing shareholders’ needs with partners’ desires. Meanwhile, partners must expand their view of what is possible and adapt to thrive. Throughout the study, our research team found that OEMs and channel partners must focus on three spheres of impact to maintain healthy and productive relationships (as seen in our Relationship Evaluation Framework).

Relational: the genuine nature of interpersonal relationships between OEMs and their partners is critical, and center on open communication and close proximity to strengthen the relationship.
Structural: While the relational portion of the relationship deals with the unspoken rules, the structural portion of the relationship deals with all of the written rules. Channel partners expect certain pricing flexibility based on commitment and priority based on performance.
Operational: The most often overlooked element in the relationship, partners expect OEMs to react more speedily to gaps that cause customer dissatisfaction, instill knowledge more deeply, and maintain the partners confidence through quality of execution. In other words, do what you say you’ll do.

Besides this best practice, we learned a host of other interesting insights and captured a lot of great comments from channel partners that we share in the published report.

We’ve published the executive summary for our Business Intelligence members, and would be happy to share more detail with you as well. Feel free to check out the report on our storefront, or download the full report through our Advisory Services Client portal.
http://photizogroup.com/blog/score-channel-partners-rank-oems

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September 4, 2014 at 10:58 AM