Empower Your Value Added Resellers

PartnerStorm submitted by mongo 02/24/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

As it stands, very few customers even know Dell has a Value Added Reseller program. The program itself is poorly supported internally, and lacks the infrastructure to compete with other major reseller programs. Here is a list of the top five things Dell needs to do to improve the Value Added Reseller program:

1- Give customers an easy way to send configurations to VARs for quotes and add functionality that allows VARs to edit configurations without having to rebuild them from scratch.

2- Make the price shown on Premier the best possible purchase price. Right now VARs have to send quotes to their account managers for the “best” pricing, which is a waste of time for everyone involved.

3- Make all software and peripherals available on Premier. So many items are simply not listed and require a call to your S&P agent.

4- Let us customize the packing slips sent to customers and use plain packaging. It doesn't look very professional when a customer orders from Company A only to receive a box from Dell.

5- Fix your internal availability and shipping systems. I have lost track of how many times I've placed an order for an item which should ship “In 24 Hours”, only to have it back ordered for weeks. Add to that the shipping system that sends shipment notifications after customers have received packages and shows unreliable tracking information in Premier and you have a real nightmare for VARs.


Please see amie_p's comment
2 Comments »

Solution Provider Direct Program Upgrade

PartnerStorm submitted by cyberbiz 02/20/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

Most customers and industry people don't know this, but Dell has a reseller program where small software vendors, VARs and system integrators can buy discounted Dell gear and resell to the public. The idea, naturally, is for the reseller to provide support services in conjunction with the hardware sale.

This reseller program addresses Dell's support issues because end-users who buy from the channel tend to rely on their reseller for primary support, or use the reseller to run interference when a problem needs escalation.

Based on my experience this reseller program could use a few basic tweaks to make it more industry standard and give the program members some more incentive to use Dell rather than TechDarta and HP/Compaq or IBM/Lenovo as channel/hardware partners.

* Bump up the credit limits and help the channel get more working capital

* Simplify the billing and payables process

* Make the Dell Premier site actually give us the prices we can get from our human reps

* Give us some reseller basics like a logo program and soft marketing dollars

* Support the channel by giving us leads and some sort of regional or industry sales support for big leads

If Dell is losing direct corporate sales, then I believe the wrapping their gear in a reseller channel will give Dell customers more local support and feel better about buying Dell based on a trusted recommendation.




Please see amie_p's comment
5 Comments »

Small VAR blues - coordinate my accounts?

PartnerStorm submitted by twohlford 02/26/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

My customers buy Dell computers that I suggest to them. In the past, I've bought most of their equipment thru my Dell account.

However, this lends itself to many difficulties, starting with issues over the ownership of Microsoft volume license agreements (I still have one that is in my name and not my customers!). In addition, I can't sustain the cash flow necessary to order $100,000 in hardware and software in a good year.

Many of these customers now have their own Dell accounts. Sadly, each on of them gets a different rep, and often they are relegated to the newbies on the SBS sales queue after the first year. As we all know, a customer's happiness with Dell depends on their sales rep!

Is there a way that a VAR like myself can have each of these small accounts somehow credited to me for purposes of keeping a good rep?


Please see amie_p's comment
4 Comments »

Reach out to Dell VAR's

PartnerStorm submitted by hanksbc 02/21/07 **ALREADY OFFERED**

As a Dell VAR, I would like to service Dell products still under warranty. Having a physical location (storefront), Dell customers feel more comfortable leaving their computer with a trusted Dell Partner rather than scheduling a time to be at home and have the roaming Dell Certified Technician repair their problem. One central location authorized to handle repair issues would greatly benefit Dell and ultimately the customer. As a Dell Authorized VAR, we take care of our customer problems, relating to hardware and software. We place the call for part replacement, install the part, and install OS/image without charge. I love our businesses relationship with Dell and would like to further build upon that relationship. As I have learned, quite quickly, in business a customers trust can never be taken lightly.


Please see amie_p's comment
2 Comments »

Resellers

PartnerStorm submitted by colinharris 07/15/07

I would like to see proper recognition of value added resellers. At present, we are treated like corporate customers and get allocated an account manager who knows that we are buying on behalf of our customers. We have no idea what our margin will be on any purchase or if there will be any margin. Often, customers phone in and get as good, if not better deals than we get. There are a lot of VARs buying from Dell, mainly because we like the reliability of the products. Please setup a VAR channel with a structured commission system. 2 Comments »

Start a reseller model vs. 'Dell only' for accessories

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), PartnerStorm submitted by earlra 02/21/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

I was looking from RAM and an internal HD to upgrade my Dimension 4600 machine. However, when i looked on the Dell site, I could find only 'reconditioned' hard drives. To add insult to injury, I found I could get new drives at a better cost/capacity ratio from other online vendors. Why in the world would I then buy from Dell? In the end, the only thing I bought from Dell was the mounting bracket to make sure I had the right one.

I suggest you do like Amazon, and start partnering with other vendors so I have one-stop shopping. I will not pay more for the DELL name, but if you are the most convenient vendor for me to do all my shopping, as Amazon, is, then I will shop with Dell. The customer can get better selection and pricing, and you can find some way to make a reasonable commission profit.


Please see amie_p's comment
2 Comments »

Reseller/Partner Program

PartnerStorm submitted by dwilliam_houston 07/29/07 **ALREADY OFFERED**

I am a reseller of Dell computers but really dont get anything special that regular businesses purchasing for themselves. I think it would be beneficial for Dell to create a reseller partner program and reward them for partnering with Dell. All the other large vendors do such as Microsoft.


Please see amie_p's comment
4 Comments »

Reseller Account for Small Business IT companies

PartnerStorm submitted by nathan13 Mar 26

Dell to start talking to the real small business base the companies that really support them. I would love to sell Dell hardware but I can only purchase it at the same price as my customers can buy it. Why? I can buy HP and FSC kit at a cost price and then sell it RRP and make additional profit. If the customer buys Dell I make no money :-) so I tell the customer not to buy Dell and tell it not as good as HP or FSC. So Dell lose money and reputation.

Simple create a reseller program and we will be all happy! :-D Comment »

Image for Product Line

PartnerStorm submitted by monseycomputers Jun 25 **ALREADY OFFERED**

I think it would be a great idea to allow VAR's to create and upload preset images for each product line to be loaded on all systems that VAR orders, that way the VAR has what they need right off the box, and systems can be dropped shipped directly to the customer,

What do think?


Please see mike_b's comment
2 Comments »