Ingram Micro Canada has developed a new way of doing business with its largest customer base: VARs.
Called the Choice Advantage program, this new three-tiered approach enables VARs to choose the services that best meet their business needs. The three models are: independent choice, active choice, and professional choice.
For Ingram the goal of Choice Advantage is to separate the service it provides from the products it offers. With these three models, Ingram avoids charging channel partners for services and support such as freight, order fulfillment and pre-sales technical support, which may not be used by the solution provider. Resellers can get tailored business services and resources along with predictable pricing in return.
Choice Advantage was launched in the U.S. approximately two years ago and the Canadian version looks similar, according to Mark Snider, vice-president of sales for Canadian subsidiary based in Mississauga, Ont.
“This is meant to address the VAR market and give them more choice so they do not have to pay for unbundled services,” he said.
In the past, this kind of customization was only available to the distributor’s biggest accounts.
“We want to get away from a one-size fits all approach,” Snider said.
Brent McCarty, director of VAR sales at Ingram Micro Canada, said Choice Advantage is ready for the mainstream after a near three-month pilot program with 75 VARs.
Ingram field and sales reps will be calling VARs throughout this week to explain the program, go over their options and sign them up.
“This will be the model going forward and once they have been flipped and the switch is on it will be with all customers,” McCarty said.
With Independent Choice, VARs here will be looking for cost containment or the lowest price because they usually do not take advantage of the services offered by Ingram.
The Active Choice model is where 80 per cent of all Ingram reseller customers will be slotted in, McCarty said.
Professional Choice resellers are customers who do regular business with Ingram but are looking to reduce deliver costs and freight charges.
“(Resellers) used to pass on freight costs to the customer and they would get the product cost billed separately to them. Now they can have one cost with shipping included and it is transparent to them and they can put that into the product cost (for the customer),” Snider said.
McCarty said that those VARs who have in-depth technical support and services can now have that unbundled in their product cost with Ingram Canada.
Snider envisions Choice Advantage having a long term cost benefit to the distributor itself, but out of the gate it helps the company better understand customer needs and what they value and not value.
That feedback will be ultimately passed onto the vendor so that they can better developer its own value add options for VARs.
“The VAR market is very important to us. We got the resources from field reps and inside sales to help us meet customer needs so they can grow profitability and take their business to another level instead of paying for unnecessary services they do not want,” Snider said.
