Business Growth Strategy: Be A Partner, Not A Pusher

By Daniel O’Donnell, vice president of business development for Network Critical

The network security market will continue to provide high growth opportunities throughout the decade.  Market reports by Gartner and Transparency Research are calling for double digit growth in the coming years. Economic theory suggests that high growth markets draw increased competition. In order to safeguard existing market share while growing new business, VARs and managed services providers (MSPs) need to think of end users more like partners and less like customers. This is not a completely new philosophy. However the strength of the idea is found in the execution of the strategy.

The Business Strategy

Being a partner, not a pusher, is about putting the customer first when designing solutions and recommending products. Often times, VARs tend to direct a proposal to vendor solutions that provide greater discounts and sales incentives, or they draw upon the lowest cost vendors in developing a solution. Both of these examples are internally focused sales tactics. While they seem to have sound business logic such as increasing margins or closing more opportunities, they do not address this fundamental question, “What is the best possible solution that I can propose for the benefit of my prospect or customer?”

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