Tuesday, September 09, 2003
TACTIC: Certification programs are not value propositions.
As I listen to CAMs pitch their accounts, I am amazed to see how often training is offered as a benefit or reason for buying a given vendor’s products. One VP even built his entire program around the proposition of “24 hours of CBT” (computer based training.) CRN’s newest Channel Certification Study supports my viewpoint.
Channel companies are motivated by market opportunities and will invest in training ONLY if the return is high enough. Small solutions providers sought 33% to 99% returns on trained personnel and larger solution providers sought up to 170% returns on the training. Even so, most were fuzzy about the value of certifications overall.
Perhaps the real value of this survey is to show you what product categories are hottest in the channel. For example, Sun’s strong certification popularity is a rare window of optimism for the company. It gives them both a momentum and a little time to get their act together in sales. Positioning you product inside or tangent to these hot markets is the real issue, not making another mandatory certification.
Remember, it is more important to pitch market opportunities than to require certification.
Scott@ChannelVentures.com
As I listen to CAMs pitch their accounts, I am amazed to see how often training is offered as a benefit or reason for buying a given vendor’s products. One VP even built his entire program around the proposition of “24 hours of CBT” (computer based training.) CRN’s newest Channel Certification Study supports my viewpoint.
Channel companies are motivated by market opportunities and will invest in training ONLY if the return is high enough. Small solutions providers sought 33% to 99% returns on trained personnel and larger solution providers sought up to 170% returns on the training. Even so, most were fuzzy about the value of certifications overall.
Perhaps the real value of this survey is to show you what product categories are hottest in the channel. For example, Sun’s strong certification popularity is a rare window of optimism for the company. It gives them both a momentum and a little time to get their act together in sales. Positioning you product inside or tangent to these hot markets is the real issue, not making another mandatory certification.
Remember, it is more important to pitch market opportunities than to require certification.
Scott@ChannelVentures.com
