Robert Swanson addresses top MOCA Resellers ...                             

"How to Sell Storage at the Top" and "The Customer Annual Progress Summary"

Colorado Springs, Colorado

October 15, 2001 -- "Selling Storage Solutions to CEO's is easy!" Robert Swanson, President of DELTA MAX declared today at the annual sales conference of MOCA, Net@Work. "The key is to use Sun's HighGround storage assessment program to provide a top ROI return on the use of the customer's existing storage utilization."

    400 of America's top computer resellers heard Swanson describe a storage sales program which is innovative and non-technical, unlike most of their major competitors, who try to persuade IT executives on technical advantages alone.

Managing Storage: Sun SRM/HiGround

    The resellers were challenged to move their focus from computer features to the solution of business problems in this post Sept. 11 and deflationary period. Unlike their major competitors, MOCA resellers can use Sun SRM/HighGround to analyze the customer's existing storage capability across their entire installation world wide, and determine what is not being utilized to maximum company advantage. HighGround gives the customer a map of users, departments, applications and utilization profiles, which can be managed directly and optimized.

    The savings from the use of SRM/HighGround and MOCA reseller analysis often run 30-50% of the customer's total storage. At 35-40 cents per megabyte, a large organization can free up millions of dollars of storage for the price of a relatively very small consuting contract engagement. "Providing solutions means helping to solve problems.

    Thus, a strong customer-reseller partnership can be formed at the CEO levels in many companies." Swanson says, "And, guess who those customers will return to when their new storage initiatives are under consideration?"

Communicating with Customer Top Executives: CAPS

    Swanson also described a program called CAPS, or Customer Annual Progress Summary. This MOCA-sponsored program also involves top level CEO contacts from resellers, and is also designed to build a strong partnership between the customer and the reseller.

    "Salespeople never return to a sale after it is made, and revisit what the benefits of that sale are versus what was proposed by the reseller and expected by the customer", Swanson states. "It's as if the sale is a unique event, which occurs and then is over, and does not need to be reviewed ever again.

    As a result, great projects with outstanding results are virtually invisible, while disasters are quietly ignored without deriving the benefit providing lessons for future projects. Since most projects have at least some successful aspects, what the reseller and customer have done together is a tremendous justification for further projects together. Yet, both customer and reseller never go back even a short period of time,to discuss what they have obtained and learned. CAPS provides a formal vehicle for doing just that."

What Customers mean by "Partnering:

    "Most Resellers have a big 'V' for 'Vendor' emblazoned on their foreheads," he continued, "while what they should have is a 'P' for 'Partner.'

    Customers are weary of box pushers and glib talkers who speak in guru-like mantras, and never relate them to customer needs. They only represent potential product solutions looking for any problems they might possibly solve; they are not problem solvers but discoverers and evangelists.

    The customer world, however, is increasingly looking for solutions directly related to THEIR specific problems. They want help in structuring a specific solution to their own unique problems, and are willing to pay well for companies that understand how to do this." 

    Swanson spoke at three well-attended breakout sessions at the annual MOCA Net@Work reseller event, held this year in the beautiful Colorado Springs Broadmoor Resort.

    MOCA is one of America's top distributors of computer systems and software technologies, and is the newest division of Arrow Electronics.

    DELTA MAX is a Convergence Consulting company based in Newport Beach, California, with diverse capabilities in computer and entertainment industry-related technologies and systems, as well as entertainment content generation, such as feature films, video/TV/DVD  presentations, or Internet Streaming Convergences.

   Robert Swanson is President of Delta Max, and the originator of the term "E-Channel", which describes the functions and content of computer marketing and supply channel process automation over the Web, as well as any Entertainment Industry Internet Distribution.

    Contact DELTA MAX for more information about this event.

Copyright © DELTA MAX. All rights reserved.
Revised: September 04, 2008.