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Channel taking steps to remain relevant
A report from Agilitias IT Solutions looking into the channel's efforts to remain relevant has some encouraging findings
The channel has been told for years that it needs to become more customer centric and get closer to those buying technology and services if they are to be successful.
The overwhelming majority of channel firms have understood the need to adopt that approach with 86% registering the need to relevant moving to a customer centric model in research from Agilitas IT Solutions.
The firm has been looking into the current market landscape in its Channel in 2020 Relevance report and found that 40% of companies are fully customer centric and 82% of firms develop bespoke services and 15% of firms are doing even more to change their approach to meet user needs.
“It is clear from our research that channel businesses largely understand the need to remain relevant and focused on their customers,” said Shaun Lynn, CEO of Agilitas. “In today’s changing landscape, retaining a focus on customers has never been more critical.”
“In order to remain relevant and become more customer-centric, truly adding value for customers, collaboration with other channel partners is critical. A key way that many channel companies become more relevant is the added value they bring to their customers by listening and ensuring their propositions remain aligned to their ever-changing needs," he added.
Being customer centric and adding value to a customer was seen by many resellers as having a benefit for their own business, adding to their ambitions to transform their operations. That is not necesarilty as easy task, but something that the Agilitas report identified is seen by the majority of the channel as essential.
“Although most companies see the value and importance of relevance, it is still a big step for many companies, requiring a transformational shift in order to become sufficiently customer-centric. Many are already undergoing this shift, or are starting to embark on it,” said Lynn.
The idea that resellers need to remain relevant will not cause shockwaves but the number that have decided to ensure they have changed their approach will be encouraging for those vendors that have been shifting a lot of their reward programes to be based on metrics including customer satisfaction levels.
