There is always a lot of talk in the software and hardware industries about distribution through the “Channel”. Generically that means selling through some type of a third party company, rather than selling directly to the end customer. But in reality the “Channel” includes a wide variety of disparate types of third party resellers. Today […]
Structuring Channel Discounts for Software and Technology Companies
Selling through sales and distribution channels of various types is very important to many software and hardware companies. Yet channel programs and specifically channel discount structures, are often thrown together quickly and haphazardly, without looking at any real hard data. Let’s examine some of the key items that are advisable to consider when structuring a […]
Channel Pricing Strategy for Software and Hardware Products
Pricing software products and SaaS offerings is always a difficult exercise. With high product development costs, but very low costs of goods sold, there are many different pricing strategies that people have followed successfully (and not so successfully!) over time. Somewhat surprisingly, pricing hardware products is a bit simpler. A hardware business is much more […]
Marketing and Selling Technology Products through the Value-Added Reseller (VAR) Channel
Selling through multiple channels is one of my preferred strategies in technology marketing. Done correctly, it allows a company to fully exploit its expensive, hard-earned intellectual property to the maximum extent. One of the most popular channels (and one of my favorites) used to sell B2B software and hardware is the Value-added Reseller or VAR […]
Technology Sales & Marketing-Is a direct or indirect approach best?
A question that often arises with early-stage software and hardware companies is “How should we sell our product? Should our technology sales approach be to sell directly, or should we sell through distributors, dealers/retailers, or OEM partners?” Best Technology Sales Method: It depends The answer, like most topics discussed in this forum, is rarely as […]
