eChannelLine Daily News
April 11, 2009
Channel Chargers offers marketing services for vendors and channel
by Chris Talbot
A new channel firm has recently launched that will help vendors find a path to the channel, but for the channel resellers it deals with, Channel Chargers’ value proposition is based on vetting vendors and their technologies.Channel Chargers was formed to bring the right vendors and technologies to the right resellers while helping those vendors built and manage their channel partner programs and offerings. With its Web site going live in late March, Channel Chargers is starting to have discussions with vendors, with a concentration on the storage market initially. The company is also in talks with security vendors, and also has its sights set on the systems and networking markets, said John Boyken, CEO of Channel Chargers.
No stranger to the channel, Boyken has more than 20 years of global technology sales and marketing experience, and he hasworked with the channel for much of his career, building programs and relationships.
Channel Chargers is approaching the market and its revenue opportunities by offering marketing services for both vendors and resellers, which includes lead generation, portal development, collateral development, product training development and even market analysis, he said.
“Whether you’re a vendor or a reseller looking to generate new business, we offer those services directly,” Boyken said.
Additionally, Channel Chargers offers sales services, including the development of opportunity registration programs and doing sales lead tracking, but the biggest piece of those services is offering sales representation, he said.
Another key element to Channel Chargers is its Channel Ready Certification, which is a process by which it sits down with a vendor and audits its channel programs, go-to-market strategy and products. According to Boyken, the company can significantly reduce the time to market and time to revenue with the certification program.
The program is used to review the brand and products, and the look at what market opportunities exist for the vendor. Channel Chargers does a complete SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis on the vendor’s existing channel strategy, programs, contracts and other offerings before taking those offers to its channel reseller partners to get their thoughts.
“We look at end-user acceptance,” he said.
Boyken described Channel Chargers as an end-to-end sales and marketing arm for vendors and a way for both vendors and resellers to outsource marketing services.
For channel partners, the value proposition is in Channel Chargers’ ability to evaluate vendors and their products for them, Boyken said. Resellers are approached constantly by vendors that want them to carry their products, and that’s where Channel Chargers can help.
“As we engage, and we now feel comfortable in engaging because we have the backup of our Web site and the company documented, new opportunities seem to be arising every day,” Boyken said.
