Dell Pilots Account Registration Program For SMB Customers

Dell Inc. is piloting a program in which solution providers can register their SMB customers and not just specific opportunities for those customers.

The pilot began about 10 days ago and involves some 500 to 600 SMB accounts, which Dell defines as fewer than 500 employees, according to the Round Rock, Texas-based Dell. It's unclear how many solution providers are involved in the pilot, but if it is successful Dell would like to roll it out publicly before the end of the year, said Greg Davis, vice president and general manager of Dell's Americas Channel Group.

"We're working through the operational elements now. It's pretty early and premature to know to say and#91;how it will developand#93;. I would like to have at least 60 to 90 days to get back to you," Davis told ChannelWeb. "This is an exciting one for our channel, but it's one we have to get right. I know everyone would love to push me to do something in a week or a month, but this something we want to get right. It's also something that my competitors, to the best of my knowledge, don't have."

The program appears to be unique among major IT vendors. Smaller manufacturers sometimes offer account registration because they simply don't have a large partner base and can assign specific VARs to geographic areas or vertical markets such as education, but traditional thinking has held that large vendors have too broad a reach for that to work as an efficient model.

For example, Hewlett-Packard Co. uses deal registration as a "deal-specific" tool for pricing and partner financial benefit tracking, but does not have a customer registration program, according to a spokesman for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company.

Several solution providers said they were not aware of account-based registration programs from any major vendor.

"It's a bold move. I don't see many other large companies looking at how to reward resellers who are doing the right things, driving business and building long-term-relationships with clients," said Tim Hebert, president and CEO of Atrion Networking, a Warwick, R.I.-based solution provider. "If and#91;account registrationand#93; will do what they say, they will create a phenomenal program that will be something all companies will look at as a milestone and something to replicate."

But first they have to get it right, which is no small task. Solution providers said a customer registration program would require a very specific set of parameters and include a mountain of administrative work to keep straight.

"I think it's a good idea, don't get me wrong, but there has to be a reason that you're able to register that account. It has to be a reason other than 'I know they exist,'" said Pat Walsh, owner of Computer Station of Florida, Longwood, Fla.

NEXT: Dell's Direct Sales Role In the Program

Walsh said such a program would have to be loyalty-based too. Otherwise, what would stop a reseller from registering every customer they could and then sitting on them.

"If Lenovo and HP all had a program like this, and I signed up with them too, I don't know how that helps any of the vendors because who would I lead with? Am I just covering the bases? Is that loyalty to them and why should they give loyalty to me? I think you have to narrow it down to and#91;VARsand#93; that will lead with your products," Walsh said. "To just authorize anybody so they could fight it out to name accounts, I'm not sure what that accomplishes without a good channel program behind it."

Because Dell is keeping specific details close, and the fact that the vendor trying the program is Dell -- which has a very large direct sales force -- Walsh is wary of its potential.

"I'm not a real Dell fan. I never was," he said. "So on the face of it, I'd really need to know how they do it. If someone calls to order direct, it's hard for me to believe Dell is going to turn that order down because a VAR registered them. You tell me Dell would protect a particular VAR? I find that tough."

Account registration can be a double-edged sword, said Atrion's Hebert.

"I like the idea personally. If I I go through the motions and bring Dell, or any supplier, into an account, it's important to register the account, not just a deal I was working on," said Hebert, a Dell channel advisory council member. "However the downside is if you're doing a poor job of service, it becomes a challenge for both the customer and a different partner that wants to be involved to get engaged." He said the subject was first broached at the council's first meeting with Dell executives.

"What's phenomenal is during that session they took copious notes to try and understand why it's important for a partner to register a customer rather than deal-by-deal," Hebert said. "It's great that they've taken it from discussion to proof of concept to beta. I'm impressed by their responsiveness."

Dell's Davis said if account registration becomes universal, it would be well thought out.

The pilot stems from Dell's current deal registration program, launched in February as part of its PartnerDirect channel initiaitive. Under that program, solution providers initially had to register deals with a $75,000 minimum. Many solution providers felt that was too high, so Dell lowered the bar to $50,000, except for all EqualLogic storage deals, which have to be registered regardless of size.

Davis said the deal registration program is working, citing Dell's approval of 72 percent of opportunity requests that came in last week.

"While we have issues we have to work through, the program and the tool is working well," he said. "We got feedback about streamlining some of the info and we're actively looking at how we can do that. We've gotten a lot of feedback about how do account registration, especially in the SMB space."

Dell also is working to integrate its direct sales force into the SMB account registration program in a way that would reduce or eliminate potential channel conflict, Davis said, noting that the key to protecting all parties is to be open and clear.

"We're not doing it as purely a channel program. It's about how do we grow our presence in the SMB marketplace," Davis said. "We understand it's going to be an evolution, but it's really important that it's not just a channel engagement, but an engagement across Dell."