HP’s Channel Incentives Are Generating Positive Feedback, Globally

‘This is a very unique situation we are in and we are working very closely with our channel partners,’ says HP’s Luciana Broggi. ‘And channel partners are coping with that in different ways depending on where they are in the world.’

When faced with unprecedented times, such as a global pandemic, the channel ecosystem has come together to find relief amid the chaos. HP Inc. is among the vendors that has updated its channel incentives to help businesses through the coronavirus crisis.

“This is a very unique situation we are in and we are working very closely with our channel partners,” Luciana Broggi, senior vice president and global head of channel strategy and global accounts at HP, told CRN. “And channel partners are coping with that in different ways, depending on where they are in the world.”

HP and partners alike are working toward the same end goal of meeting customer demand. Within the last few weeks, Broggi said, HP has rolled out financial offerings to help its partners in three areas.

“One is around cash flow. That is one of the key issues at the moment with customers and partners. The second one is around the administrative part--the fact that the people are at home, it’s more difficult for some of them to report data, to claim for reimbursement of funds,” she said. “And the third part is really about the compensation and the profitability of the partners.”

Global Approach

Broggi told CRN that the PC vendor has taken a “global approach” to providing partner relief.

The focus of the approach deals with market specificities, she said. “The reason why we look at the market specificity is that this terrible situation that we’re in started much earlier in Asia--and then with different timelines in the rest of the world, partners are impacted very differently.”

So, “some are already out of the crisis, some are in the depths, some are starting now. So we have also implemented it in different phases. We started in Asia, as you could imagine, in Italy second, and then in the rest. And we got very good feedback,” Broggi added.

We’re Here To Help

Rick Chernick, CEO of Green Bay, Wis.-based solution provider Camera Corner Connecting Point, told CRN, “They said, ‘If you need help in financing some large deals, tell me what you need, we’ll help you.’ So maybe it’s an extra 30 days, or 60 days. Or maybe you can get payment terms out to 90 days, so that we can then extend additional terms to our customers.”

He said this is especially important as everyone is wondering, where’s that dollar coming from?

“The most important thing that they’ve done is all their financial plans that they’ve come up with--to not only help us as their partners, but help us continue to encourage our clients to invest in their technology by creating these financial programs that let them defer payment for several months,” said Luis Alvarez, president and CEO of Alvarez Technology Group. “Basically, creating free money. And we’re starting to see a lot of people have interest in that.”

Chernick said HP also offers leasing and financing terms to the customer.

“So you could even perhaps get special terms--like on certain products you can get six months before the first payment has to be made if the customer leases it,” said Chernick. “You could lease desktops and laptops and printers, or switches and servers, or what have you. I mean it’s out there, you just have to ask.”

Visit CRNtv to learn more about these channel incentives.