While news media are sometimes seen as competitors, they have a lot more in shared interest that you may know. Especially in today’s crisis, we all need to work together to raise the tide so all ships rise. It was a pleasure to have a candid chat with Joel Zaidspiner of ChannelPro to see what he is seeing in the channel community and compare notes. We just discussed the issues and challenges that channel partners, vendors and distributors are facing today and possibly the future.
We see a significant chunk of the channel (about 20%) is going to have some financial challenges. We also see that this crisis may be an opportunity for vendors and distributors to help solve today so they can reap the sales in the future. This is the time to think without a box and just do whatever you can to help everyone get through the storm.
Yes, there will be winners and losers but we can also make this a pivot in building a bigger, better, stronger and smarter channel.
Joel is already covering a lot of stuff on IoT which can be a good opportunity for channel partners and he has an event coming up on the topic. We are doing a virtual event every month on a different topic. Both organizations are leading the charge into the digital world. Fortunately for both of us we are seeking growth as vendors look to news media to help reach the channel. On my side, every day we get calls coming from vendors looking to beef-up their digital channel development. Previously, we would need to be making the outcalls to the vendors to talk digital! Since in-person and travel are on hold, digital is the only way forward.
We are both looking forward to when in-person events return, but in the meantime, we both feel a sense of urgency to help the channel in any way we can. Whatever the future will look like, it will include a bigger digital play than in the past. Since we both get to see technology from thousands of vendors, we get a glimpse into what’s to come. I know we are seeing some amazing products that previously we would not think could be big. Today, those visionary vendors are jumping to the front of the line.
I also found out that Joel and I do lots of cooking during this lockdown and looking forward to his recipe of zucchini bread. I have eaten a lot of things, but never zucchini bread :o)
Enjoy the 30 minute chat…Share, like and add your comments. ChannelPRO has an event coming up on July 7 and we have our ChannelNEXT Virtual on Cyber Security coming up on June 25. The great news is you can attend and enjoy both from the comfort of your home!
