One of the greatest values we can bring to any customer is the solution sale. We do this by presenting the customer with a comprehensive solution that fixes a business problem.
I like to think of it as going to the grocery store: there are people that will go to several stores to buy groceries but most people tend to use a single store to buy the bulk of their goods. Why? Because it is generally easier, there is less hassle, it’s quicker and they have a level of comfort with that store. When we work with a customer and present solution sales we are developing that sort of relationship with them.
One of my standard examples that I like to use is, a customer tells you that their email server is running slowly, backups are taking a long time, they’re running out of disk space and it’s really difficult to manage it. A partner that doesn’t do a solution sell will probably start by saying things like, we can add more memory to speed up the server, add more disks to fix the space problem and a fast tape drive. While these may be pretty good short term fixes they do not fix the long term problem and they are focused on commodity items that are easy for the customer to acquire and easy to price shop. A partner that does a solution sell will attack the problem differently. They will start by offering a long term solution that will position the customer better over the long term. A solution sell partner may suggest implementing an E-Mail archiving solution, a Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) solution and/or a continuous backup solution for the E-Mail server. There are advantages for that partner:
- Moved ahead of other competitors by just suggesting a solution sell, so even if the customer just wants to buy memory you are seen more favorably.
- If the customer buys into the solution, you eliminate any competitor that cannot provide that solution.
- When positioning the solution, all the components of that solution tend to come along for the ride: servers, storage, components, services and maintenance contract and renewals.
- By bundling all the pieces into a solution the partner makes it easier for the customer by offering them one stop shopping.
Within the IBM product family all the components that drive this solution are available to the partner and when combined with the partners’ services form a complete solution. The IBM products that may be on the table in a solution like this consist of IBM Server(s), IBM Disk Storage, IBM SAN Infrastructure, IBM Tivoli FastBack, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM), TSM with HSM, IBM Content Collector, IBM San Volume Controller, TotalStorage Productivity Center and partner services.
For More information on this solution or any other solution sell please feel free to contact an Arrow Solution Architect.
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