Dealers provide valuable link to customers in the communications industry

During a trade show last year, I spoke with a network operator about one of the intriguing systems being exhibited at the event. He expressed a great deal of enthusiasm about the solution and even projected its potential impact on the overall industry.

Then, the network operator proceeded to say that it was doubtful that he would ever buy the solution for his organization.

“I told them that I love the technology and would like to consider it, but they don’t have a dealer anywhere near me,” the network operator said. “I don’t think I would ever be comfortable with that—I want to be able to sleep at night.”

It is a story that I’ve heard repeated many times during the decade that I’ve been covering critical communications. Even as IWCE’s Urgent Communications and other media outlets try to keep our audiences updated on the latest and greatest solutions, the purchasing decision often is a reflection of the local dealer that is most trusted by the buying entity.

Dealers’ relationships with their customers are crucial, as any representative of a large manufacturer will tell you at a moment’s notice. In fact, the dealer-customer relationship promises to be more important than ever in the current climate, where the move to standards-based systems reduces the technological differentiation between vendors.

However, like the communications industry itself, the environment for dealers is changing constantly, driven by a variety of factors, including technological trends, funding sources and politics.

With the Dealer Insights newsletter, we hope to provide key members of the communications sales channel with content each month that will help them perform their tasks better and more efficiently. That may mean detailing a technology that could be a new revenue opportunity or providing ideas for addressing day-to-day business challenges.

The thing we want most is to hear from the dealer community and those affected by it, regardless of location or size. If you have a story idea or would be interested in contributing an article or other content, please contact me at donald.jackson@penton.com. By sharing good ideas with one another, dealers can help ensure that they can remain strong, productive and relevant as a group, even in the face of significant technological changes.

Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy today’s initial Dealer Insights newsletter—and many more to come.