Client: Global software company
Service: Partner Intelligence, Competitive Benchmarking
Geography: United Kingdom
Problem & Objective
Our client was extremely worried by a powerful competitor entering a market where the majority of sales was handled by the Partner channel. It had noticed some partners defecting to the competitor and a downturn in sales which it feared would worsen. Intelligentsia was asked to research the target competitor’s partner strategy and programme, and to compare the findings against our client’s equivalents.
Research Challenge
Our client was starting to lose partners and revenue, and there was a lot of pressure on Intelligentsia to produce the Partner Intelligence results quickly; but there was little usable published information and Intelligentsia’s field researchers needed time to interview the competitor’s Partner Marketing staff and some former partners.
The Resolution
Intelligentsia’s researchers discovered that our client’s problem was an unpopular partner programme rather than an uncompetitive product. There were three main complaints: our client’s obligations were more onerous than other vendors, the incentives were smaller, and technical and account support were slower to respond.
The Result
Our client was extremely grateful for our express benchmarking report. It accepted the findings which it communicated to global headquarters where partner policies were set. Ultimately the required changes were made, some of the lost partners were won back, and the competitor was prevented from taking more market share by our client.
