The federal market has many requirements that make it a more difficult sell than the commercial space. As we have heard from contributors to EDGE360 in the past few posts, Comstor can help value added resellers (VARs) navigate the system with dedicated support and enablement programs that help resellers extend their reach, capabilities, opportunities and prospects.
We recently followed up on our podcast with Nathan Clyker, Regional Manager of Federal Sales at Comstor, to inquire about his advice for VARs during the last month of the federal buying season.
EDGE360: What should Comstor partners be prepared to be doing right now?
Nathan Clyker: At this point in the federal buying season, the most important thing that our partners need to do right now is communicate with us. By staying in touch and communicating all opportunities to the appointed Comstor account manager, we can stay ahead of the game. Once we are notified of an opportunity, we can get things like finance and the warehousing and logistics side of the house ready for the order, before the order comes over. When we all communicate, we make the process easier and when the order comes through, all we have to do is press “book.”
EDGE360: What if I’m a reseller who doesn’t have a contract or is not on the GSA? How do I find out about these things?
NC: Reach out to me (Nathan.Clyker@Comstor .com) or your Comstor business development manager, and we will walk you through the process.
EDGE360: What are the three steps resellers need to follow?
NC: The first step, as I mentioned earlier is to communicate. Make sure that the Cisco and Comstor account managers are aware the deal is coming over and are in sync on all of its details. Comstor works closely with Cisco on the back end, so getting us involved with them on the front end helps to mitigate.
Second, make sure your deal ID matches the quote and the PO that was received. There have been many instances when the deal ID was incorrect and, unfortunately, despite late hours on our part, the order couldn’t be completed.
Finally, make sure you’re aware of the cutoff times for things like channel booking neutrality (CBN), which is the ability for Comstor to book a Cisco order for instant credit, instead of waiting for the order to ship, or order and booking cutoff times. The ending to this sentence is am is difficult to follow…instead of waiting – for ship, order and booking cutoff? Not sure if they are supposed to be modified by the reference to “waiting…”
EDGE360: What should VARs have prepared when they come to you with a deal?
NC: The first would be the bill of materials (BOM) they are quoting. The second is the ‘win’ price, which is the price they believe they need to win the deal, and the third is anything else they need in order to submit the bid properly: Do they need engineering schematics or specifics? Is there any value-added Cisco product or service they need for the win? Comstor can provide all that
For more tips from Nate Clyker, read his story in the Comstor Federal Newsletter here.
