Software Resellers

[dick dastardly]

I have been tasked with compiling a list of possible resellers for our B2B software but don't know where to begin.

I have had a bit of a dig around google but can't find too much. Has anyone here done anything similar?

What would you look for in a reseller? Would you consider using consultants as resellers? Where do you look to find them? Are there any sites/publications aimed at either resellers or people making reseller channels?


Any help will be greatefully received.

[plasticpig]

One way of approaching this is to get lists of resellers by looking at the list of resellers of other software products. In your case I would look for resellers of CRM, Accounting and ERP software as these tend to deal with a lot of B2B organisations.

A lot of your questions are depndent on how much you expect the reseller to do and how much commision you are going to pay them. Do you want the reseller to just resell your software and do the consultation,installation and training yourselves? or do you want the reseller to consult,install,train and maybe even do first line support? What size of business is your software aimed at? All these things affect the criteria for choosing resellers.

[dick dastardly]

Cheers, I did actually start taking that approach. We have one UK reseller in place so I looked at what else they sold and then from those sites found a few other resellers about. I am now trying to look at it from other angles but can't come up with them.

I think we'd want them to do the installations and training too, especially if they are abroad. Effectively we want to stop selling ourselves and pass the sales leads onto the resellers, keeping only development and support in-house. The software starts at £500 but sales are often £10K+

[cirks]

would it be rude to ask what your B2B software is? I might be able to suggest a couple of names if it's the right arena...

[dick dastardly]

It is aimed at the Facilities Manager. Help Desk, Planned Maintenance, Room & resource booking, etc.

[StuB]

I'd suggest sneakily looking at what your competitors do and how they do it. If you want a re-seller to take it on, you'll have to answer a few more questions than what commission you'll pay them. Also worth a look at B2B Consultancies too.

Good luck.

[Graham]

I'd suggest using independant consultants with experience in your type of business to review products and manage the implementation between the customer (you) and the supplier.

but the I would as thats where we live... I must spend half my life sorting out the gaps between what the cutomer thought they were buying and the supplier thought they could get away with delivering

I does help though having our own dev team... when going to a mtg and the supplier saying we cant develop that bit and I turn around and say I thought you'd say that so we've done it for you

[Kinky]

Would resellers buy direct, or would they buy via distribution?

If it's through disties, then there's your audience. Just need to work on the disties to promote.

K