How a centralised ICT reseller toolkit makes sense within the modern ICT channel environment

An affordable platform-based digital toolkit can simplify your channel operations, provide smarter insights and grow your business.

Johannesburg, 26 Jun 2019

Modern ICT channel businesses are no doubt aware of the growing influence of digital technologies on the traditional workings of the channel. Some of these technologies have had a direct impact on the creation of industry-specific pressures such as cloud, increased competition, smaller distributor and reseller margins, increased barriers to entry, digital marketing and direct vendor engagement by the end-customer.

Channel businesses can, however, use these same digital technologies to transform their own operations in order to better deal with these factors. Digital platforms are a great example of this.

Sales automation

Every ICT reseller would like to make their operations faster, more accurate and more visible. By using a digital platform, this is indeed possible via sales automation. Quotes and invoices can be created online and sent to customers who get notified instantly. Visibility and transparency are added to the quoting and invoicing process with the ability to check any quote or invoice status instantly, at any time. Platforms can also include the ability to set product pricing and adjust margins on either a system-wide or individual basis.

Billing

Billing can be taken care of within the platform too. With the requisite secure payment gateway integrations installed, platform users can manage quoting, invoicing and payments all within the platform and automate the entire sales process.

Centralisation

Keeping all channel functions centralised is another benefit to using a digital platform. With attributes like SKU code, cost, activation status, images, descriptions and provisioning configurations, product and customer details can be a lot to keep on top of. Being able to manage your product, customer and vendor details all from one central digital location results in them being more accurate, up-to-date and relevant.

Marketplace and negotiator

Useful as they are, efficiencies are not the only benefits of a digital platform. The software also enables other interesting features, such as marketplaces and even the possibility of a quote negotiator. A marketplace is a centralised, searchable and customisable view of products on offer to users on the platform, where customers can buy directly and where resellers can create quotes and invoices for their customers.

A negotiator feature usually consists of a reseller being enabled to invite multiple distributors to participate in a negotiation process to deliver their best quotes to the reseller, the intention being to get the best price possible and to save time by setting specified time frames. It's a great example of technology upending traditional methods of business operations.

Data and analytics

Finally, due to its centralised and unified nature, a digital platform can act as a fantastic data collection platform. The data can be combined with analytics and machine learning to reveal operational insights, which can, in turn, inform strategic business decisions. In-built analytics tools can use existing data to grow sales by identifying and suggesting potential cross-sell and up-sell opportunities for future use.

Add the 24/7 always-on nature of a digital platform, which has its own availability and convenience benefits, and it’s easy to see why a platform-based reseller toolkit makes sense in the modern ICT channel environment.

Interested and want to know more?

Click through for more information on the various features of an affordable platform-based digital toolkit.

Or, alternatively, speak to an expert regarding how a centralised digital ICT reseller toolkit can be of benefit to your business.

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