You need to be Consistently Consistent

The annual DQC Channels' Satisfaction Survey done so
thoroughly by IDC India has one big lesson for all the vendors: you have to be
Consistently Consistent in whatever you do, especially when dealing with the
fickle channel community. Why I said fickle is that the channel community is not
very loyal. Its loyalty is only to margins. Any vendor who can show them the way
to make the moolah, has got it made.

Not surprisingly, there is probably only one vendor in the
country who eminently qualifies for the status of Consistently Consistent. And
that vendor is HP. This MNC has made it a habit to sweep the top honors in the
coveted DQC Channels' Choice Awards year after year. Out of a total of 29
awards given away this year by DQ Channels, HP's share is 11, which is just
one short of 12 it won last year. Overall, the vendor has won the Channel
Champion Gold award five times in six years of these awards existence.

The most interesting part of this year's survey is that
out of the seven macro attributes, HP took the top honors in only one attribute.

On the other hand, in all the remaining six attributes it figured amongst the
top five vendors of choice and well-above the industry average. As a result of
this consistency, this vendor easily qualifies for the status of Consistently
Consistent.

However, for HP watchers this is something, which is not
surprisingly at all. It has always been known for this trait. What is surprising
is the other vendor who also qualifies for the status of Consistently Consistent
and that vendor is Lenovo. This Chinese Chieftain was born in India just about a
year back and everybody was waiting for it to falter. But it has surprised
everybody by turning in a stellar performance by figuring in amongst the top
five vendors of choice in all the seven macro attributes. Overall, it has bagged
five trophies, which is second only to HP's 11.

The one single message for the vendors, which emanates from
this year's survey, is that whatever you do, do it with full conviction and do
it consistently. This essentially means don't make promises you can't
fulfill. Rather, focus on the core issues, which affect the day-to-day working
of the channel community. Any vendor who helps the channels tackle those daily
issues, has got it made as far as channel loyalty is concerned. And that's
precisely what is needed to be Consistently Consistent.

Once again, congratulations to all the awardees of this
year DQC Channels' Choice Awards. You richly deserve them. And for those who
got left out, they need to introspect and analyze the areas where they need to
pull up their socks. Best of luck to them also.

Asim Raina asimr@cybermedia.co.in