Skip to main content

Dear Vendors,

All of you are saying that we need capable distributors. Processing projects directly with end customers or resellers is too expensive. Distributors are better at it, and are cheaper. Is this a one-sided opinion? No, our resellers also say: We prefer buying from the distributor rather than directly from the vendor. Well, maybe not from just any distributor, but maybe from a premium distributor like Jarltech. Why? Because the merchandise is delivered from stock, in time and at the correct address, and the payment terms are favourable. What's more, the distributor acts as a buffer for the vendors' attitude that sometimes is cumbersome and bureaucratic. Yes, leave that to us.

We have understood this, the customers have understood this. Then why do vendors always make a fuss when a project price needs to be converted to delivery via the distribution? Yes, it costs the vendor a little of their margin. But a premium distributor is not a post office, there's more to it than delivering parcels, it involves service. Tailoring deliveries to reseller needs, software staging, special reporting, applying protective films to mobile device screens, including a repeat order form for consumables – we do that all day long. We take care of your complicated service contracts, and we even include the corresponding accessories in the delivery.

Our vendors often get in their own way – and in that of customer service. Commission agreements with their employees are to blame. If Jarltech gets a small percentage, the corporation saves money, but that salesperson's turnover decreases a little. That's why it should work differently: If a deal is fulfilled via a premium distributor, this vendor's sales team should earn more. At the end of the day, this saves costs, issues and work. I bet that account managers could tend to their customers better and sell much more if they didn't have to struggle with internal order processing.

Luckily, reality is now hitting our vendors. There are notable end customers – the kind who spend millions in our sector every year – who give system integrators instructions: Regardless of which vendor is awarded the contract, you must not order from them directly, but rather from Jarltech. Because then, the supply chain works, as well as the customisation, even after three years. This is an honour to my team and me. We never advertise ourselves to end users – but there are end customers who know the value that a distributor can add to a reseller from behind the scenes.

And apart from the end customers, many of our resellers no longer want to accept that vendors make offers to them directly and then charge an extra fee for buying from the distribution channel so that they can make a living too. Because that's nonsense and the vendor is the one who saves the most thanks to distribution channels. Therefore, purchasing from a distributor should cost less. Please think! If a controller of our vendors reads this: Please have a look at your fulfilment costs among your quarterly figures. The sense of happiness that arises everywhere once you add Jarltech to your chain should, of course, not be disregarded.