IBM Canada Ltd is putting pressure on Industry Remarketers to join the company’s Authorised Agent programme, in a bid to cut direct selling costs on small business accounts. The move has implications for resellers in the US, as Canada is often to used to pilot schemes subsequently introduced in the US, writes Computer Systems News. […]
IBM Canada Ltd is putting pressure on Industry Remarketers to join the company’s Authorised Agent programme, in a bid to cut direct selling costs on small business accounts. The move has implications for resellers in the US, as Canada is often to used to pilot schemes subsequently introduced in the US, writes Computer Systems News. In addition, IBM has openly stated that it wishes to push its number of US agent territories up to 800 from 300 by end of 1989, and is offering bonuses and credit incentives accordingly (CI No 1,124). Small Accounts is the term used by IBM to describe companies with 20 to 1,000 employees. Currently, small accounts provide IBM with indifferent financial returns, because its high administrative costs often outweigh the amount of business gained. By substituting agents for its own salesmen, IBM would be able to shift the administrative burden, without losing out on the proceeds of small account sales. And in contrast to resellers, who operate nationwide on an independent basis, agents are subject to a number of IBM-imposed territory restrictions, and are treated as an extension of the company’s own direct sales force.
