Time To Listen To HP's Sales Pitch?

HP's new SMB Exchange sales team is reported to be ready to entice SMBs with good prices and choice of suppliers.As reported in ChannelInsider, SMB Exchange, introduced this week, is a "sales strike team" ready to make inroads into the SMB market. Businesses with fewer than 500 employees spend $55 billion a year on technology, according to the report, and almost half of that goes to Dell. HP wants a bigger slice of that enticing pie.

With that in mind, SMB exchange will offer new HP customers prices on products and services that match or beat Dell Direct pricing. Meaghan Kelly, vice president of SMB Channel Strategy in HPs Americas Solution Partners Organization, tells ChannelInsider, "Its a take-no-prisoners strategy, and were going after this market segment aggressively." The goal is to create HP "customers for life."

Part of the approach will be to offer customers the option to buy direct from HP or to buy from sales partners (part of Dell's strategy as well). Earlier efforts by HP to increase its presence in the SMB market have annoyed some of its sales partners because they created competition between direct sales and the partners' efforts. That's a mistake HP is determined to avoid this time, and the choice of vendors should benefit customers.

If your business is not already buying from HP, it might be a good idea to answer the phone the next time their salesperson calls. SMBs are in their sights -- in a good way.

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