Channel politics have been going on for as long as the channel has existed. But, when politics crosses the line into bad behavior, then I start to take notice and have to speak up. I was recently forwarded an email from an RMM vendor executive to show exactly how far a competitor sales person will go to take MSPs away from their existing vendor relationships, and even use exaggerations and lies to accomplish this goal.
The email is from a competitive RMM company and the sale person begins by asking the MSP if they were aware that their current RMM vendor had cut their support staff. How did this salesperson know to a precise percentage point, how many people had been cut from the competitor RMM company? That's a good question. I'm guessing they didn't know and just made up a number. Aside from the obvious legal issues involved, the email was kind of disgusting to read because it shows no scruples whatsoever from this RMM vendor and the lengths to which they will go to secure a sale.
Saying your technology is better than a competitors is one thing; that's an opinion and we're all welcome to have them. When those statements, however, cross into possible slandering another company and trying to poach their MSP customers, that's something entirely different. I know this may be old news to some of you, especially MSPs who have experienced this type of predatory behavior from vendor sales reps, but it was suddenly much more visceral to me after I saw a real email.
Why Vendors Shouldn't Bad Mouth Your Competition
- Is it really a positive way to get MSPs to notice you?
- MSPs want technology that works, not slick sales people who misrepresent and exaggerate
- Vendors should focus on what makes them better, not what makes their competition bad
- If you're willing to lie about the competition, what else are you willing to do?
- Sending these types of emails may end up in the wrong hands...you know who you are RMM vendor!
