Yet even as customers reined in spending, solution providers continued to call on their clients. Just less than three quarters (72 percent) of companies surveyed said they did not pull back on the number of sales visits they made during the recession.
Nearly two-thirds of solution providers (65 percent) said they curtailed their use of broad sales and marketing campaigns, favoring instead more direct, one-to-one visits with customers. Other recession-prompted strategies included hosting events with specific customer invitations and bringing representatives of product vendors on sales calls.
“Catering aggressively to existing customers helped offset the slowdown in net new business,” said Carolyn April, director, industry analysis, CompTIA.
Some solution providers changed their business model to rely more on maintenance and services than product sales during the recession. Still others offered customers subscription pricing and leasing options to provide as much financial flexibility as possible.
Though companies were cautious about expenses, a majority of solution providers continued to make investments in their company, which is crucial to the future. Only one-third of respondents reported delaying or canceling investments during the recession.
“In a down economy, continued investment is critical to future success,” April said. “Companies that tread water waiting for the recovery to happen will find themselves well behind those competitors that, despite the tough economy, kept putting dollars into exploring new technology offerings and vertical markets and did not stop marketing aggressively.”
While layoffs decimated many sectors of the economy, the majority of solution providers said they avoided staff reductions. More than three quarters (77 percent) reported no staff reductions during the recession.
Hiring new employees was a slightly different story, with respondents nearly split evenly on whether they delayed hiring during the recession.
Overall, however, the report demonstrates the resolve of the channel during one of the most difficult economic times.
“Today’s solution providers have weathered the recession pretty solidly,” said Steve Carlisle, vice president, commercial client services, ChannelForce. “It’s encouraging that investments in businesses and their employees did not abate.”
The survey results also include some cautionary sentiment about the economy. Pockets of deep skepticism remain about the recovery, with one president of a large IT services staffing organization predicting at least another six to nine months of recessionary conditions, including stagnant IT spending among customers.
