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Finally, our Indian government both at state level and central level have understood the importance of having a robust IT infrastructure. They are ready and eager to invest in products and solutions that give them that.



With the central government and state government’s plans to computerize their offices and complete their e-governance projects, there is an increased IT orders expected to come in most reseller’s way. While the returns may take longer but the business in this case is assured. There are few basic points to keep in mind when pitching for a strategic government account.



To begin with the reseller should be able to leverage the distributor’s programs and personnel to target government orders. Most big distributors have special team to target the government segment and often offer schemes and incentives to resellers who can get them government orders. The reseller should partner with a distributor and offer to close the deal for the distributor. That way the channel partner will be able to get a better credit as well as margin from the distributor. In turn the partner must pass on part of the benefit to the government buyer to create long-standing relationship.



Another way to go about selling to government and getting more margins out of it is to partner directly with the vendor. A product vendor generally will offer the partner financial support and higher margin than a distributor. The VAR should connect with the vendor’s team that sells to government to channel more business towards him. Be open with the principles when selling competitive products as part of a solution. Take advantage of partner training programs that vendors hold to train the staff on technology on products and get right certification. That strengthens a VAR's credentials with the government buying agency.



Now not all VARs or SIs are trained in all technology. But if they need to bag a particular big order that also has specifications for other solutions, the VAR should look at partnering with other VARs with specific expertise. This will help both the partners create a complete solution and offer a better deal to the buyer and retain customers. This will also allow a VAR to compete against larger contractors and distributors. By partnering with another VAR, a solution provider can also avoid a situation where the government buyer might decide to pair him with another competitive player who might try to steal away business.



Finally the VAR should keep tab of all the tenders and contracts announced. In case the VAR misses a contract, another good way to get into the same tender is to partner with the prime VAR who has won and try to offer complementary solution. Another important point a reseller should remember is to build the relationship with the government buying agency. Try to understand its needs. Also the VAR should never outsell itself, instead concentrate on its core strength technologies and partner to offer other solutions. Finally to retain the government customer, the reseller must foster the relationship with added service and be visible to the agencies during road shows, seminars etc.



In fact even when the market sees a growth slowdown, you can still tap into the government through product upgrades and after sales maintenance contracts and keep your revenues growing.