To drive deeper into its existing reseller accounts, ViewSonic Corp. has announced its new Finch Club and GovEd channel programs to help partners become more profitable.
Jeff Volpe, vice-president and general manager for North America at ViewSonic, said as part of the company’s continuing commitment to its channel and innovation plans, it has renamed its Access Partner Program as the Finch Club and, within that, has also introduced the GovEd Program for resellers who sell to the public sector. Through GovEd, partners can receive specialized training and discounts as they relate to the public sector market.
“We want to continue to offer the channel updated changes because our resellers are always looking for us to keep innovating,” Volpe said.
Currently, Volpe said ViewSonic’s overall North American partner count sits at about 20,000, with around 2,700 of them being from Canada.
The company hopes to reach out further to its channel and to work closer with them with the introduction of the new programs, Volpe said. In addition to targeting existing reseller accounts, Volpe said ViewSonic also welcomes new partners.
To qualify for the GovEd Program, partners must first be a member of the Finch Club program. While the programs are not tiered, Volpe said the partners that work closer and show commitment to ViewSonic will see the company work even closer with them.
In the future, Volpe said as its business grows and product momentum picks up speed, there’s the possibility of ViewSonic creating other certification programs that will better profile partners’ strengths in the market.
ViewSonic has also unveiled a new partner portal where partners can find resources and other information to help make the selling process easier. Whitepapers, demos programs and webinars are just some of the things partners can find through the portal.
“There’s an opportunity to expand our business in Canada,” Volpe said. “When the recession gets into (its) deepest points, customers want to make sure they get great value and they want partners that will have longevity in the marketplace.”
Volpe said ViewSonic has five distinct solution categories of products which include: digital signage and media player boxes, projectors, PC products, retail products and monitors. Of these, he says the company’s entry into the PC market is the biggest news thus far for the year.
“A lot of people wonder why we’re entering the PC space when we’re in a down market and the market may shrink,” Volpe says, “but our view is that we have an opportunity to grow our business and also our VARs’ businesses.”
During this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Volpe said the company announced its VPC100 all-in-one PC, in addition to its ViePC, which is a small, square-shaped PC that attaches to the back of any VESA-compatible display monitor to provide simple computing needs.
“I expect PC revenues will become pretty significant as it relates to our overall business,” Volpe said. “Our PC strategy is about the evolution of the whole desktop experience and having it be in synergy with the display. I feel if we don’t push forward in this (PC) initiative, that’s how much standalone display business we’ll lose.”