Industry consultants and market influencers continue to represent significant market development and new revenue opportunities to telecom vendors and network service providers. These influencers include telecommunications, networking and information technology consultants, system integrators, solution providers, e-commerce consultants, architects, engineers, and others.

Key market facts:

• Industry consulting has surpassed $13 billion annually, and is projected to continue to grow at an average annual rate of 15% through 2002;
  
• Consultants will influence nearly $25 billion of enterprise telecom equipment and services sales, and about $18 billion in network infrastructure sales to service providers – or more than 20% of total sales;
  
• Nearly 40% of enterprise/end-user businesses, across all vertical markets, employ the services of consultants;
  
• Currently, the fastest growing user of consultants, integrators and other advisors are emerging network service providers, who are seeking guidance on both business strategy and network infrastructure issues.

What consultants know, including their market perceptions, drive the influence they have on the configuration and components of their clients’ networks. Vendors and service providers who are not effectively educating, supporting and building relationships with the consultants most active and influential in their served markets are not attaining the share of consultants’ recommendations that they can and should be.

• Certain vendors and service providers are well aware of this market opportunity, informing and supporting consultants through what is commonly referred to as a Consultant Liaison Program (CLP) or channel;
• Many CLPs are not effectively capitalizing on the telecom consultant opportunity for a variety of strategic and management support reasons;
• An effective CLP can increase consultants’ recommendations of its company’s products and services by more than 20% per year;
• More than 65% of consultants’ recommendations are implemented, leading to a new sale.

CLP Success Factors:

• Program and senior management champions
• Market-driven business plan with sales contribution objectives
• Link to channel programs
• Consultant segmentation and targeting
• Track and measure results

The Brookside Group welcomes the opportunity to help industry vendors and service providers initiate or improve their CLPs or consultant channel. 

Call or email us to discuss how we can help - 1-800-336-0761 or msawka@brooksidegroup.com.

© 2001 The Brookside Group, LLC

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