Wick Hill wins ‘Distributor Channel Programme’ of the year and is highly commended in ‘Security Distributor of the Year’ category at MicroScope ACE Awards 2008

Woking, Surrey: 27th May 08 - Security VAD Wick Hill has achieved a double whammy at this year’s MicroScope ACE awards held at the Hilton Park Lane in London last week. Against very strong competition, the VAD won the ‘Distributor Channel Programme’ award and was given the highly commended award in the ‘Security Distributor of the Year’ category.

The ‘Distributor Channel Programme’ award, according to the organisers,  went to the distributor which ‘delivered a channel programme in the most innovative and reseller friendly manner.’

Ian Kilpatrick, chairman Wick Hill Group, said: “These awards recognise the tremendous effort we have made over the last year to generate more business for our reseller partners. They also highlight the commitment of our whole team to delivering the best possible value add to our channel partners. We’re all delighted at this fantastic achievement.”

In the last year, Wick Hill has focussed on improving all aspects of lead generation, which has resulted in a tripling of leads passed onto resellers. To help convert leads to sales, Wick Hill introduced two new schemes, which have been highly praised by channel partners - a lead management service and the provision of web microsites.

The success of Wick Hill’s efforts is illustrated by an increase in its turnover of around 30%, reflecting an increase in sales made by reseller partners. The company has also recently made GBP 1.5 million additional credit available to resellers who, despite growth, may have been finding it difficult to gain funding in the current credit environment.

Lead management service, web microsites and ongoing support

Wick Hill’s Lead Management Service (LMS) provides an  easy-to-use online alternative to the usual Excel spreadsheet. LMS allocates leads to resellers, then manages and tracks them, providing email reminders when it’s time to follow up calls or take other agreed actions. Mark Vickers, sales and marketing director for reseller Storm Europe, commented: “It’s a very, very good idea. It has already improved our ability to deal with leads and will improve our lead to sales conversion rate.”

Coupled with the LMS, Wick Hill has also provided an innovative web site management service, developing microsites, which also help resellers successfully identify and conclude business.

Wick Hill’s strong ongoing commitment to resellers includes support at every stage of the sales process from pre-sales through to post-sales. This support is available in various forms including technical and consultancy expertise either by phone or in person, accompanying resellers on customer visits, help with installations, product support post-sales, and a wide range of training courses.