“The vendor you chose isn’t the problem, but the decision process might have been”
I have had several discussions with our reseller partners about what’s working, and what’s not. The easier discussion by far is what’s working, and why. Not what’s not working, and why.
I still ask both questions, because that is how I learn about different vendors and their products. Also, it is a great way to increase my knowledge about how I can help my customers with vendor selection as a Partner Success Manager.
There’s an uncomfortable truth in the NZ IT channel that no one really talks about. That is most likely every reseller has chosen a vendor or a product at some point that has not worked for them.
The reason many don’t (want to) talk about it is because admitting it usually means admitting “we got sold the dream, we skipped a few tough questions, and worse… we already sold it to customers, and now we’re “committed”. The most common reason is “we got it wrong”
A reseller I worked with (let’s call them “KiwiTech Solutions”) decided to roll out a nice new security platform. This…
Looked great in the demo
Had competitive margins
Vendor promised “full integration”
Sales team loved the pitch deck
Six months later:
Looked great in the demo
Had competitive margins
Vendor promised “full integration”
Sales team loved the pitch deck
Sound familiar?
The real issue is that it’s rarely that the vendor is bad.
It’s usually one of these:
We buy the story, not the fit
→ Fancy slides > real-world use cases
We optimise for margin, not long-term delivery
→ Cheapest upfront = highest cost later
We skip proper evaluation
→ Most organisations don’t fully test vendors before signing
We underestimate integration complexity
→ Disconnected tools = inefficiency and risk
We get locked in before we realise it
→ Switching costs quickly become the biggest barrier to fixing the issue
A lot of partners know when something isn’t right but instead of addressing it, we:
Double down
Keep selling it
Hope it improves with time
Or blame internal capability
That could be because changing direction is harder than simply carrying on.
So, let’s be real, the NZ IT channel has more “strategic partnerships” than actual strategy 😊 and somewhere along the way:
A great sales deck became the selection criteria
“Roadmap feature” became “it’ll be fine”
And “we’ll figure it out post-deal” became a business model
The strongest partners I see do this differently:
They challenge vendors harder before signing
They test real-world use cases (not just demos)
They prioritise operational fit over margin
And most importantly… they’re willing to pivot when something isn’t working
Because protecting your customer relationship > protecting a vendor decision.
Choosing a vendor isn’t just picking a product, it’s choosing a direction your business (and your customers) will be stuck with for years.
Finally, if something doesn’t feel right… it probably isn’t.
