Selling Centralized Procurement to Your Business

Megan MacKeown|November 16, 2023

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Through our experience, we have seen how Value-Added Resellers have lost offshore opportunities due to four major pain points:

You have a limited distribution channel, with no registered entities in the destination countries.

You don’t have sufficient knowledge of the import/export requirements for tech hardware.

You don’t want to take on the risks associated with international trade.

Your client wants a DDP shipment but does not want to take on the role of importing the goods.

We want to make your life easier. By showing the benefits of a centralized procurement approach, we aim to ensure resellers can bid for and retain international deals with the assistance of an IOR.

But understanding how it will improve your sales is not enough – how do you get your decision-makers to see the value-add of having an IOR solutions provider in your pocket?

If you are someone within sales at a reseller business, this piece is for you. Let’s dive into some of the key value-adds, considerations, and objections that often arise.

What an IOR Can Do for A Channel Partner

Let’s break it down.

Through a centralized procurement approach with your client, an IOR can help you:

Bid (and win) international deals

| IORs enable you to expand globally without the hassle of having to become a customs compliance expert yourself.

| From a simple shipment to a global rollout, TecEx builds out customs solutions for you based on the needs of your project. We can also provide upfront accurate quotes – this includes items like duties and your project’s needs, freight, and insurance.

Access to foreign destinations

| IORs are entities with a physical presence and are registered in the destination country.

| TecEx has in-country teams in over 200 destinations across the globe. We have developed relationships with customs and understand all the country-specific nuances – this means no hidden issues.

Reduce the risk

| Importing and exporting high-value, dual-use goods come with a lot of risk. An IOR is essential to managing this risk and enabling global expansion, but more on that here.

| TecEx has specialized in the importing of tech gear. Our experience and compliance database ensure that we cover all the potential risks associated with the deployment of these goods.

IORs are your in-house compliance team

| White-label our services as your own. The TecEx team is ready to hop on calls to explain processes to you (and your client) whenever you need.

An IOR partner is essential to deploying tech hardware across borders.

Check out our other value-adds here.

How Does This Translate for Your Client

A centralized procurement approach is also beneficial to your clients.

It can reduce procurement costs
- With you, they have access to bulk discounts and avoid tiered selling
It simplifies many soft in-efficiencies that occur with in-market purchasing
- Your client does not need to onboard new distributors or vendors when they can fulfill all deals with you
- There is no need to sort out work permits if engineers need to configure the tech in-country
- The entire project can be cut with a single purchase order (removing any hedging headaches).

Overall, central procurement insulates and protects your end-user clients. But there will be questions from your clients and your senior decision-makers – let’s look at some of the most common objections we have seen.

Objection Handling

Some of the most common objections we see with our channel partner’s clients include:

The OEM suggested that I purchase the goods directly from the in-country distributor

While this is often the case, if compliance regulations change in any way, the goods would need to be reimported with the latest documentation. Our client went through this exact scenario, which extended deadlines and the budget.

The client wants to ship DDP and does not want to be the importer

This is the perfect scenario for you to use an IOR. You handle the IT procurement, and we handle the logistics and compliance.

Can’t my freight forwarder or courier handle the import

General logistics carriers don’t specialize in certain products. Without this nuanced understanding of the customs complexities associated with technology hardware, the shipments often get stuck in customs, sent back, or even destroyed. Using a specialist ensures that all the customs compliance requirements have been handled.

Can the foreign office just act as the importer

We suggest steering your client away from this. Highlight the risks involved, or just send them this blog piece.

How to Sell the Upsell

Ok, you’re on board and see how an IOR can truly help your sales. But now what? We have an email template to help you convince your decision-makers to partner with us for your IT deployment needs.

Copy the template below.

Hi [Decision-maker’s name],

I recently came across a company that would greatly add value to the business and increase the scope of our dealings – a specialist technology Importer of Record – TecEx.

Why TecEx?

Through a full turnkey solution, TecEx is a great partner to clear our client’s IT gear compliantly and efficiently through customs. This means we don’t have to rely on in-country VARs or worry about getting the gear to our clients global offices.

What this means for us

We can bid for any international deal as TecEx has capabilities into 200 destinations.

They have a complete customs compliance database that ensures all the compliance regulations are handled.

Using TecEx’s DDP shipping solution, we can procure the goods and let TecEx handle the rest – from pick up to final delivery straight to our clients.

Through established relationships, TecEx is able to get optimized deals with international carriers to move the goods.

We can completely white-label their service! TecEx will become an extension of our team – hoping on any calls to guide us and our clients.

Through the TecEx App, we can create quotes instantly with very little information so we can bid for deals with upfront costings.

Should we consider TecEx?

Thanks for taking the time to consider this. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Get in touch with TecEx here.

Best,
[Your Name]

Let’s Talk Central Procurement

Selling Centralized Procurement to Your Business