Not all radio customers represent big organizations, making thousand-unit purchases at a given time. Further, not all users have general capability requirements that can be addressed by equipment straight out of the box.
Even as one of the largest radio solutions providers in the world, L3Harris Technologies can meet the needs of organizations however large and small through its indirect channel partners.
L3Harris’ Public Safety and Professional Communications (PSPC) business has a direct-to-customer salesforce comprising dozens of employees and 200 reseller channel partners, according to Todd Perdieu, L3Harris North American Indirect Sales director.
“The true value of the indirect channel is the local presence that essentially extends the reach of L3Harris to our customers.” Perdieu said. “We offer world-class radio solutions, and often times our customers benefit from the expanded skill set of our partners. Our local dealers become integrators of L3Harris technology into the customer environment, giving it a personal touch, knowing that the L3Harris technology will be used to protect their own community. Having a local L3Harris indirect channel partner brings tremendous value to L3Harris customers.”
As an extension of L3Harris, the dealers provide a high grade of service and extend the ability for the company to connect with customers. The company’s relationships with its dealers are critical to enable partners for speed, efficiency and local service to meet urgent customer needs.
“There’s certainly a significant amount of trust required to have a high-functioning channel,” Perdieu said. “The culture that we’ve achieved in our channel is based on years of business relationships and building connections to best serve our customers.”
SUPERIOR SOLUTIONS
Product quality and assured service support are table stakes in building customer trust. It’s a whole new ball game to earn and sustain that trust when you partner with the U.S. Intelligence Community, like Superior Communications Inc. of Rockville, Maryland.
Product suppliers for the Intelligence Community work within what is known as the “Trusted Workforce,” and it takes more than simply having the best products to enter into that select group, according to Superior Communications’ vice president of DoD and Intelligence Community Programs, David Tievy.
The key to Superior’s success has been spending a lot of time with specific teams and meeting their exact requirements, as well as being available whenever their customers need them, he said.
“The customer knows they can make a phone call if they need 10 radios, and we’ve got them in stock, and I’ll make sure that mission gets supported before we even have a contract,” Tievy said. Superior Communications has seen its business opportunities grow since the L3Harris Technologies merger due to the expansion of solution sets the new organization provides.
“The merger opens up the product basket for us,” Tievy said. “We work with groups who need night-vision solutions, or ViaSat communication terminals for their mobile command centers. They start to rely on us as a one-stop shop.”
ADDING END-USER VALUE
The dealer network can leverage the credibility of the L3Harris brand, but end users also benefit from niche capabilities and local support from the dealers themselves, according to Perdieu.
While PSPC employs direct sellers for Public Safety, Utility, Federal and International customers, it also has had for decades a North American indirect channel model to open opportunities for smaller organizations to access to the company’s leading-edge technology.
The company conducts due diligence before entering into an indirect seller agreement to ensure the partner is the right size, has the adequate technical, service and sales capabilities and aligns with L3Harris’ strategic approach and high-end market customer base. Strong local community ties are also beneficial in a regional partner, Perdieu said.
“Different dealers have different capabilities, so we have different opportunities for them,” he added.
LOOKING FORWARD AND OUTWARD
While L3Harris and its dealer network serve customers globally, the company is looking to expand its reach into other urban communities, including Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., according to Perdieu.
“The Indirect Channel team is constantly recruiting new dealers to add to the team and help spread the value that L3Harris technology provides.”
REGIONAL SUPPORT
L3Harris leverages a two-tier distribution model for its North American PSPC indirect channel support. This allows dealers and resellers to send purchase orders to one of four Regional Center of Excellence (RCEs), which then collects purchase orders from around the area and sends bulk orders to L3Harris.
“This model is more efficient, and the RCE layer is important to our dealers because it lowers their cost.”
“The RCEs have the lion’s share of the inventory, so the dealers don’t have to invest in that. They can help the dealers grow their business.”
The model also facilitates agility for L3Harris by focusing support to the regional centers and letting the RCEs provide local assistance to the dealers themselves. Further, dealers buy for resale, so their revenues are not limited to commission.
Not only is L3Harris the only manufacturer in the industry that offers such a regional support layer, it does not limit its dealers or resellers to certain areas of its product catalog, according to Perdieu.
“Because we have built-in support, we have always allowed our dealers to sell our full catalog of our products and services,” he said. “We provide the training, the built-in support and allow them to sell everything.”
EXPANDING THE NETWORK
Change is never easy, but L3Harris and its channel structure makes joining the public safety and professional communications team seamless. The company’s commitment to supporting its channel with the resources has led to business turning points for companies including Advanced Communications & Electronics, Inc.
For Advanced, a disintegrating relationship with their previous product supplier required an expedited transition to a new partner, according to Lori Henz, Advanced’s vice president.
Advanced and L3Harris met to discuss the benefits of the L3Harris products and support and had an agreement in place within a week. Before a month had passed, L3Harris and Dailey & Wells Communications, a San Antonio-based RCE, sent down teams of engineers and project managers to train the entire Advanced team on the ins and outs of the new products and service support. L3Harris provides online training courses, demonstration equipment, dealer account overviews, business and sales plans to support new partners’ acclimation into the new organization, according to Perdieu.
“Quite often, the Regional Center of Excellence is right there with them along the way, sharing equipment and supporting the dealer getting their feet off the ground,” he said. “Dailey & Wells was a classic story of an RCE supporting a dealer and how that can be a very rewarding relationship for the dealer.”
The partnership with L3Harris has been a boon for the company, according to Henz. Advanced has increased sales and their customer base. The level of L3Harris and Dailey & Wells’ support for Advanced and their customers “really cements the brand,” she adds.
“In our 20-year history with our previous supplier, we never had interaction with anyone, even over a new product,” Henz said. “It’s really incredible the relationship L3Harris builds with its dealers. The support has remained at that level or higher since that very day.”