What a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) Does & How They Can Help You

It may be that you are beginning to crush it on your way to Return on Investment (ROI) with the impressive range of functions that your chosen pricing software vendor is providing for you to address your pricing objectives on route to your specific business goals. However, it could be that your pricing solution needs a turbo boost with additional features to help you find the precise pricing technology niche you require. Consequently, boutique pricing needs have led to a surge in demand for technology-based partnerships with Valued-Added Reseller (VAR) experts to develop end-to-end solutions to fill or solve problems in existing functionality gaps or select existing services, that allow organizations and their pricing team to simply turn a key to activate it (a turn-key solution). And due to that increase in demand, we have decided to provide an outline of what a VAR does and how they can help you in your company’s pricing journey. 

At Pricefx, over the last decade and more, we have been helping hundreds of businesses just like yours to discover their unique pathways to profit with the assistance of the latest in pricing software technology. Over those 10+ years, we have paired many customers with an experienced VAR from our ecosystem partners to assist those clients in realizing their business goals and generate the most value possible from their pricing software. 

Let’s dive into it, beginning with an explanation of what a VAR does, before following up with the ways that VARs can help you reach your company’s goals and objectives as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

What Does a VAR Do? 

Value-Added Resellers (VARs) are companies designed to take other companies or manufacturers products and add features or services and then resell those pricing solutions to the end client or user (sometimes rebranded under their own name). 

The additional features can be pricing software technology specific consulting or helping a business like yours find the product or service that most closely aligns with your specific pricing technical specification or need. On occasions, it could even be an actual integration of a pricing software vendor’s service with your in-house designed system or legacy product to create a completely different product or service. 

Value-Added Resellers (VARs) are one of the 4 distinct types of pricing software partners that work in combination with pricing software vendors to help companies’ business outcomes they are seeking.  

Other than the technological enablement that VARs can add to your company’s pricing software functionality, other organizations also collaborate with Pricing Strategy Partners, System Integrators, and ISVs (Independent Software Vendors). 

In this article, we will take a deep dive into the examination of how VAR partners can assist your organization to turbo boost your pricing software functionality to align with your business goals.

If your company is not yet in the situation for intensive analysis into what VARs do, please refer to the article link directly below for a general overview of the diverse types of pricing software partners on offer for your business to help you decide; 

How an VAR Partner Can Assist Your Business 

A VAR partner can assist a company by developing custom-made technology solutions or select services that an organization can add to improve their pricing system.  

What’s more, the VAR partner may also act as a general consultancy ‘Mr. Fix It’ by also selecting a System Integrator or Strategy Partner that suits your business. 

3 Reasons to Use a VAR for Your Business

1. A One-Stop Pricing Shop

When you purchase a product or service from a VAR, you do not have to depend on someone else for any form of maintenance. Usually, the VAR provides all the required services such as upgrades and customization in order to keep pace with ever-evolving technologies and consumer needs. VARs also offer technical and logistical support to resolve your concerns that may arise from time to time.

2. Wide Range of Options

VARs are usually connected to multiple pricing software vendors, so they can offer you a range of brand choices to help you find the right solution to meet your needs. Value-Added Resellers work with you and understand your needs and with their expertise accordingly suggest a solution that best fits your business and serves your goals.

3. Saves You Time

When you consult a VAR for purchasing products, it eliminates the need to contact multiple pricing vendors. VARs have dedicated teams that keep track of the latest information and products. A short meeting with a VAR can give you quick and valuable insights to better meet your needs. 

What Types of Companies are a Good Fit for a VAR Partner? 

Organizations that require assistance in selecting other types of partners to assist them with their total pricing software solutions (strategy and system integrator partners in particular) are well suited to using a VAR partner.  

Additionally, those companies that are looking to use multiple pricing software solutions across a range of vendors may also be a good fit to partner with a VAR.  

If your business is operating an old first-generation pricing software system and you are looking to upgrade your pricing solution, a VAR may increase your pricing functionality by building additional performance architecture or add-ons on top of your old legacy system. 

As ever, it will depend on the exact nature of your business and the objectives that your organization is trying to achieve. 

Who is NOT a Good Fit for a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) Partner? 

Organizations that that already have their pricing system ‘ducks-in-a-row’ should not seek to work with a VAR.  

If you are already working with any modern native-cloud pricing software solution, no need should exist to incorporate the services of a VAR partner. As stated above, a System Integrator or Strategy Partner could better suit your needs for integration, implementation, or pricing strategy development purposes if you are already working with a cloud-native pricing software vendor. 

How to Choose the Best VAR Partner for Your Business 

Choosing a VAR is not a hard science, but regardless, it is best to do your homework and evaluate potential VAR candidates before putting pen to paper on any possible partnership agreement.  

Here are some key criteria to consider, helping you to narrow down your choices and choose the VAR best suited to doing business with your organization; 

• Experience – Prior knowledge and understanding in developing customized solutions. 
• Certified Reseller of several pricing platform systems (including any you currently operate) 
• Expertise in working in combination with other types of pricing software partners – A myriad of experiences and first-hand knowledge working across a range of multiple pricing software partner solutions (ISV/Technology Partners, Strategy Partners, and System Integrators). 
• Change Management Specialists – Experience and knowledge in planning a long-term strategic vision while managing daily operational demands in an ever-evolving environment of rapid change is critical. 

Bring Expertise & Value with a VAR Partner 

Having made your VAR partner choice, with successful management of the relationship your VAR partnership can be a critical method for ensuring your ongoing business agility and bottom-line profit growth. Great VAR relationships provide scalable opportunities for ongoing pricing software functionality improvements and with that, the ability for your organization to penetrate new markets without unnecessary wholesale investment in new product development. 

If you are a company that is exploring the pricing technology landscape for a pricing software solution with a strong VAR partnership component, then learn more here about the Advantage Pricefx Partner Network with several quality VAR partner choices on offer. 

On the flip side, if you are still unsure of the type of help that your business may require from a pricing software partner, check out the article link below to learn more in depth about different types of partners, what they do, and the pros and cons of each; 

On the other hand, before setting yourself up with a software partner, you may be able to firstly get organized with your choice of preferred pricing software. 

At Pricefx, we can kick off your pricing software experience and point you in the specific direction of the precise partner type that will suit your organization best once we have worked together to identify and target your specialized needs. 

Click on the image below to talk to one of our pricing experts;