SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS

Vendors break promises...

Settlement of claims is one of the biggest issue that resellers and SIs face today. Most vendors and distributors come out with various schemes and make a lot of promises along with them, only these are not kept. A leading networking products vendor has defaulted very badly in terms of settling claims of schemes on time. Same is the case with many other companies, which have taken even up to 15 months in settling claims arising out of various schemes.

Promises made verbally...



Resellers and SIs put in their best efforts to make reward programs and schemes successful. And finally when vendors achieve their objectives, they swiftly default or back-out on their promises. Many times, promises are made verbally and hence we are unable to fight for our rights.

Forced to take hard steps...



By backing out or delaying incentives and claims, vendors are showing their unprofessional attitude to partners. Vendors should keep in mind that it is resellers/SIs who actually bring business to them. If all resellers get together against a vendor, it can really spell trouble for the vendor. But we have maintained our decency keeping end-users in mind. However, if things go beyond control, we will be forced to take hard steps.

Schemes run at vendor discretion...



Since all schemes are run solely at the discretion of vendors/distributors, participants have very little say in getting the claims settled. Neither do participants have the time to leave their business and run after the vendor for honoring claims.

No transparency, no schemes...



If vendors cannot bring enough transparency in their reward programs, our advice to them is to stay away from such programs. By not letting participants know about the whereabouts of where lucky draws are conducted and in what manner they are conducted, vendors are only showing their unprofessional attitude. There are some companies who have come out with excellent schemes and have kept their promises well. The defaulting vendors should learn from such precedents.

No dates for settling claims...



Most vendors give deadlines for submitting claims, but very few give dates for when claims will be settled. In this world of computerization, a vendor should not take more than 45 days to process all claims after its completion. And essentially it should also assign a person or two to follow up every scheme.

Some partners break rules...

There is no standard procedure for addressing delayed settlement of claims. Many companies face problems because of bogus claims or late submission of claims, which can very well be avoided.

Have a transparent claim settlement policy...



Every vendor or a distributor does try to enforce a transparent policy towards settlement of claims arising out of various schemes. In some vendor’s case, delays may have happened. But these may not be intentional. We at Rashi Peripherals, settle every claim within 30-45 days from the date of submission. In fact, our last channel program called the Fortune Maker Scheme closed on 30th June 2002, and we declared results on 20th July 2002.

Clear terms and conditions...



If a company is running a channel program, it becomes the company’s responsibility to ensure that the program is run in a fair and transparent manner. In the end, the program should benefit channel partners as well as the vendor. Partners gain in terms of incentives, prizes, gifts and the vendor gains in revenue, marketshare and brand recall. All terms and conditions of these schemes should be made clear at the very beginning, so that a dispute does not arise at a later stage.

Verify and clarify...



Deciding on terms and conditions is not an easy task. But gathering information from past experience of vendors who have run such schemes will surely help one in deciding terms and conditions for any scheme. Rashi´s schemes have always made partners feel comfortable in participating in the scheme. We always give participants the opportunity to verify and clarify doubts arising out of any scheme.

Win customer confidence...



The company should keep in mind that schemes are run not just to promote a product, but also to win customer confidence. As a distributor, Rashi´s business runs because of reseller/SIs. We cannot afford to disappoint them. However, it becomes necessary to follow a process in every scheme by which one can verify and identify the genuiness of claims made after the scheme. Otherwise this could backfire on the vendor. 

Stick to promises...



Companies should make efforts to close schemes as decided and stick to promises made officially after the completion of the scheme. Also, the company should inform all its participants about winners on a common platform. Rashi had announced its winners on its web site, which was open for all.