The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears drives home an important yet often overlooked point when evaluating different aspects of channel partner support in a channel program. If you recall, she tried three different porridges before finding one that suited her tastes. In the channel, that’s about as mainstream a case study you’ll find on the importance of building a sampling program.

Instead of just providing financial incentives to our channel partners through AMD’s Fusion Partner Program , we also decided to provide evaluation kits, free of charge, to many system builders, which include graphics cards, hardware drivers, marketing materials, and access to a customized site in support of the sample initiative.  This affords them the opportunity to build and test configurations before placing orders.  At that point, our channel partners also get access to AMD’s entire ecosystem. Our ability to connect AIB partners, CPU distributors, and motherboard manufactures to every level of the channel enables system builders to sell differentiated platforms to their customers.

Just as a sampling program can strengthen the ties between a company and its channel partners, it can also leverage the relationship between the channel partners and customers.  By giving channel partners a chance to familiarize themselves with new products, they can then choose to develop solutions that adhere to the needs of today’s end-users.   This benefit is exemplified through the AMD sampling program’s focus on value products and its aid in helping partners respond to a clear market demand. 

For example, even though AMD’s high-end enthusiast products get a lot of attention from a dedicated, strong customer base, some of our other, more value-driven products don’t get as much vocal fanfare even though there is strong demand. Giving channel partners access to value products as well as the opportunity to familiarize themselves with these solutions prior to launch is an important step to helping them realize the advantages of selling to cost-sensitive customers.  Plus, the sampling program helps channel partners feel comfortable exploring revenue-building configurations, such as determining how to meet customer expectation for high-end experience at a value price.  The end result may be that channel partners enjoy revenue and performance benefits by delivering value products to an untapped market of mainstream consumers. 

While sampling programs are not new, the work that goes into maintaining a successful one is constant. Not only do we talk regularly with our channel partners all over the world about their market’s specific needs, but managing the logistics for ensuring we deliver on our promise of sending the right products and support at the right time is no small task either. Although this translates to more up-front work for AMD, we’re confident putting our products in the hands of experienced channel partners who can share their experiences and deliver the in-demand solutions to an eager marketplace is the right choice.

This way, just like Goldilocks, everyone gets the porridge that’s just right for them.

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David Kenyon is VP of WW Channel Marketing for AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.