Accounting software firm MYOB has attracted the wrath of some of its resellers after its CEO, Craig Winkler, claimed in ARN's December 1 issue that "we're not doing the Compaq thing and setting up MYOB stores, and we're not direct selling to our existing customers".
Gunter Jank, managing director of Perth's Cash and Carry, believes MYOB's policy of selling and managing upgrades for customers constitutes direct selling of the worst kind, by capitalising on the channel's initial effort.
"I am a retailer and know that from the moment we have sold a MYOB accounting package to customers, we have lost them for good. As soon as they return their registration card, MYOB starts selling upgrades direct to the customer. MYOB does not make these packages available to retailers," said Jank.
Harvey Norman's John Slack-Smith is also unhappy with his exclusion from the total customer life cycle. "We don't sell upgrades, we would like to and are in discussions with MYOB now to do so," he said.
Winkler admits that MYOB controls the sale of upgrades but says it is not a missed opportunity for resellers. "The resellers won't make much margin out of upgrades," insisted Winkler. "The real opportunities in the New Year are new customers, with about half a million potential customers out there just because of the GST. The overall size of the market is also growing."