Lenovo rolls out new SMB channel program

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK: Lenovo has introduced Club Lenovo, a new loyalty rewards program for Lenovo SMB resellers in the U.S. and Canada.

Beginning in October, the program rewards owners and their sales force for selling Lenovo PCs, monitors, peripherals and services. Under the program, SMB sales representatives receive points that are redeemable for a variety of prizes. Reseller owners receive a rebate based upon their sales representatives’ points. Points are also awarded for completing Lenovo educational courses and other Lenovo activities.

Statistics show that small-to-medium businesses comprise the majority of businesses in the U.S. According to the U.S. Office of Advocacy, there were an estimated 26.8 million businesses in 2006. Of those, 99.9 percent consisted of small firms with fewer than 500 employees.

IDC forecasts PC growth in the U.S. SMB segment to be 12.43 percent in the third quarter of 2007, and 8.97 percent growth in the fourth quarter year over year.2

“As a small solutions provider, SMB customers comprise the majority of my business,” said Michael Demars, owner of Competitive Computers in New Hampshire. “I work with Lenovo to provide high quality, leading PC solutions that surpass the needs of my customers. Adding a rewards program like Club Lenovo further demonstrates Lenovo’s commitment to partnering with resellers like me.”

The Club Lenovo program follows several commitments that Lenovo has made to the SMB space such as the introduction of the Lenovo 3000 line of notebooks and desktops, which are specially designed for these customers. These PCs offer customers the technologies they need to run their businesses at an affordable price and additionally come equipped with Lenovo Care tools that help manage connectivity, data recovery and more. Lenovo also established a partnership with D&H Distributing to help reach a significant number of SMB resellers.

“We’ve taken this successful program already implemented in our other geographies and tailored Club Lenovo to serve our SMB resellers here,” said Michael Bruemmer, vice president and general manager, Americas SMB Sales, Lenovo. “Clearly we are focused on helping our partners grow their business in this area, and we are making significant progress. This program is another way of providing our partners more value, and at the same time educating our extended sales force and strengthening the Lenovo brand.”

In the past three quarters Lenovo’s North American SMB business has grown 23 percent year over year.