Kirk Robinson, chief country executive for U.S. at Ingram Micro (photo courtesy of Ingram Micro)
Ingram Micro Embraces Customer Experience
November 4, 2020
An advocate of being comfortable with being uncomfortable, Ingram Micro applies this continuous improvement philosophy to nearly every part of its operations.
By Larry Walsh
Kirk Robinson is famed for telling vendors and partners to “get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” When he first started uttering those words a few years ago, he had no idea of the circumstances in which the world and channel would find itself today.
The annual Ingram One event is an exercise in overcoming being uncomfortable with the state and pace of change in the technology industry. Due to travel restrictions and social distancing requirements, the annual gathering of the distributor’s vendors and resellers is virtual – just like so many other events disrupted this year by the pandemic.
The event – global for the first time, thanks to the digital format – is replete with positive messages of how to keep up with technology evolution and the rapidly changing customer expectations. The conference features topics about igniting imagination to creatively solve problems, unlocking people’s and organizations’ potential through technology, simplifying complex systems for better productivity and outcomes, and keeping the world connected and collaborating.
In the background is a foundational theme that Ingram is taking mainstream, making the customer experience a core value proposition and operational tenet.
Ingram recently appointed Tyler Coughlan as the vice president heading up customer experience. He’s charged with overseeing customer experience mechanisms and the procedures to act on the intelligence to improve experiences. Generally speaking, customer experience is the concept of businesses increasing their productivity and revenue by making it easier for customers to transact.
For a distributor like Ingram, the word “customer” has a broad definition. Robinson, chief country executive at Ingram Micro U.S., explains that “customer” means everyone in the value chain that ultimately influences the end user’s experience. Under this definition, customer experience applies to Ingram’s vendors, partners, collaborators, and staff.
Robinson says that Ingram intends to make its end-to-end processes seamless. The distributor has already linked its CRM with other systems to capture, analyze, and report to management on issues that need remediation. Through these mechanisms, Robinson explains how Ingram’s customer experience initiative will reach the most granular levels to remove obstacles that impede productivity and satisfaction.
Partners will engage in this experience through new systems integrations between Ingram and its vendors. Ingram and Cisco launched a new portal – Cisco Partner Go – which connects information systems to expedite partner resource access and product ordering. Ingram has a similar initiative with IBM. And other such integrations will come online as the customer experience program evolves.
Ingram has a rich history of building collaborative bridges with its vendors and partners, as evidenced by the thriving Trust X Alliance and SMB Alliance communities. Robinson says the information and engagement through the customer experience focus will provide Ingram with the insights it needs to reveal new opportunities to work partners.
The idea of customer experience as an objective performance metric and enablement tool is relatively nascent despite broad talk about it across the industry. Many vendors understand and embrace the concept but are still trying to understand how to operationalize customer experience. Ingram, yet again, is getting uncomfortable, as Robinson continually challenges by applying customer experience to everything it does.
Larry Walsh is the CEO of The 2112 Group, a business strategy and research firm servicing the IT channel community. He’s also the publisher of Channelnomics, the leading source of channel news and trend analysis. Follow Larry on Twitter at @lmwalsh2112 and subscribe to his podcast, POD2112, on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and other leading podcast sources. You can always e-mail Larry directly at lmwalsh@the2112group.com.
The annual Ingram One event is an exercise in overcoming being uncomfortable with the state and pace of change in the technology industry. Due to travel restrictions and social distancing requirements, the annual gathering of the distributor’s vendors and resellers is virtual – just like so many other events disrupted this year by the pandemic.
The event – global for the first time, thanks to the digital format – is replete with positive messages of how to keep up with technology evolution and the rapidly changing customer expectations. The conference features topics about igniting imagination to creatively solve problems, unlocking people’s and organizations’ potential through technology, simplifying complex systems for better productivity and outcomes, and keeping the world connected and collaborating.
In the background is a foundational theme that Ingram is taking mainstream, making the customer experience a core value proposition and operational tenet.
Ingram recently appointed Tyler Coughlan as the vice president heading up customer experience. He’s charged with overseeing customer experience mechanisms and the procedures to act on the intelligence to improve experiences. Generally speaking, customer experience is the concept of businesses increasing their productivity and revenue by making it easier for customers to transact.
For a distributor like Ingram, the word “customer” has a broad definition. Robinson, chief country executive at Ingram Micro U.S., explains that “customer” means everyone in the value chain that ultimately influences the end user’s experience. Under this definition, customer experience applies to Ingram’s vendors, partners, collaborators, and staff.
Robinson says that Ingram intends to make its end-to-end processes seamless. The distributor has already linked its CRM with other systems to capture, analyze, and report to management on issues that need remediation. Through these mechanisms, Robinson explains how Ingram’s customer experience initiative will reach the most granular levels to remove obstacles that impede productivity and satisfaction.
Partners will engage in this experience through new systems integrations between Ingram and its vendors. Ingram and Cisco launched a new portal – Cisco Partner Go – which connects information systems to expedite partner resource access and product ordering. Ingram has a similar initiative with IBM. And other such integrations will come online as the customer experience program evolves.
Ingram has a rich history of building collaborative bridges with its vendors and partners, as evidenced by the thriving Trust X Alliance and SMB Alliance communities. Robinson says the information and engagement through the customer experience focus will provide Ingram with the insights it needs to reveal new opportunities to work partners.
The idea of customer experience as an objective performance metric and enablement tool is relatively nascent despite broad talk about it across the industry. Many vendors understand and embrace the concept but are still trying to understand how to operationalize customer experience. Ingram, yet again, is getting uncomfortable, as Robinson continually challenges by applying customer experience to everything it does.
Larry Walsh is the CEO of The 2112 Group, a business strategy and research firm servicing the IT channel community. He’s also the publisher of Channelnomics, the leading source of channel news and trend analysis. Follow Larry on Twitter at @lmwalsh2112 and subscribe to his podcast, POD2112, on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and other leading podcast sources. You can always e-mail Larry directly at lmwalsh@the2112group.com.
