Business Development 101 – Transitioning to new markets

Jake had spent the last 2 years transitioning the USA business from Big Box retail to SMB VAR-based.  Almost overnight he pulled out of Canadian retail and engaged in some disty marketing events to reach VARs.  Jake’s team had only a handful of superficial relationships with Canadian VARs.  After parachuting in an account manager and sales engineer from Chicago once in awhile for some lunch/learns, he completely pulled out Canada.

Have you done business with Canadian VARs?  Do you know the key players in the major cities?  Do you know the champions in specific vertical markets?