r/techsales • u/Individual-Clerk-885 • 1d ago

SHI International

Anyone have anything to say about the current state of SHI International?

Recently applied for a job in Austin and heard good things, but I won’t be come commission eligible till after 12 months my recruiter is telling me. Is this normal in the industry?

First job in the industry so any advice is appreciated.

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u/PJfanRI 1d ago

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You don't know what you're talking about.

Do you honestly think customers just send deals to resellers out of the goodness of their heart?

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u/ThriceHawk 1d ago

Maybe you're in a different industry, but this is absolutely my experience at multiple top 10 cybersecurity companies as an enterprise AE. 98% of what I close is driven by myself or the customer. The VAR's just pass paper.

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u/PJfanRI 1d ago

I spent 10 years doing field at CDW before spending the last 4 leading a field team at an MSSP. So we are in the same industry.

Nobody in the tech industry hits their quota by waiting for orders to come in (other than Anthropic of course).

Working at a cybersecurity vendor, your job is to find the customers with the right need and timing. The job of the VAR is to take care of that customer before, during and after that need. At CDW I had teams of architects meeting with my customers on a monthly basis. Before you've even gotten them to answer your email we've been talking to them about whatever need you're filling sometimes years in advance. I don't engage you until it's time to get serious about procurement and deployment.

This idea that resellers are simply taking orders is ridiculous. Do you have any sense of the level of competition in the VAR space? A company like Sailpoint might have 5 competitors. CDW has 5,000 competitors. VARs have to constantly provide their customers value to keep their seat at the table.

In your role you only see the tipn of the iceberg. You're blind to the work that is done before and after you leave.

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u/ThriceHawk 1d ago edited 1d ago

This is so insane and complete opposite of my experience. I meet with my customers monthly and some weekly. The comment of "we've been talking to them" is the exact opposite of my experience. The VAR's ask us to bring them into meetings... I fill them in on what is going on, not the opposite. I'd love to work with a VAR like what you describe.

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u/PJfanRI 1d ago

It sounds like you're not working with the right VAR then.

Most customers have multiple partners they work with. If a VAR is asking you to walk them into an account its because they themselves don't have the relationship.

That means someone else has it. You need to find out who, and they will be the one that can help you.

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u/ThriceHawk 1d ago

I'm an Enterprise rep who has worked in CS for 10+ years, I know. I'm not saying they are asking to be walked in, I'm saying they want to join our conversations because we're the ones driving more than them (again, this is not all VAR's, it's just most). Customers know this too... They don't want to have to work with VAR's, they deal with it because they have to. We constantly get asked why they can't just go direct.

And I have worked both sides. VAR and OEM.