Beloit | Google Apps Authorized Reseller

Beloit creates new opportunities with Google Apps

beloit Solutions Group

beloit

At a Glance

What theySneeded o l u t i to o ndo: s Group

• Help organizations effectively use technology to improve their business • Create opportunities with new prospects • Offer robust communication and collaboration tools that provide clear cost saving What they did: • Used the Google Apps conversation as an entry point with prospects • Leveraged Google’s continuous innovation to gain visibility with existing clients • Expanded service offerings to facilitate adoption and support of Google Apps What they accomplished: • Grew their customer base by using Google Apps as a ‘win-leader’ • Created additional revenue streams • Deepened relationships with customers and opened up new opportunities

About Beloit Beloit Solutions Group was founded in late 2006 as a BEA Systems value added reseller. The company has always focused on one primary goal – helping organizations most effectively use technology to improve their business. Beloit approaches this from the business side down, rather than the IT side up. With the end user as the first priority, Beloit deploys technologies like Portals and Business Process Management (BPM) suites to help clients maximize value in their existing back end systems. Beloit became a Google Apps Authorized Reseller in early 2009 when it helped a 300-user company migrate to Google Apps. The Beloit team had been using Google Apps since 2006 and loved it. Tim Lockyear, Beloit’s Solutions Architect, recalls, “We had been evangelizing Google Apps for years and had plans in the works to help small businesses get started using it. The timing was great.” Beloit, located in Overland Park, Kansas, currently has six employees and just hired a full-time experienced sales professional to help drive more new opportunities. Opportunity: It’s all about the customer At its core Beloit focuses on the customer. “We believe that doing right by the customer will lead to loyalty,” Lockyear explains. In order to implement architectures and solutions that best meet client needs, Beloit partners with a range of companies that offer IT and business management software. According to Lockyear, “the beauty of the Google Apps Reseller Program is that it is extremely straightforward. With the other vendors we work with, the rules, pricing, and discounts are extremely complex. It sometimes creates a challenging environment for closing deals.”

“Google Apps provides an immediate, easily understandable ROI to an organization. This makes for a very easy conversation with prospects. Once we get into an organization we learn their challenges and build credibility. This is an invaluable foundation for introducing other product lines and services. It’s our ‘win-leader’.” —Tim Lockyear, Solutions Architect, Beloit

Beloit has traditionally worked on a project basis but, due to demand, is also developing a prepaid support option for its clients. More recently, recurring revenue streams have become another key component of the company’s strategy. With an ambitious outlook on the number of Google Apps seats deployed, the firm plans on a strong, ongoing revenue stream as customers renew each year. Google fits in well with Beloit’s overall strategy of bridging IT and human collaboration. Because of Google’s expansive list of open APIs, Beloit finds the provisioning of a new Google Apps user to be a snap. This is a win for both Beloit and its customers.

About The Google Apps Authorized Reseller Program

The Google Apps Authorized Reseller Program offers IT solution providers the ability to take Google Apps – a cloud-based suite of email, calendar, IM, and collaboration tools – to new and existing customers. Opportunities continue to grow as more and more businesses consider Google Apps and look to trusted partners for help. Google Apps empowers Authorized Resellers to acquire new clients, deepen relationships and lower operating costs, increasing profitability and delivering a great experience for their customers. For more information visit: www.google.com/apps/resellers

About Google Apps

Google Apps is an enterprise-ready suite of applications that includes Gmail, Google Calendar (shared calendaring), Google Docs and Spreadsheets (online document hosting and collaboration), Google Sites (team site creation and publishing), and Google Video (easy, secure sharing of video content). For more information visit: www.google.com/appsatwork

Outlook: Opening doors Aside from prepaid support contracts and recurring revenue from Google Apps license fees, services account for 90% of Beloit’s revenue; the company charges an hourly fee for these. When selling Google Apps, services are centered around deployment and migration. In a 300-user Google Apps deployment with Cosentino’s Food Stores, Beloit provided planning, setup, migration, and training services, as well as custom site and form development. When Beloit acquires new clients, the focus is first on helping them use and leverage existing investments, and new products are only sold to fill a need or gap. “One of the most important aspects of Google Apps to our overall business is that it provides organizations with an immediate, easily understandable ROI,” says Lockyear. “This makes for a very easy conversation with prospects. Once we get into an organization we learn their challenges and build credibility. This is an invaluable foundation for introducing other product lines and services. It’s our ‘win-leader’.” Beloit believes that its clients’ interest in continually making better use of Google Apps will increase as they use the platform, driving up recurring consultations. Google’s focus on continuous innovation and frequent releases of new features helps in this regard because it gives a reason for Beloit to pick up the phone and call clients; discussing a new feature opens the door to new conversations. For example, when email delegation was added to Gmail, Beloit reached out to existing clients to let them know because interest in this functionality was strong. The opportunities created by Google Apps, Beloit has found, are a key to success.

“The Google Apps Reseller Program is extremely straightforward. With the other vendors we work with, the rules, pricing, and discounts are extremely complex. It sometimes creates a challenging environment for closing deals.” —Tim Lockyear, Solutions Architect, Beloit

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