Understanding software resellers in South-East Asia

What is shaping software

Software and SaaS companies live and die by product-market fit, pricing and retention. Users' real workflows matter more than feature lists.

• Product-led growth relies on fast time to value
• Pricing and packaging strongly affect conversion
• Churn often starts with onboarding

A business software vendor, working in Malaysia, Indonesia & Taiwan. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A business software vendor

Sector

Software

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Business panel, Qualitative research, Reporting & insights

The vendor sold through resellers but had low engagement from many partners. Some resellers were actively promoting competing products, and the vendor did not know why. The vendor depended on resellers for most sales in the region, but reseller performance varied widely and some partners had become inactive.

• Deliver on the brief: understanding software resellers in South-East Asia.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 7 weeks.

Scope: 40 interviews, 150 survey responses.

Audiences we typically reach in software

Trial and paying usersAdmins and buyersChurned customersProspectsPartners and integrators

Coverage: Malaysia, Indonesia & Taiwan. Markets: Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan.

• Malaysia
• Indonesia
• Taiwan

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Reseller interviews
3. 3Partner survey
4. 4Insight

We interviewed and surveyed resellers about margins, training, lead sharing and support. Interviews were conducted in Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, Mandarin and English with resellers of different sizes, and the survey measured satisfaction with each part of the partner programme. We also reviewed partner programme terms against competitors’ offers to see where the vendor fell behind.

Business panelQualitative researchReporting & insights

• Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
• Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

interviews

40

survey responses

150

• The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
• Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
• Review of open-ended answers
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Resellers wanted qualified leads and faster technical support.

Partners invested effort where vendors invested in them.

• The vendor launched a partner portal with lead distribution.
• Share the findings with the teams closest to customers so they can act quickly.

What we recommended, and the client put into practice

• Reseller-sourced revenue grew in the following year, and several dormant partners became active again.
• Partner satisfaction improved in the next survey, and several inactive resellers returned to active selling.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interview summaries and key verbatims

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: why do customers churn?