On-The-Record with Arlin Sorensen 13 June, 2009 By Robert M. Cohen

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Arlin's friends know him as a family man who enjoys sports and photography along with family history, genealogy and occasionally climbing into the combine or tractor and helping with planting or the harvest. Arlin also enjoys playing with his two grandsons, traveling with his wife of 30 years, and rolling up his sleeves and getting involved teaching ministry at his church. Every week, Arlin and his wife Nancy host a small group in their home where they invest in other couples and encourage them in their daily lives. However, his daily blog on his study of scripture shows a significant link between his personal life and business life.

What Arlin doesn't tell you and something that isn't written in too many places, is that Arlin is a very organized person who truly understands the value of networking. Moreover, he is a fabulous networker that is great at teaching others how to network.

I caught up with Arlin to find out why Vendors, Distributors, VARs and IT associations are talking so much about this farm boy & and to see what secrets for success in the IT channel he could share with us.

Robert: Arlin, how did a farm boy get started in the computer industry and become the CEO and President of a major VAR organization?

Arlin: In 1982 I purchased an Apple II+, to assist with my farming operation. It did not take long before I started doing part-time consulting and in 1985 I opened up a retail business. In 1990, my brother and I established Sorensen's Computer Connection Inc. (SCCI). In late 2002, SCCI merged with Connecting Point Joplin and began operating under the name of Heartland Technology Solutions (HTS) & the company I am now the CEO and President for.

Robert: Have acquisitions been the mainstay of your growth?

Arlin: They have been a very strategic part of our growth. In 2003 we acquired another major reseller in Ames, Iowa, along with several other small companies. In 2006 we merged with Business Computer Center, giving us offices in Wichita, Newton and Hutchinson, Kansas and Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Robert: Where is your head office?

Arlin: Still in Harlan, Iowa on the family farm, where it all began. We have proven that if you build a customer-centric service company, they will come.

Robert: Describe the company today.

Arlin: We operate out of 8 offices in 5 states with 80+ employees providing solutions in networking, document imaging, web hosting and design, electronic marketing, GPS and precision agriculture solutions, wireless, telephony and many other technologies.

Robert: Let's talk about what everyone is talking about & Heartland Tech Groups (HTG) & the peer-to-peer networking group you founded.

Arlin: We started the P2P network in 2001 with one peer group and four original members. Over the next five years we grew to a dozen members and worked at refining the peer group model. In 2006 we added a second and third group, and then started really growing the network in 2007. Today, HTG consists of 220+ VAR companies organized into 19 groups. Each group meets quarterly for a two-day event that focuses on accountability that drives execution. I serve as a mentor and coach while holding the company leaders accountable.

Robert: Okay. Let's back up for a minute, what is a P2P Network?

Arlin: It is peer groups, creating small communities of non-competing companies that can meet on a regular basis to act as virtual boards of directors for each other. The objective is to share experiences, best practices, financial information, etc. We provide each other with total access to one another's organization. Thus, we can learn from each other's mistakes and successes.

Robert: Why is HTG growing so quickly?

Arlin: Most VAR organizations are run by folks that were not trained as business leaders. They are normally extremely gifted at technical or sales skills and suddenly are running a company. They don't have the business skill-set that might be in place if one were an MBA graduate. For the most part, they never intended to run a company. The P2P Network provides them with a much-needed skill set. Most don't want a boss and thus frequently only do the things they like doing and don't do the other things. HTG holds them accountable to lead their company with true business skills and helps them work to achieve their goals and dreams.

Robert: Do members worry about other members stealing customers from them? Worry about the quality of work the others do? Have concerns about the content being shared? The membership fees? The time involvement?

Arlin: Initially, many potential members have fears. However, most of these go away very quickly. We typically are not focused on partnering to share work like an IAMCP might be, although some of this goes on. The sharing of confidential information is not normal to them. Many of them initially are afraid of looking bad in front of their peers. Stealing accounts is only a worry when they first come on board. It does not take long before the fears disappear. The HTG culture quickly shows them that there is far more to be gained through trusting and truly engaging with one another than the risk of the fears they may have had.

Robert: What is the most common reason for someone NOT joining?

Arlin: There are usually a couple reasons a partner does not join. The first is often the time commitment, which is sometimes a killer. It takes a lot of time and many smaller VARs cannot afford the time commitment as they are consumed in fighting fires. To be totally honest it really takes about 5 days a quarter to participate fully when you consider the meetings, travel and preparation it takes. That is significant and needs to be considered. The return is far beyond the commitment but for many they cannot connect those dots. The other reason we see companies not joining is they feel they already know the answers and don't need anyone telling them how to run their organizations. My experience is that anyone can learn valuable ideas and strategies from their participation, but some feel they already have the silver bullet and don't need anyone else. Those are often the ones you read about that later have left the industry.

Robert: How does HTG operate?

Arlin: We have a strong set of rules that that are part of our membership agreement and everyone has to adhere to. Our success rests in the depth of relationships built between the members. These intimate relationships help the individual companies involved to grow their own business. It is about helping each other and learning from best practices that are shared amongst peers who have gone through the same problems, understand the frustrations and live through it all. Essentially, it is all about helping each other.

Robert: Is HTG also a buying group?

Arlin: No. We focus on building relationships with Vendors and Distributors and leveraging partners, as opposed to getting caught up in price negotiations. HTG does offer a number of opportunities for our members to learn in addition to the quarterly peer group meetings. We hold an annual Summit conference, quarterly trainings for sales and service personnel and a host of other opportunities for our members to connect and learn new skills.

Robert: How is HTG different then the millions of social networks that have become the rage.

Arlin: In the business world, social networks will not make a significant change in anyone's business. There is not enough depth in those connections. They serve a valuable role in communication and allowing people to connect. HTG will significantly change the way a member does business. That is our mission and focus - we are disruptive change agents that will change a member company and the lives of those who participate. P2P networks really work. Our partners understand the power of leveraging their peers.

Robert: So, how does a VAR get involved with the HTG?

Arlin: They start by filling out an application on our website at www.htgmembers.com. Once we determine a fit with a group based on geography and other criteria, they are invited as a guest to attend a meeting. At the conclusion of that meeting the group decides if they will offer them membership. Then their application goes to the entire membership who has to unanimously vote the applicant in. For those that meet most of the criteria, but cannot commit sufficient time or other resources, we have an online version of HTG that does not include the travel. The online program meets monthly for 1.5 to 2 hours and covers a lot of same basic business skills we address in our face-to-face program. We currently have about 50 companies participating online.

Robert: How do you communicate with members?

Arlin: We have a very robust program of communication including our monthly newsletter, vendor fairs, meetings, webinars, focus groups & and we are even starting vendor training from VARs where we will be teaching our vendor sponsors how to correctly engage with VAR's to better partner and earn our business.

Robert: What makes HTG succeed?

Arlin: Lots of factors have to work together. Some of the things we do include:

• We have facilitators in each group.
• We leverage partners.
• Trust.
• Our members step up and help lead others.
• Twice a year each member has to have three goals they want to obtain. Prior to attending meetings, each member has to provide an update on how they have met the three goals they have stated they will do.
• The meetings have specific agenda items and each member has to prepare what they did on each agenda item & then we compare notes. Any member can review any other member's thoughts on these agenda items before the meeting. Then we discuss each item at the meeting.
• We work together to review best practices.
• We all care.

Arlin: Each member pays $100 per month and their prorated cost of the peer group meeting expenses. We have almost 30 Vendor partners who underwrite the majority of the costs of our activities and Ingram is also very involved as our strategic distributor partner.

Robert: And publishers?

Arlin: We would love to have you involved & and we want to get involved in the Trusted Business Advisor program. Working with 26 of our members, we have written a book called Peer Power. Getting segments of this book out to the channel through your publications would be a service that would help a lot of VARs. The book can be purchased at our www.htgmembers.com website for anyone looking for a book full of great ideas from your peers.

For more information about HTG, please click here fhttp://www.htgmembers.com/PeerGroupFlyer_2008.pdf

Robert Cohen, a passionate and enthusiastic channel advocate, is the founder of the ChannelLine Advisory Council as well as president and business editor of Integrated mar.com, publishers of Channel Advisor, eChannelLine and ConnectIT. Since 1980 he has worked with 350 IT vendors, distributors and resellers in developing and implementing strategic go-to-market programs, using a variety of direct, channel and hybrid models. Integrated mar.com, in conjunction with Robert has created the Trusted Business Advisor program.

Robert can be reached at 1-800-465-2059 or by email at rcohen@integratedmar.com.