Affinity Partners & Vendors To The Profession (APV)
To qualify as an affinity Partner & vendor to the profession (APV), you must:
- Have a history of delivering quality IT products to professional service firms that serve the SMB market space.
- Sell your products directly to ITA members.
- Agree to promote ITA membership, and the ITA Fall Collaborative, to your customers, as appropriate.
- Endorse and agree to abide by the ITA Code of Professional Conduct.
Why should you choose to join the ITA?
As an APV member, you and your company would enjoy these benefits:
- The opportunity for one prepaid firm representative to attend the Spring and Fall ITA Collaboratives each year, all sessions and all events, to network with peers and showcase your offerings in premier meeting settings with first-class accommodations. Additional representatives can attend by paying our standard conference registration fee.
- Visibility and regular access to the CIOs and CTOs of the country’s largest CPA firms, and to the owners and practice leaders of the top tier IT/VAR Practice Firms focused on the SMB space. These firms are great prospects for use of your products. Consider:
- Assuming that the average ITA IT/VAR firm has 15-20 employees, 350 active clients, and markets to a database of 3,500 SMB prospects, ITA VAR practice firms collectively:
- Employ 1,500+ professionals.
- Service 20,000+ SMB clients.
- Market, sell, and recommend IT products and services to 200,000+ SMB prospects.
- Assuming that the average ITA CPA firm has 900+ employees and 3,500 active clients, then ITA CPA firm members collectively:
- Employ 18,000+ professionals.
- Service 85,000+ SMB clients.
- Winning the “hearts and minds” of ITA practice firms leaders and ITLs can certainly lead to improved direct, and perhaps indirect, sales of APV products and/or services.
- ITA provides a great environment for building stronger, longer lasting, relationships with your existing, and future, business partners and customers:
- ITA provides a “vendor-neutral” setting ideal for relationship building.
- ITA educational sessions, refreshment breaks, meals, and group activities are all designed to provide vendors with an opportunity to get to know their customers and prospects better, and vice versa.
- Stronger vendor-member firm relationships create more “preference” for ITA member vendors’ products.
- Opportunities to speak at ITA events and to participate in ITA leadership roles and on ITA committees, as available.
- Special access to ITA “Members Only” sections and information on the ITA website.
- Access to ITA marketing support that includes:
- Participation in a new member press release upon membership acceptance.
- An ITA website listing and marketing focus for your ITA special offer(s).
- Access to the ITA logo for your use in promoting your ITA affiliation.
- Ability to market your products and services directly to the ITA membership base subject to ITA review and appropriate frequency constraints.
- News release recaps and links in the monthly ITA newsletter, Connections.
- The ability to enhance your business, your network, and your personal skills, and have fun while doing it!
How can I take maximum advantage of my ITA membership?
When you become an ITA member, you affiliate yourself with a highly recognized and respected community of IT professionals. To maximize the ITA's brand recognition for yourself, and the profession, member firms are encouraged to:
- Participate actively in the ITA. You will benefit from the incredible resources and networking opportunities by getting involved.
- Use the ITA logo as described in the ITA Logo Usage Guidelines on your:
- Letterhead.
- Website.
- Company literature.
- Link your website to the ITA website.
- Actively promote the ITA to your own customer base. ITA urges you to use the ITA Value Propositions for Practice Firms and for Internal Technology Leaders (CIOs/CTOs) in your ITA-related marketing communications with your customer base.
- Network with other ITA members, including linking to their websites when appropriate.
When you meet our membership criteria and are approved, then:
- Submit your membership fee and agree to pay the annual fee at September 1 each year thereafter. Currently the fees are $6,100.
- Agree to abide by the ITA Code of Professional Conduct.
- Maintain your “membership in good standing” qualifications, including active association participation and timely payment of invoices.