In celebration of today’s official launch ofChampion ONE’s exciting new programforchannel partners, we’ve invited Director of Channel Sales Wade Wiant to share a few words on his experiences in the technology partner world, and what makes our new Channel ONE program unique.
You can’t stop the future; you can’t rewind the past. But what I’d give for a time machine…
I have been in the technology partner channel for the better part of 26 years. One thing I can attest to is that as quickly as technology changes, so do partner programs. When I started in this field, partner programs were simple: list price – partner discount = selling price. Nowadays, you see separate partner price lists for every conceivable scenario, every flavor of vendor, and every possible product configuration under the sun.
Couple that with the confusion and congestion in the optical networking market, and it can make your head spin. Our market is crowded with competitors all claiming they have the lowest price, best quality, and the best customer experience you could imagine. Customers remain confused about which choice is best. Am I getting the lowest price? Will the product last or will I be in the same position with my procurement team in a few months with a lot of explaining to do?
Partners are no different. Many if not most, are considered “trusted advisors” or “subject matter experts” to their customers, and when they pick partners in a certain technology space, they want to make sure that what they sell from that partner’s portfolio is priced competitively and that there is measurable value. They also clamor for simplicity in their partner’s channel program. In recent years, automation and self-service have helped simplify doing business with vendors. Even so, it seems these days for every step forward, the complexities of partner programs make you take a step back.
最重要的是,许多厂商把他们的partners as a means to an end. Give them a high number they have to hit, squeeze discount levels, and in some casestake over a partner-led opportunity entirely.At the end of the day, aren’t the partners the ones that are determining a program’s success?
Enter Channel ONE. We’ve aimed to create a channel partner program that contains the simple elements from a time when doing business with partners was easy. Our program is all about the partner relationship. We treat partners in the program as if they were our customers. We want to make it easy to do business with us. We aim for transparency. We want to be strategic with them in the marketplace and – dare I say—we want them to make money.
So if you are looking for that program that can grow your business, help you stand out amid the chaos, drop me a an email atchanneloneinfo@championone.comorfill in our brief online form. Let’s get into the time machine together.
