Jan-Feb 2020 - ChannelVision Magazine

CHANNEL MANAGEMENT Menadena LLC, a business con- sultancy that provides marketing and communications technology to deliver customer service, sales and sup- port, has partnered with technology agencies Telarus. As a partner for businesses and organizations seek- ing marketing and communications technology services, Menadena helps its clients deliver excellent customer experiences. Its partnership with Te- larus will enhance an already robust services offering with access to more than 200 suppliers, project manage- ment, engineering and tools to help in supplier selection. “We are pleased to partner with Menadena to provide customers with tools to determine the right products and services for their businesses. By using our decision matrices, Menadena can advise their customers when it comes to SD-WAN, cybersecurity, UCaaS, CCaaS and mobility services,” said Patrick Oborn, Telarus co-founder. “As I was helping customers de- velop leads through digital marketing, I wondered, ‘What happens next?’ Phone systems, internet, software and cybersecurity are all aspects of deliv- ering the customer experiences that support growth,” said Ben Robertson president of Menadena. “We develop the lead, then the phone call comes in, but how does the company serve the customer through the phone, through the internet? I saw that my custom- ers needed help with identifying and implementing additional technology solutions that help them achieve their strategic goals.” According to Telarus, its unique busi- ness model allows it to provide their services at no cost to the customer. “Our goal is to be able to provide digital marketing and communications technology to multi-location busi- nesses who want to provide a good customer experience to their custom- ers,” said Robertson. Menadena Enters Partnership with Telarus Telesystem announced that Lori Graber has joined the organization as the manager of sales opera- tions. In her new role, Graber will lead the sales support and account management teams, manage exter- nal vendor relationships and oversee the administration of sales related tools and processes. Prior to joining Telesystem, Gra- ber held a similar role at NetCarrier since 2009, and she is an active member of the Alliance of Channel Women organization. “Lori will be a tremendous asset to the Telesystem team,” said Tele- system executive vice president and chief business development officer Bruce Wirt. “Her in-depth knowledge of sales enablement systems com- bined with her ability to lead and grow teams makes her a very exciting ad- dition to our organization. I’ve had the chance to work with Lori in the past, and I hold her in the highest re- gard; she will greatly contribute to our growing sales team and the explosion of our agent program.” “Culture was a very important part of my decision,” said Graber, “and I have been extremely impressed by the positivity and passion that team members across the company have for Telesystem.” Horizontal or Vertical? Telesystem Adds to Sales Operations Team Business Approaches Taken by Today’s Channel Source: CompTIA HUMAN LATENCY SENSITIVE ous Cars • Web Site Optimization • Augmented Reality • Smart R tail • Natural Language Processing Mostly specializing on a narrow range of vertical industry services and solutions Mostly engaging across a wide range of horizontal services and solutions Evenly split between some vertical specialization and some general horizontal Don’t know 28% 47% 22% 3% R silient operators outper widened their lead in the y Source: CPAnalytics; Capital IQ; McK 2007 Downturn (2007-09) Recovery (2009-11) 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 2008 2009 2010 20 Revenue growth, indexed to 100 (FY Resilients Telco operators 3 1 Note: Includes European and North America calculated as a weighted average (accordin sector. For nonfinancial corporations only. E EBITDA margins (+100%, -50%). 1 Telco operators within the top 20 percent 2 Telco operators within the bottom 80 perc 3 Telco calculated as the median within sec 4 Percentage point. Percentage of IT Budget v 40% 36.0% 36.3% Channel sales organizations face a bit of a dilemma. In order to truly serve as a “trusted advisor,” solution providers must understand the unique needs of a customer’s business. Considering the incredibly wide array of business types and models within any given geographic market, one could argue that obtaining inti- mate knowledge of business needs requires some level of specialization or ver- ticalization, especially considering the ever-widening array of software solutions moving through indirect channels. On the other hand, a more bespoke model in- creases the number of sales opportunities, while also increasing cost of sale. So how are IT channel partners handling this dilemma? According to the most recent figures from CompTIA, they are split, with about half of survey respondents sticking with a horizontal approach and the other half mostly specializing in a nar- row range of verticals or a combination of the vertical and horizontal approach. 20 CHANNEL VISION | January - February, 2020