Toshiba Tec has launched an all-new partner programme that’s built on the principles of adding value, strategic engagement, and shared success. Michelle Ryder caught up with LeAnne Foley, Head of Indirect Sales to find out more
Toshiba’s new partner programme has been created around three core principles – adding value to partners and their customers, providing a strategic framework of engagement for business partner managers, resellers and partners, and driving mutual growth. “The new programme is focused on our partners’ success, and it’s our commitment to our partners,” LeAnne Foley said.
Shared goals, shared success
There are six key goals of the partner programme. “These include delivering value, through support and resources that enhance partners’ business operations and add significant value to the partnership. We’re also focused on enabling a partner’s business, providing access to resources, training and end-user sales support, and achieving excellence – with joint marketing initiatives and co-branding opportunities that help partners elevate their brand in their local communities to win more business,” LeAnne explained.
“We’ve launched quarterly pricing promotions as well as major account pricing support to help partners boost their profits and we’re committed to strengthening our partnership to drive business growth, securing mutual success and long-term collaboration. And lastly, supporting partners to diversify and be confident to go out and sell software solutions to end-users,” she added.
Partner accreditations
Partners can achieve one of four tiers – Diamond, Platinum, Gold and Authorised. There are also two additional accreditations – Solutions Accredited Partner and Technical Accredited Partner.
Solutions Accredited Partners can enhance their capabilities with access to solution sales workshops and solution technical workshops, both held twice a year. They also have access to dedicated pre-sales support, special pricing on Toshiba’s complete software bundle and receive free-of-charge support for software installation and setup, as well as credits and discounts on professional services.
Technical Accredited Partners can utilise Toshiba’s portal for easy access to technical and training resources and support. They also receive on-site field support to ensure seamless operations and are eligible to send representatives to Toshiba’s exclusive quarterly technical meetings, as well as strive for excellence with the Top Service Partner Award in their region.
“The partner tiers are based on sales performance, but we’ve also looked at other criteria – how engaged our partners are with us, do they have warehousing facilities, do they provide business plans etc., it’s not all about revenue,” LeAnne explained, adding: “The two further accreditations come back to the fact that we want to better enable partners to be confident to sell and support software, because that diversification piece can be tough.”
Services and support
Partners benefit from a wide range of services and support including account management, marketing, sales enablement, and training. “We have account management now, essentially, this might not be anything new to our partners, but it really lays down what our commitment is to our dealers, this is what they can expect from us as a partner, and also what we expect back. We want to help our partners grow and to do that we need to be having regular field visits. We need to sit down with them and understand what strategic actions we can implement to help them achieve their goals, really understand what their business is, and come up with shared objectives that we can all then work towards,” LeAnne said.
Partners also have access to Toshiba subject matter experts that sit within its professional services
and architecture team. “We also hold quarterly business reviews when we will review, track progress, identify opportunities within their customer base, and then look at how we can align ourselves to that to help them be more successful,” she added.
Marketing support services are comprehensive and include video case studies, exhibition support packages, co-branded flyers, and access to an exclusive marketing portal, providing partners with the tools and resources needed to build credibility and attract new business.
LeAnne continued: “Our marketing team have also created sales enablement kits for dealer salespeople. It’s an interactive document that focuses on a product set or on a vertical and it pulls in all of the collateral that we’ve got in that area – everything they need to go and sell that product, that solution, that service. It helps them with prospecting, scripts, objections and how they can overcome those objections, who the target audience is etc.
“We’ve put a lot of focus on really ramping up the marketing support and that includes bespoke marketing support. We’ve got strategic planning documents that we’re now working through with each of our partners and based on shared objectives and what they want to achieve, we’re taking that back to the business and looking at what marketing investment we can give to support them and drive that area of the business.”
Sales enablement and training
Education, training and lead generation are additional areas where Toshiba is investing to add value to its partners. LeAnne, who is a big advocate of sales training and has herself achieved a degree in Professional Practice in B2B Sales said: “At the end of last year, we worked with Dan Cox, an external sales coach who has worked in our industry for a long time, and we have now employed him as our Head of Sales Enablement. He has been going out to our partners and coaching them on call day effectiveness and lead generation.
“We are also now offering all partners our preferred partner rates for Consalia – the UK’s only sales business school – training. We’re working in a really competitive market so if we can help coach and educate and train our dealer salespeople to be able to sell more, to sell on value and be more confident in diversification, that’s worth a lot,” she added.
The sales enablement and training element also offers partners discounted showroom equipment, helping them to provide customers with a place to visit and see the technology in action.
“Obviously in-person demos halted over the COVID period but we have seen an increase in showroom demo requests over the last nine months. I think people want to get out of the office and actually see the technology in-situ, to see how devices work and how software can integrate with their infrastructure,” LeAnne said.
She continued: “A working showroom also provides a training facility for partners’ own salespeople, so to support that, we’ve created a sales training program comprising six modules, covering everything from basic hardware, to print management, cloud printing and security, that partners can enrol their salespeople on.
“We’re training partners on how to demo the kit and demo solutions. Because if they really understand a product, they can better articulate that to customers.”
Lead generation
Lead generation is one of the biggest challenges facing resellers today, as LeAnne explains: “When I’m talking to a dealer principal, they will always tell me that the biggest challenge they’ve got is lead generation. That’s why we are committed to working with our partners and training their salespeople so they understand more about what it is that they’re selling, helping them to be confident and comfortable with what it is they’re selling, giving them different tools and techniques in their toolbox to be able to generate more leads and get more appointments.”
Toshiba has also opened up access to its specialist bid team. “Our partners are an extension of our business; we have a fantastic team of bid writers and partners can now tap into that resource to help them secure more bids and tenders. They won’t write the bid for them, but they will go through the tender with them, coach them and offer advice to sharpen up their response.
A few months back we had a partner who had never won a tender before.
We introduced them to our bid team who supported them and they won their first tender,” LeAnne said.
There is also a team of business analysts within the bid team who will go out to a customer’s site and do a comprehensive audit. “In the larger opportunities, nine times out of 10 there is a software requirement, and that’s why we will give partners everything they possibly need to be able to confidently sell software, because that’s going to maximise their profits,” she added.
Events
Another key element of the new partner programme is a planned series of events designed to enhance partners’ experience and knowledge. These include business partner activity days, fun-filled events for networking, dealer forums, where partners can engage with industry leaders and gain insights into the latest trends as well as solutions and technical workshops, which provide partners’ teams with essential skills and information.
“One thing that I think we’re lacking as an industry, is having a real sense of community. As an OEM, we should help to facilitate environments where partners can share and be open and collaborate, they all have the same challenges and the same issues. So that’s really what we’re trying to do with these events – to foster a collaborative community for our partners,” LeAnne explained.
In conclusion, LeAnne said that the new partner programme has been really well received. “We operate in a mature market and it’s key that we differentiate. That’s the one thing we were missing at Toshiba. We want to incentivise our partners on growth. We want to really understand their businesses and their challenges, these are the same challenges that our direct organisation face, there’s a lot of initiatives, insights and experiences that we can share with our partners and vice versa, to ensure their business is a success and that we’re adding value.
“We’ve put a lot of thought into mapping out the entire programme so that we support today’s sales cycle, from pre-sales to customer engagement, because selling complex solutions demands a totally different approach than just selling on price. That’s where sales enablement, coaching, and development come in to help partners succeed in a more meaningful way.”
