Following the tumultuous and disruptive year that was 2020, we want 2021 to be as successful and fruitful as possible for our partners. Our first monthly webinar of 2021 focused on our new partner programme – relaunched from the ground up – as well as our latest product and systems updates.
Alliance: relaunching our partner programme from the ground up
Over the past few months, myself, the partner and marketing teams have been working away in the background to relaunch our partner programme. Around Christmas 2020, we unveiled the name (Alliance) and in this webinar, we finally got to show off our new visuals, systems and roadmap for the programme.
We knew there was more we could do to help our partners succeed so we started by asking those that know best: our partners. We then began to sketch out a programme that’s designed to give our partners everything they need to grow with us.
Becoming easier to do business with
We know that a key requirement from partners is to make Gradwell’s systems and processes easier to work with.
We’ve been concentrating on bringing self-service to our existing partner portal and we’re pleased to say that partners can now order Wave through this. Our next step is to bring connectivity and channelised SIP ordering to the portal.
We’ve massively improved our quoting, ordering and billing processes on the portal so our partners find it easier to navigate. We’ve also improved our self-help partner knowledgebase and have been updating our guides so partners can get to know processes, products and solutions a lot better.
Improving our channel marketing
Our Head of Marketing, Jonathan Ross (not that one), gave us an overview of how we’re looking to improve our partner marketing throughout 2021 and beyond, concentrating on several key pillars: better communication, a great range of events, impactful collateral and a revamped partner portal.
Product Updates
Our Head of Product, Darren Standing, gave an overview of our recent product updates, current portfolio and future plans.
It goes without saying that 2020 was extremely busy for telecom companies, with remote working solutions and products in high demand. One of our product highlights of 2020 was the launch of our own next gen cloud VoIP phone system, Wave. Other highlights included the new version of our MUV+ product, becoming a 3CX Titanium partner – and moving our SIP services to a highly resilient – and scalable – cloud deployment.
Darren also reminded our partners of our full product portfolio. With an increasing number of new products and services, it’s easy for partners to lose track of the scope of what we do. So, we gave a brief overview of our four pillars: Voice, Connectivity, Hardware and Services.
Looking to the future
We have lots of exciting product development plans right the way across our portfolio. In our voice pillar, we’re looking at bringing new offerings to market, better integrations and enhancements to both our 3CX managed service and Wave – the latter will see huge feature improvements throughout 2021 and beyond.
On connectivity, we’re reviewing and improving our broadband pricing and bundles, bringing SOGEA and SOGFAST services to market, and improving our leased line offer.
We’ll be bringing Hardware-as-a-Service to our Wave cloud phone system, where users can include hardware pricing as part of a simple monthly subscription. We’ll also be extending our model range and reviewing our pricing to make it some of the most competitive in the market.
We’re also looking closely at new omni-channel customer experience solutions, card payment services, mobile and data plans and much more…!
A reminder: get to know your customers
Finally, we gave partners a quick reminder that it’s crucial they obtain verification of the identity of their end users. Doing this properly protects partners from financial and legal risks, so make sure your customers are providing proof of identity and address for verification when you sign them up.
We also want to remind you to make sure that you’re up to date with data processing rules and policies for EU customers. If you process or store information on any customers based in the EU, you may need to update privacy policies, appoint a DPO and more. For further guidance, visit the Information Commissioner’s Office here.
And that’s a wrap! Keep your eyes peeled for our next update webinar in February where we’ll dive into more products and launches.
Want to join our partners?
We’re working hard to improve our communications, support and processes for our partners. We’re relaunching our programme soon so stay tuned for more from Alliance.
