Tech Data has launched an online coaching and collaboration platform as part of an effort to make sales, finance and technical experts more accessible to partners.
Channel partners are not always able to physically attend a meeting to drive every deal, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Tech Data is via a Tech Data Coaches initiative is providing access to more than 70 channel professionals and subject matter experts to help partners configure solutions and close deals, says Stacy Nethercoat, senior vice president for cloud solutions in the Americas for Tech Data.
Tech Data Coaches is essentially a dedicated social network through which channel partners are matched with coaches from Tech Data that provide personalized guidance and support via live content feeds, on-demand training and product demonstrations, as well as one-on-one coaching sessions, notes Nethercoat.
“This adds a new dimension to the relationship,” says Nethercoat.
Add a time when setting up in-person sales meetings is no encouraged, channel partners are now investing more of their time and effort in trying to engage customers online. The challenge Tech Data is trying to address is finding a way to make its experts more accessible when partners are either about to engage a customer or might have just met with them online, says Nethercoat.
It’s not clear to what degree IT deals can be closed online. However, at a time when remote networking and cybersecurity expertise is being widely sought to enable employees to work from home, most channel partners can use all the extra help they can get.
Less clear is to what degree digital marketing and online engagements now represent the “new normal” for channel partners. However, regardless of what the world of IT looks like in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the one thing that is for certain is that it’s going to be easy to set up an in-person business meeting anytime soon.
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