Over the past several years the buyer’s journey has evolved - consumers are doing a great job of educating themselves on technology online prior to making purchasing decisions.  Studies show that buyers are 60-90 percent through their decision-making process before they contact someone for a quote.  The relationship starts and is nurtured via online integrated activity (clicks, downloads, posts, SEO, etc.).  This has increased the need and cost for the amount of marketing and content necessary to achieve customer acquisition. Digital Marketing adds new complexity to Marketing during a time when service providers and partners are faced with economic challenges caused by changes in funding policies. 

In addition, competitive pressures in the Unified Communications (UC) space are higher than ever. Traditional providers are facing competition like never before. Because of this they need to respond to these economic and competitive pressures quickly and cost-effectively.

GENBAND wants to ease the burden of these challenges and empower our valued service provider customers and partners with content that is delivered to the marketplace simply and effectively.  In order to achieve this objective we recently launched our Marketing Advantage Program. The program, which is designed to help our customers and partners compete more effectively and assist them with the launch and ongoing promotion of services powered by our technology, includes programs, portals, tools and resources and marketing consulting services. 

The GENBAND Marketing Advantage Program differs from similar offerings on the market because it was purpose-built with a service provider and partner lens. We interviewed many of our service providers and partners globally to understand their specific needs.  The program includes modular components delivered by a combination of GENBAND expertise augmented with industry best-in-class providers through our Advantage Network ecosystem program. The Advantage Network includes ecosystem partners that specialize in everything from integrated marketing, channel partner management, and Trade-in Programs to Phone pre-provisioning and staging. We are always looking for new partners with synergies in simplifying the path to success for our customers.

The GENBAND Marketing Advantage Program portfolio also includes both self-service and custom, concierge and consulting options for everything a service provider or partner would need to be successful in the marketplace.  By ensuring these solutions are modular, it allows the service provider/partner to select only those components they specifically need based on their core skill set, easing the burden, expense and ramp-up time needed to implement a service or marketing initiative.  We pride ourselves in the fact that we don’t abandon our customers after the sale or after the launch. We provide tools and resources that enable continued market stimulation as well as customer education tools that mitigate churn risk.

Another key differentiator of the GENBAND Marketing Advantage Program is the newly rebranded Advantage Partners Program, which is designed for partners who meet specific criteria and includes Platinum, Gold and Silver levels. The Advantage Partners Program, a key component of the Marketing Advantage Program portfolio, offers marketing coop/marketing development funds (MDF), product-level discounts, free training certification and other tools that ensure readiness and success when launching GENBAND products and services. We carefully select partners that add value by providing services such as deployment, installation and support. This program ensures that the end-consumer receives an end-to-end solution and enjoys an optimal experience. 

The reaction from our customers and partners to the roll-out of the Marketing Advantage Program has been nothing short of phenomenal. I firmly believe the overwhelmingly positive response is a direct result of listening to our customers and partners. We are thrilled that we can now offer them access to the great Go-to-Market Marketing tools and resources within the program.

If you are interested in learning more about GENBAND’s Marketing Advantage Program you can download a recent Webinar, check out this brochure or contact me at becky.gordon@genband.com.

Becky