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ecosystem via specialist communities. Lenovo’s forums give our partners the chance to pool knowledge between each other and turn business needs into new business opportunities. It also simplifies the partner process, helping
them to leverage the full strength of our portfolio, which is the broadest in the industry. This means they can respond to specific customer needs, combining our hardware, software and services with their own value-added offerings. This enables our partners to grow their
business, with the full power of our channel engagement, stretching from tools to incentive programmes, to chances to learn. Lenovo 360 helps our partners fulfil the roles they play with their customers, whether that role is trusted advisor, consultant or solutions architect, offering the resources they need to meet their customers’ needs and overcome challenges. For example, guided selling tools help our partners to navigate more complex solution sales conversations with confidence. Lenovo 360 also enables our partners to build knowledge and expertise to
differentiate themselves against less well-informed competition, as well as staying ahead of trends in the IT industry. Partners can get access to a concierge-style service with subject matter experts to ensure they have the information, tools, and marketing materials they need. This helps to build our partners’ relationship with their customers as a
trusted advisor. By showing this expertise to customers, our partners can build relationships and build their business. Ready-made marketing materials and campaigns ensure our partners are able to go to market as soon as products and services launch, with full information on our latest solutions and services.
What changes have been introduced since the initial launch? We’ve worked tirelessly on Lenovo 360 since the initial launch, to improve the experience for our partners. We have made increased investments in tools such as automated marketing resources and sales enablement tools as well as outcome-based solutions to help our partners keep their everyday business tasks as simple as possible. We’ve also supported our partners with a range of events, access to subject
matter experts and specialist communities, which offer the knowledge, expertise and support which our partners need. The commercial incentives, competencies and accreditation programmes
help our partners grow their status, and the rewards enhance revenue and accelerate partner learning. This all happens within our evolved tiering structure. We constantly strive to improve the services and tools we offer our partners within Lenovo 360, and that is something that’s going to continue.
How does the new Lenovo 360 Engage allow Lenovo partners to ‘learn and earn’? Lenovo 360 Engage allows partners to ‘learn and earn’ in two different ways – both at the company level, and at the individual seller level. For individual partner sellers, we offer several courses and certifications within a specific learning path towards one of the five Lenovo 360 competencies (these are life cycle services, workforce performance, infrastructure, advanced infrastructure and TruScale).
www.pcr-online.biz Partner companies can obtain status
through accreditations and tiers, earning Specialist level through courses and certification, alongside installation capability and revenue.
How does the new Lenovo 360 Solutions Hub make it easier for Lenovo partners to sell with ease, and when will it be available? Lenovo 360’s Solutions Hub is a toolbox which will make it easier for any channel partner to sell. The Solutions Hub offers a huge array of useful tools including guided search, co-selling and guided selling to help our partners build sales proposals faster for our channel-ready solutions. The comprehensive selling resource is built
to enable partners to deliver priority outcomes faster. It will launch alongside further updates
to the existing tools our partners already know and love, with new dashboards, enablement resources and content on Lenovo Partner Hub and Lenovo Bid Platform. In the UK and Ireland, the Lenovo 360 Solutions Hub will be available
in April 2023, when it will also be rolled out to other select markets across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The service will be available in more territories throughout the year.
What is the Lenovo 360 Circle and how does it help accelerate sustainability in the IT global channel? Lenovo 360 Circle is an action-driven sustainability community which is now open to all authorised channel partners. It is rooted in the United Nations Global Compact framework, and was built for partners, by partners. It was launched in 2022, with the aim of accelerating the adoption of
sustainable business models and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals across the channel ecosystem. Partners who join get access to tools, resources and networking
opportunities to help them achieve their ESG goals. No matter where partners are on their sustainability journey, the different levels of Lenovo 360 Circle can help. Connect, the first level, is built for partners who are just getting started, while Learn is built for people who are ready to expand on their strategies. Lead is for those who are well advanced on their sustainability journey. These Lead partners are invited to help others by joining
sustainability focus groups and the Lenovo 360 Social Circle for Diversity, Ethics and Inclusion initiatives (DEI).
Are there any future plans for Lenovo 360? We are constantly rolling out new tools for our channel partners via the Lenovo 360 framework. To take just one example, the Lenovo 360 Marketing Builder, a powerful automation platform for creating marketing campaigns, will be launched to global markets in 2024 and is currently available in North America. We will continue to listen intently to our partners, and adjust to
their needs by adding new incentives and new programmes to ensure that we are the first choice for our valued channel partners.
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