Transcript

Christine Sanni (Introduction):            We have two things that are constant in the channel:  the technology will always change and our partners will all be different. And so I think that in itself affords great opportunity for us to never be really stagnant in what we do.

Announcer: Welcome to the Software Channel Partner Podcast where you’ll hear leaders of partner programs talk about their greatest challenges and most successful solutions. And now your host Louis Gudema, the President of revenue & associates.

Louis Gudema:            Welcome to the Software Channel Partner Podcast where we talk with leaders in software partner programs to learn about what’s working today. I’m Louis Gudema the President of revenue and associates, where we help companies grow faster by helping their Channel partners grow faster. Today I’m talking with Christine Sanni, mid-Atlantic Channel Manager for Intelisys. Christine has 13 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. She is a multiple president’s club winner and has had the privilege of sitting on the advisory board of Broadview Networks as a subject matter expert for channel sales. But wait, there’s more. Christine is also the CEO of ConserveGeo, a specialized environmental company. She’s a co-managing partner and founder for a VC firm and a podcast host. This year she was inducted into the Channel Partner’s circle of excellence and she is the mother of four pre-college age children. Frankly, Christine, I don’t know whether to interview you about the channel or about time management, but welcome to the podcast.

Christine:         Wow. Thank you for having me, and what a wonderful introduction. Thank you for that.

Louis:   Oh sure. Well, all deserved. We have a lot that we can talk about today, but why don’t we start with your work in the channel and then I want to get to some of the other work that’s really interesting that you’re doing. So what’s your career path been? What brought you to Intelisys? What interests you about the channel?

Christine:         Well I think it was a natural progression. I started off in direct sales and over half of my career was in door to door knocking. You really do learn the work ethic. You learn what to do, what not to do. You learn how to connect with people quickly and most importantly, you understand that the technology is really changing day to day. And so product knowledge and understanding how to position and leverage technology based on vertical, or based on the impact that the customer was looking to have, was what really kind of propelled me forward. I always wanted to be learning and closing bigger deals. And the channel — I actually had an opportunity to join the channel through my time at Broadview Networks and such an amazing transition. I think one the hardest things for me when I moved into the channel was that I actually wasn’t going to be the person selling it. That you know, I had to work to build the relationships with the partners and understand their goals and initiatives and how they sold to their end user and really learned the support side of the channel. And I had many years with Broadview in the mid-Atlantic running the channel there and Intelisys was just a natural progression for me. And it’s been a phenomenal opportunity and platform.

Louis:   So Christine you know what you were just saying about one of the challenges of being a channel manager, being that you’re not actually going out there and closing the deal yourself, that’s a challenge that a lot of new sales managers experience, too. Because often they’ve been really good at sales. And then the company says, Well, since you’re so good at sales we’re going to make you a sales manager and you can help lots of people be good at sales. And they have a real shock for 12 or 18 months that they’re not going out there and actually closing the deals themselves. So how did you deal with that? How has that affected you as a channel manager?

Christine:         Yeah that’s an excellent question. It was definitely I would say a mind shift, the thought process that I had to go through and understand that it was now my responsibility to support and facilitate growth in partners that were out there in the trenches. And so I think my experience being in direct sales and understanding how hard it was to get that sale and to build that relationship with the customer, I had the ability to be empathetic into what I was asking the partner to do to make them successful, and what they were experiencing day to day. So it actually made me, once I made the mental shift that it wasn’t going to be me out there closing the deal, that it was going to be really the partner, once I made that mental shift and commitment, to understanding what they were going through and making sure that I did everything possible to facilitate their growth, it really became an easy process. And so I’ve kept that with me as I’ve grown in the channel and as I’ve formed a new relationship with partners. First, seeking to really understand what their experiences are, what their goals are, and really being able to understand how hard it is for them to do what they do. And so that always leads me down the path of supporting them as best as I can, making decisions that will really help them be successful in the partnership.

Louis:   And you can probably hear Christine, I have a little bit of a cold. Hopefully that won’t be an issue. So before we get too far into this, can you just tell people about Intelisys and what it does? There are some listeners to the podcast who are in software but they’re not in telecom, and they may not be as familiar with master agents as people in telecom are.

Christine:         Yeah absolutely. Intelisys is in its 27th year in business, it will be 27 years this December. We are an independent subsidiary of ScanSource, which is a large technology distributor of product. And so Intelisys really owns the reoccurring side, and so we help partners that are looking to resell services, software as a service, the telecommunications service product line to their end users. So they leverage Intelisys — they have access to our suppliers — and in return, not only do they get the support from Intelisys to help build their reoccurring practices around that model, but we are regionally located across the country to support them. Just helping them grow their business and developing strategy around scaling and marketing and all of these things that business owners have to really own and implement in order to be successful.

Louis:   Can you describe a day in the life for a channel manager?

Christine:         Oh, wow. I would say it’s different for each of us.

Louis:   Okay, what about for you?

Christine:         But for me, I mean once you’ve been in the role I think for so long and you have a real relationship with your partners, you understand what the day is really going to look like. So I try to really map out my week and make it a per week plan just to stay organized. But it could have calls, your day could have calls. There’s just different opportunities out there that they might need our advice on in terms of who’s going to be the right fit. It could be strategic business meetings around, these are my existing operations, these are where I see gaps, what is your thought process behind filling those gaps. And then it could really be speaking with partners that are interested in coming on board to Intelisys and really just diving deep into who they are and what they’re really looking to accomplish. What’s driving the conversation or the interest in our organization?  And helping them make that transition and become a partner.

Louis:   So you said that Intelisys is organized by geography and you’re in the mid-Atlantic area. So physically how close are you to the partners that you are working with?

Christine:         Within driving distance, so pretty close. Some of them live in the same zip and some of them are two hours away. But we do a really good job at organizing when we’re going to be out in the area and scheduling appointments. There’s a lot of strategy that goes around touching every partner and making sure that we’re top of mind.

Louis:   Do you get to, try to get to every partner once a month or once a quarter? Or does it depend on the partner and some partners have just a lot more going on and you have to be much more attuned to them and meeting with them?

Christine:         Hands-on, yeah. Part of my strategy and what I do is I make sure that I’m touching a partner at least every 30 to 45 days. But that definitely doesn’t mean that we sit down and meet every 30 to 45 days. So it’s going to be dependent upon how engaged the partner is and what their current needs are, where they are in the process in terms of onboarding. And whether or not they’re in the position to really dive deep into the business. Whether or not they’re really looking to scale and grow and maybe have already identified some needs. So it really does depend upon the partner and that’s really what makes Intelisys special is that we have the talent to really customize the support around each partner. And so one size does not fit all and I think part of having a successful channel is having the agility and the ability to really customize not only the experience but the desired result for a partner.

Louis:   Jay McBain from Forrester who’s been on the podcast and other guests have talked about how critical your role is, which is why I wanted to have you on the pod because of that need to customize and how you’re working with different partners.

Christine:         Yeah, absolutely. And, it’s one of the things that I think makes a channel manager grow. When you are removed from actually selling the deal itself, where do you build your value? And so part of my strategy and part of my professional and personal growth is to always be learning and to be in that learning mindset. When I am faced with a challenge or a partner that is new to the channel, the question becomes how do I get them there? How do I take them through this convergence? How do I empower them to learn as quickly as they can the technology. And to be in a position where they can position the technology effectively to their end user so that they can build revenue. And can we coach them to leverage the resources of the suppliers strategically so that the revenue that they’re bringing in is profitable versus having to pay all of these individuals to get the job done.

So there’s a lot of strategies and there’s a lot of challenge in it because everyone is going to be different, everyone is going to have different needs. But I think the beauty in what we do is that no day is ever really the same. We can plan it as much as we like, but every day is unique in its own right. But definitely so much opportunity for those in the channel to really grow. We have two things that are constant in the channel: the technology will always change and our partners will all be different. And so I think that in itself affords great opportunity for us to never be really stagnant in what we do.

Louis:   Yeah. J.P. Dundas from Fuze mentioned that when I was interviewing him, about how the technology is changing so rapidly and partners have to be out there really selling solutions, and not just selling technology. It’s an interesting industry because it’s been around for well over a hundred years, but so much of the technology is new and now things are moving to the cloud that I imagine your partners have to put quite a lot of effort into keeping up with what all of the vendors are providing for them.

Christine:         Oh yeah, absolutely. And you know part of my coaching to partners is, you know enough to be dangerous. But you really want to leverage the expertise, the sales, the engineering, the technical design. and architecture at the supplier level, because only they will be experts at their own product. And even at the supplier level, where suppliers are constantly seeking how they can differentiate themselves from their competitors, they are adding value adds to their product constantly. And so it really is imperative for the partner to really have a clear understanding of the sales engagement process. Like if my customer raises their hand and looks and feels like this, I have some strategic alignment with suppliers that I know can fulfill those requirements. And make introductions and be really that objective and agnostic consultant, versus being the sales guy. It’s important that the partners understand they’re business owners, right? And so they can’t just be the sales guy who sells the product. They have to be able to provide a solution to their clients.

And I think part of that solution is also having the ability to be strategic with what suppliers you bring out. Have a marketing strategy, be operationally efficient, have the right partnerships in place, and be constantly developing as an entrepreneur and officer of your organization. And really being the visionary, because it’s important to understand that partners also have to find their differentiator.

Louis:   Well it’s interesting that you brought up marketing strategy. A lot of the guests, it’s an area that we work in, and I’ve asked them about a marketing skills gap among partners. And quite often, the vendors and the suppliers are very good at marketing, but partners not so much. Is that something you see that marketing skills gap? And if you do, how do you work with them or how does Intelisys work with them around that?

Christine:         Yes, definitely a major pain point for partners everywhere. Simply put: they’re not marketers. They come from the world of technology and they are so inundated, especially in the channel with what to sell and where to go and when is this going to get installed and how much am I going to make. And so I do, I try to help partners focus on the messaging behind what they do. I encourage partners out there that though you are in technology, it’s important to have a mission statement behind what you do. Irrespective of your title, irrespective of what industry you’re in, I think everyone can have a brand and anything and everything that you do, it’s important to have a meaning behind it. And I coach my partners when you walk into a networking event and you say, I’m with XYZ company. Does the room feel anything?

I think it’s easy to say that marketing is just a bunch of collateral that you can put out there or website that says, hey we’re located here and these are the products that we sell. But I absolutely think it’s imperative in today’s world where there are so many competitors out there, there’s so much competition, that I think what will make partners stand out from the rest is if they put meaning and purpose behind what they do. And that’s one of the strategies that I coach my partners on in the mid-Atlantic.

Louis:   Yeah I think that’s great that you’re doing that, that’s really critical. It’s not just a series of tactics but there certainly is a lot that they have to understand from the brand and messaging side to differentiate themselves. Back on the sales side, as a channel manager what kind of joint account-planning do you do with your partners?

Christine:         In joint account planning I would assume that’s similar to account mapping, is that correct? I want to make sure I understand your question.

Louis:   Yeah, you know if they have an account, what is the plan to penetrate it further and to get a larger share of the wallet.

Christine:         Yeah so I think that’s the strategy that we encourage our partners to focus on is what revenue have you not captured within your existing base? So it’s more coaching around that and making that a priority within the organization, within the partner. If they’ve got account managers, just reminding them that there are new technologies out there and I think education becomes really, really important around the new technology.

And then being able to go back to the existing account base and say, Okay, we’re not selling this product portfolio today. Can we identify customers within my base that would be eligible for this solution? Intelisys has engineers that can sit down with the partners and really map out and do the account mapping with the partner, with the account management team. But I would say partners are at all different sizes and some of them might not have access to inside account managers. So it’s important to understand how the partner is really structured. But yes, we’re definitely having that conversation. And really how it’s done is really dependent upon the operations and the resources that the partners have access to.

Louis:   Yeah, it’s going to be different from partner to partner.

Christine:         Yeh, absolutely.

Louis:   It’s really critical because selling more to current customers is so much cheaper than landing new accounts and new customers. But so often people think of sales and marketing totally in kind of the frame of mind of, We have to get new logos. But growing those existing accounts can be much more profitable.

Christine:         Much more profitable and really I argue that it is really indicative of whether or not you’re going to be around. It’s not enough to go out and acquire a bunch of new logos when your existing base is leaving out the back door.

Louis:   Yeh absolutely.

Christine:         Which is why, again, I hate to take it back here, but it really is: do you have a brand that emotionally connects with your existing base and with new logos. An emotionally connected base is two times more valuable. They’re willing to pay 20% more. The studies and the statistics are out there. And so it becomes really, really important no matter where you are in the progression of your business. If you’re at $500,000 in revenue and you’re looking to take your revenue to a million. Wherever you are it’s important to understand that your existing base is really what keeps the lights on, and you definitely don’t want them leaving after the term.

So it’s easy to forecast revenue you know, you sign a contract, you think you’re done and oh, I’ve got them for three years. But there’s a couple of variables out there that I think it’s easy to forget. Number one: if the technology provider doesn’t meet certain SLAs is there an opportunity for that end user to leave and break contract? Other things to consider: Is your customer being touched by someone else and building a relationship with that someone else and at the end of the term they are going to leave your agency? So I think we always have to be mindful that the relationship is a two way street and the contract doesn’t necessarily obligate that customer to stick around.

Louis:   That idea of emotional connections is so critical and especially in technology. I think you often have companies who don’t understand that, they just think in terms of techs and specs, but on the consumer side if you look at a company like Apple, people are waiting in line overnight

Christine:         When a phone comes out, yeah?

Louis:   Yeah for their new product. And even in the B2B world that you’re operating in, the research I’ve seen shows that the majority of the buying decision is based on emotional factors. In sales and marketing you know they say people decide with emotion and justify with logic.

Christine:         95% of the time. 95% of every purchasing decision is made in the subconscious. A lot of what we do happens within our primal brain. And that’s that emotional part of the brain that customers want to feel good about doing business with you. So does your brand and messaging make customers feel good about doing business with you? Can a customer identify with who you are as an organization, your mission, your vision? And so the messaging really has to state who you are and what you want to be known for and then you have to act upon that. So you can’t just state it and not be proved. You’ve got to act upon who you are and what you’re really looking to accomplish within the industry.

And so part of that process is really just thinking big. It’s thinking outside of yourself, it’s outside of the box, it’s thought provoking. And can I really make an impact? I’m just a technology consultant. Well, yes you can. You have the ability to touch a mass of people and effect positive or negative change on their business and how they interact with their end users. And I think coming full circle here, when you asked me earlier, how did you make the change, coming from direct into channel, it was just a mindset. It was my ability to realize it wasn’t about me, that it was now going to have to be about the people that I was serving and supporting. And I want it to be better each and every day to make sure that my partners had what they needed. So it’s different, right, but it’s so necessary and it’s the way we move technology. And so we have to adapt and we have to be agile.

Louis:   And another side of the importance of emotion is that, and I think a mistake vendors or partners often make, is they think it’s all about price. And when you have that strong emotional connection with your customers, again as Apple has shown, price becomes not just secondary, but it can be way down on the list.

Christine:         Oh yeah.

Louis:   So you gave a keynote, you just mentioned something about impact, and you gave a keynote at the Channel Partners conference last year and your theme was impact. So tell me a little bit more about that idea of impact and making an impact through business?

Christine:         Yeah absolutely. The name of the keynote was “Chasing the Impact in a Competitive Market”. And I realized very late in my career that I could do so much more and that more was was my ability to impact people in a positive way. It wasn’t just my role or my title. That I could really step outside of what I did day to day and connect with people or fill in the gap if they needed me or really just aligned with where they were looking to go. And it propelled my professional career. And I thought to myself, what a selfless concept, right? That though I worked for X company, when I walked into that office and explained who I was and who I was with, that none of that really mattered.

What mattered is that I truly understood who was sitting across the table from me. I truly understood what they were looking to accomplish within their industry and with their customers. And I realized, when I say do more, I could be part of that story. I could be part of that journey. I could be part of that result and that goal. And what an amazing opportunity that is, that when you can truly align on impact versus product or price or just technology. And the concept and the idea is that if I chase the impact with my customers and really any relationship that I’m in, if I chase the impact and align with that individual based off their goals and what they’re looking to accomplish, nd I had true alignment, I had a valuable authentic relationship, and a relationship so authentic and so aligned that it couldn’t be broken. And so what I wanted to convey to partners last year was you have the opportunity to go into a client’s office and not say this is what I do, but ask the question: What impact are you looking to have on your market, on your people, on your customers? And convey to them that you want to be the person that helps them achieve those things. And in doing that, as a result, competition will be irrelevant and you yourself will grow, naturally.

Louis:   It sounds like you’re firmly aligned or a believer that today’s sales is not selling, it’s helping.

Christine:         A thousand percent, a thousand percent.

Louis:   So let’s talk about some of the other things that you’re doing. What is ConservGeo and how do you find the time to be CEO of that on top of your channel manager job?

Christine:         I think that’s the million-dollar question, right? ConservGeo number one is a project finance company. We’re an environmentally focused company and we help facilitate financing for green projects that make that impact, green environmental impact globally on a global scale. And so I’ve had the honor and the privilege to really have a desire to help the environment on a global scale. And really it’s time management. It’s a global company and we’ve been able to hire talent all over the world that shares that vision with myself and the co-founder and have that alignment. And so I’m really able to give trust, almost day one, and allow my team to really advocate and facilitate the business. And as a result, we have grown significantly and see projects from all over the world. There’s no shortage of projects and we have some incredibly talented people. I’m definitely not doing it by myself. Incredibly talented team that is equally as passionate about protecting the environment that does everything from analyze the projects, to reach out to project developers worldwide to help coach them into submitting finance-ready projects to be evaluated by our firm.

Louis:   In terms of the VC firm, what kind of companies? In my experience with VC firms is that they all have a different profile of the kind of company that they’re looking for. The stage that the companies at, the industry the companies in, and so forth. So what kind of companies is the VC firm that you’re involved with supporting?

Christine:         We’re really focused on those thought-provoking biotech firms and technologies that are really going to continue to stabilize infrastructure and the global economy. Technology is changing every day. We talked about that earlier. So we look at those companies, irrespective of how established they are. We love startups. We love just ideas. Being able to be positioned to come on early on and really see if there’s some validity in it and what type of impact it will make. And when you focus on impact and you see the big picture and you see the possibilities of how it could affect people in need, it becomes really easy for us to come on board in whatever capacity we choose.

Louis:   I mentor startups at MIT, and just because I don’t have the science background I tend not to get involved with the biotech companies. But this is an organization that has something like 250 companies being mentored by us. At any one time there’s 175 mentors. And the biotech companies, just some of the impact that those companies that are having in terms of having better diagnostics or cheaper or faster diagnostics in the field, being able to deliver services at a fraction of the cost and so forth. There is a huge opportunity to have an impact there with people globally.

Christine:         Yeah absolutely. Part of what I do and why I love being an entrepreneur and being in the channel, I get an opportunity to meet some extraordinary people. Some of them know they are extraordinary and some don’t. And I love being able to just have conversations with people that are thirsty for growing and that are always seeking to do more. And that’s just the type of person that I am. And so I don’t believe in boxes. I believe in dreaming bigger. If you’re doing something that doesn’t scare you, you’ve got to, you’ve got to take the time to explore those bigger goals. Society teaches us, set S.M.A.R.T. goals and make sure they’re measurable and make sure they’re realistic. You won’t know your limit unless you push your limit.

And I question people who say, Well that’s not a realistic goal. Well, where do you get the ideology from of what’s actually realistic? You know those visionaries we see in different colors. And we can see what the picture is going to look like. And sometimes those early on can’t see it. But I think that’s what makes a great leader is having a vision and then being able to empower those to see it and understand the value and the tools that they bring to the table. And also part of being a great leader is realizing you can’t do it on your own. And you need a team around you that’s aligned. And so I think in today’s society where technology rules, you can have an idea and scale it and grow it very, very quickly. As long as you have the right partnerships, as long as you have the alignment, as long as you’re focused on the impact versus just the dollars, I think you’re going to see a lot more people being successful and quickly because they have the ability to do it. We just need more people to tell them they can do it. And I want to be one of those voices.

Louis:   On the channel side, what should I have asked you that I didn’t? As a channel manager what keeps you up at night?

Christine:         That’s funny because I get this question on a weekly basis. What keeps me up at night? Nothing.

Louis:   I thought you were going to say ConservGeo keeps you up at night?

Christine:         No.

Louis:   That you’re doing Intelisys 8-6 and ConservGeo in the middle of the night, but that’s not the case?

Christine:         You know I wish it was 8-6. I think it never really turns off. I would be there for my partners if they called me whenever they called me. No, I never turn it off and I think everything that I do, I give 1000%. I’m really smart about how I structure companies and structure projects that I’m working on. I make sure that I can give 1000% to everything that I put my hands on. And yes I do believe that you can. You just have to be smart and you know, leverage tools and resources. I’ve got a phenomenal team at Intelisys, and collaboratively we support our partners. But nothing keeps me up at night. When I go to bed, and I won’t tell you when I go to bed, but when I do get an opportunity to lay down, I know that I’ve given it my all, I’ve worked my butt off and I know that I’m a 1000% of the time I can bet on myself to get it done. For whatever’s outstanding, you know I make room for it and push to complete everything that I have on my plate.

Louis:   Okay, so we’re talking about how rapidly the telecom industry is changing and certainly the whole channel world is changing rapidly too. How do you keep up? Are there particular podcasts, blogs, events, websites, books, or other ways that you use to keep up with the industry?

Christine:         Yes, several different I would say vehicles to really keep up. We’ve got an amazing university at Intelisys where partners and colleagues can go in and learn trending technologies. So that’s an option. I do, I read a lot of reports, a lot of data. I follow the Harvard Business Journal. I follow marketing firms and have signed up to receive a bunch of newsletters on where our industry is today and where it’s going. And so I read a lot of data. And, again, I think it has to be a 360-degree approach. It can’t just be that you focus only on the technology and, it’s got to be everything. And that’s part of the coaching that I give my partners is learn the business side, learn the operations, learn the marketing, learn how to hire people, learn how to motivate people and hire on alignment versus what’s on the resume. I think all those things combined will make you a leader in the industry.

Louis:   So for people who want to get in touch with you, how can they contact you?

Christine:         The easiest way to contact me is via LinkedIn. I am always on LinkedIn to reach out and request a connect and I’ll definitely connect with you. And typically once we’re connected, if you request some time, if I’ve got the opportunity to spend a couple minutes just getting an introduction, I’m more than happy to connect and align with people.

Louis:   All right, terrific and we’ll put the link to your LinkedIn profile in the show notes on the revenueassociates.biz site in the Podcast section.

So thank you for joining us today Christine.

Christine:         Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

Louis:   And if you’re listening to this on Apple podcast, Google, Spotify, or another app, and you found this conversation with Christine as interesting and useful as I did, please leave a review. That will help other people learn about the podcast too.

Thank you for listening to the Software Channel Partner Podcast, and please subscribe and listen to future episodes.