Despite many years at the top of his game Channel Telecom's rising star Matt Donaldson - Channel Manager - gives the impression he is just part-way along a career path that will lead him to make a significant impact on the wider comms industry landscape.
Few successful business people would cite comedy hero Del Boy as their role model. But the bumbling market trader in the hit TV show Only Fools and Horses, played by David Jason, belies the true nature of the man behind the character. "He played a huge part in my growing up," noted Donaldson. "My uncles used to make me watch Only Fools and Horses but it wasn't until recently I read David Jason's autobiography and realised how hard he worked to get what he wanted. His passion and commitment to acting gave him a goal that eventually he achieved. I will use my passion in a slightly different way to make my mark on the telecoms industry."
Donaldson was introduced to telecoms through a contact he knew in the industry. "I started out in sales in the earlier years of my career and never looked back," he commented. "I get a buzz from that constant interaction of meeting new people and listening to their issues and being able to offer a solution to their problems. I have always been known in my sales career as an individual that loves a challenge and can think outside of the box to get results."
Donaldson's influence makes itself felt in various ways, not least through assiduous efforts to improve the way things get done within an organisation. "Previously working for other competitors has given me a clear view on how different each company's strategies are," he explained. "I'm able to change processes and present new ideas at Channel Telecom in a way that improves our business approach. I have a trouble shooter mentality and a strong personality but this always comes across in a positive way for success and fluency in sales."
Donaldson's depth of work experience has also given him clear insights into the diversity of peoples' personalities as well as an organisation's strategies. "My experience in dealing with people gives me the advantage of stepping back and understanding how the person works before presenting a business case to them," he said. "When leading a team it's important to understand what kind of characteristics define an organisation and its people and find their strengths to help them excel."
Donaldson marshalls a great sense of vision and strategy and his management expertise encompasses a variety of disciplines that enable him to play a key role in the development and growth of Channel Telecom. "As Channel Manager I am helping to shape the sales operations and new developments as well as lead the reseller model and sales," he stated. "This is an area of the business that's growing fast and we constantly search for exceptional individuals that would like to join our team in Channel Telecom Wholesale.
"I'm also responsible for our billing platforms designed for resellers. We've recently migrated over to a new CRM base which I fully supported to the IT department during execution and continue to work closely with the marketing department to ensure our profile is kept high. I've been told I'm a team player and a keen contributor of new ideas for our business strategies within the company. We have a great road map ahead of us and with some hard work from the sales team we will exceed our realistic goals and accelerate past a few our competitors."
The company, noted Donaldson, is forging ahead with sales of SIP trunks, Ethernet connectivity and hosted telephony, and he believes that technologies such as these will revolutionise business communications over the coming decade and radically change traditional working patterns. "The opportunities these changes create for the channel are immense and our job is to educate our channel partners on the benefits so that they can communicate them effectively to their customers," he said. "There is without doubt an increase in the pace of applications moving over to the cloud. Our job as network service suppliers to the channel is to assist partners as best we can and encourage the transition from selling hardware premises equipment to providing cloud-based services on a license model."
Channel Telecom is developing a range of hosted solutions and Donaldson will ensure that full training and resources are provided to maximise the selling opportunity for partners. But also key to success is a positive frame of mind, receptive to change and willing to learn. "The biggest obstacle I've had to overcome is training negative sales people," he said. "I've trained a lot in the past, including those that refuse to adapt their sales technique to what you suggest in their training. This is frustrating especially when you are trying to train a whole team. However, it's a real achievement when they finally see the brighter side and how your teachings are a better approach than theirs through clear evidence in sales numbers."
There is a strong nurturing culture within Channel Telecom's sales and account management process. "We pride ourselves in our solid account management team that guarantees quality service to our partners and slowly assists their growth throughout their journey with us," added Donaldson. "We follow through on what we preach about handholding our partners as much as they need. We have a strong training scheme to educate our channel partners on our products, WLR3 portals and billing systems."
Educating end users is also a priority but, according to Donaldson, the industry is doing its best to keep the benefits it offers a secret. "A big bugbear is the unnecessary jargon preventing customers from understanding the real cost benefits and the high level productivity they could achieve by deploying state-of-the-art comms solutions," he explained. "Our industry is its own worst enemy. I can't think of another market sector where they would develop magic solutions and then disguise it in such an odd way. Our sales team recognises this issue and is always on hand to give advice and explain any industry jargon in its simplest form."
Maintaining close communication with customers is a policy Donaldson has followed throughout his career in major account management. The principle he advances is a KCI (keep the customer informed) approach which he says is crucial to success. "My leads stem from a lot of recommendations from clients," added Donaldson. "I follow through on my promises as do the rest of the team here in Channel Telecom. It's a given that word of mouth spreads fast."
Donaldson also thrives and flourishes most robustly as a manager when not at work, managing Buck CC, a football team for under 8s. "I was asked last year by my local club to manage the team after taking my nephew to football training every weekend," he commented. "This challenging hobby allows me to channel my leadership energy towards this young team of aspiring players. I enjoy learning about the latest football drills for children and this past year has been a true learning curve. As I have a strong competitive streak this hobby comes with its stresses, but as I love football and children it is one of my favourite ways to unwind after a busy week at work." •