Zest4's policy is to make it as easy as possible for partners to build their businesses. Its onboarding system is slick. The training programme works. The support structure is sound. It's no surprise that the company has become the focus of attention for a tide of resellers, and the Zest4 channel campaign convoy is unstoppable, says Mandy Fazelynia, Operations and Business Development Director.
The Zest4 project has succeeded on a number of fronts, not least due its bias towards full partner support, a virtue that has attracted the attention of resellers operating in markets adjacent to its mobile heritage. "During the last 12 months we have also focused on the recruitment of fixed line and IT resellers," said Fazelynia. "So far we have signed 110 new partner agreements, 88 are fully onboarded, of which 80 have won business across mobile, fixed, data and hosted telephony solutions. We have also seen our mobile base double over the last year. We now serve over 8,000 mobile subscribers and bill in excess of £300,000 per month."
Zest4's key strategic partnerships include industry heavyweights such as O2, Vodafone and Gamma. "They enable us to offer flexible, bespoke communications solutions as well as great commercial deals," added Fazelynia. "Through our history and expertise in mobile, coupled with the flexibility and service wrap we have traditionally provided to mobile partners, we realised that we could extend our offering to fixed line and IT resellers."
As part of the onboarding process Zest4 works closely with partners on initial deals throughout the solution building and quoting stages. The firm operates a bespoke onboarding scheme built around the requirements of each partner. A plan is formulated to ensure their sales and operational teams are trained and compliant in the products they sell, and a support team is on-hand when needed.
"During the next 12 months we aim to continue building our base of IT and fixed line reseller partners, and also focus on the promotion of our wider product portfolio including services such as Mobile Device Management (MDM), Office 365 and Machine to Machine solutions," added Fazelynia.
Zest4 is also monitoring growth in the UC space and shaping its portfolio of products to reflect these changes. "We are aware of the increasing demand of businesses to fulfil their communications needs from a single supplier, so our impetus to educate and support resellers to offer total solutions remains as strong as ever," stated Fazelynia. "Our team build their own knowledge in new product areas and support partners to generate sales. This gives them the ability to increase their portfolio without the need to invest in further in-house expertise."
All new partners are enrolled into the Zest4 Academy, a programme of training and development that builds the knowledge base of partners and their teams. Tailored training programmes are developed for each partner (taking their existing knowledge and experience into consideration) and training is delivered through classroom sessions at its head office in Manchester, through meeting accompaniment and via solution and proposal building sessions. Zest4 also holds partner forums where refresher training is provided or briefings are presented as part of a new product launch.
"Our training is effective," noted Fazelynia. "We have transitioned many partners from providing single to multi-products and have enabled them to realise a greater share of purse by providing their customers with more than one communications product. We plan to build on this as we add O365 and M2M into our partner academy and look forward to supporting partners to realise the revenue opportunities that these products represent."
Nor is that all. During its 12 month campaign the company has developed and launched a Zest4 partner marketing programme. "Following an assessment stage where we look at the business plan and objectives of the partner and seek to align our goals, a 12 week marketing plan is developed in which we work with them to raise brand awareness and generate leads," commented Fazelynia. "Throughout the programme we mentor each partner and help them create personalised content to ensure the plan gets fully implemented and brings good results. We also provide a range of tools and templates through our partner portal that are available for download."
Growth in the UC market and the changing buying behaviours of customers show that providers must diversify in order to remain in the marketplace, according to Fazelynia. "We regularly ask partners for feedback to help us implement change in our programme," she said. "This provides them with the confidence and tools to sell solutions outside of their traditional remit.
"Enrolling our partners onto the Zest4 Academy and formulating tailored training programmes illustrates our priorities. And by offering sales support, customer surveying, provisioning, installation and billing set-up, Zest4 takes the complexities out of providing UC solutions and allows partners to focus on generating new sales and more revenue."