With its new Data Centre Program, launching April 1st, Lenovo will have gone far beyond the traditional concept of a carrot on a string. A great deal of thought has gone into not only Lenovo’s future but also, and more importantly, into the future success of its valued channel partners. The conclusion: The program is not merely to reward its partners but also to give them the building blocks for future growth.
Motivation & prestige
Lenovo’s new program boils down to motivation and prestige. Through a robust system of incentives and support, channel partners can achieve a high mark of prestige in the industry and can, with access to a rich set of support tools, grow their business and revenue from a robust portfolio of Data Center products and solutions.
“Lenovo’s Data Centre Program features three tiers — Platinum, Gold, Silver — for the first time,” says Pam Miller, Director, Infrastructure Channels and Ecosystems Research at IDC Channels & Alliances. “The way Lenovo has set up their tiers, partners will be very competitive. This program is a can’t-miss. It will raise the bar for all partners.”
Five ways
Here are five of the many ways Lenovo’s new program will empower its partners:
- DCG Partner Programs including:
- Lenovo SPIFF program, through which partners can earn up to $10,000 per quarter
- Backend rebates for all DCG sales
- Deal registration, which protects new opportunities unearthed by partners across large enterprise, public sector, and all DCG customer segments
- New customer bonuses for partners who have identified and sold DCG products into new small and medium business customers
- Access for Gold and Platinum member clients to the Customer Briefing Center, a world-class facility where clients can tour Lenovo’s exciting portfolio and development labs
- Partner Development Funds are available to Gold and Platinum partners who are interested in growing mutual business, including for events, equipment demos, funded research, and more.
- Target incentives including:
- a quarterly growth target incentive which allows partners to earn base rebates on all DCG products up to target, and larger quarterly rebates on incremental sales above target; and
- a semiannual and annual target incentive, which gives Platinum partners can significantly increase their earnings by achieving aspirational revenue and new logo growth
- Via Lenovo’s online training portal at LenovoPartnerNetwork.com, all DCG partners have access to on-demand sales and high quality technical training.
“The combination of revenue and educational elements to the tiers is a smart move,” says Miller. “The program will succeed because it anticipates what partners need to do and what they need to know in order to grow, to move from one goal to the next.”
Knowing is growing
The program features three performance tiers:
- Silver: basic level for all authorized Lenovo partners and resellers
- Gold: for those who have $400,000 in Data Center revenue in the previous four quarters
- Platinum: for those who have hit the $3 million mark in Data Centre revenue
Many incentives programs leave it at this — they assign dollar thresholds to their performance tiers and launch their program. While mindful of the importance of revenue Lenovo wanted to go one step further by tacking an educational component onto the second and third performance tiers:
- Gold: $400,000 in revenue AND maintain five Lenovo DCG designations
- Platinum: $3 million in revenue AND maintain eight Lenovo DCG designations
By getting Lenovo designations channel partners and resellers have an excellent way to up their knowledge and expertise. This not only sharpens these individuals’ skills but also boosts their appeal and reputation in an ultra-competitive market.
For more information about the new program, click here.