Spectrum Enterprise Channel Chief: Direct Selling Agents Getting New Opportunities
Spectrum Enterprise is targeting increased automation and reduced sales friction in its latest partner update.
![Opportunities Opportunities](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt532aa4abb8bd570d/6524525b8db4a03514aa28ba/Opportunities.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Shutterstock
Channel Futures: How did 2020 go in terms of adjusting to the pandemic and remote work?
Spectrum’s Michelle Kadlacek: Spectrum Enterprise has really been working to ensure that our clients could stay connected and feel supported, by providing solutions that help keep them moving forward. We were focused on the strength of our network to support a greater need for those wide area network services and the increased demand for bandwidth. We also provided scalabale solutions to businesses so they could adjust their services based on their daily, ever-changing business needs throughout the pandemic.
MK: I believe now more than ever, our partner program clients really needed access to what I would call trusted technology advisers, which are our partners. Partners are helping clients in a variety of verticals to solve those problems that many organizations quite honestly had never been faced with before. Clients continue to have a larger number of remote workers and security concerns that come from those teleworking environments. So I believe our partners played that critical role in ensuring clients had the right amount of bandwidth to keep business owners not just operational, but also really secure in this new environment.
CF: On the partner side, what should partners anticipate happening in 2021 in terms of the program? Are there any announcements or updates?
MK: Digital transformation and a focus on the partner experience are two elements that our program strategy will continue to focus on in 2021. We have several initiatives that are underway and more plans that are really going to demonstrate how our partners interact and sell our products and services. These efforts include an enhanced partner portal that’s going to give both our master agents, and for the first time, our selling agents, more control and visibility into their fiber order activity.
CF: What’s going on as far as the technology side goes?
MK: We continue to launch innovative products that are in high demand. As you know, in February we launched our Managed Network Edge (also known as MNE). It is our all-in-one network management solution that simplifies the deployment and management of the client’s network. MNE includes nationwide connectivity options, several modular service add-ons, a user portal, network management and technical support 24/365, all delivered on a Cisco Meraki platform. Our MNE allows clients to quickly buy services, such as network security and routing, and then easily add more services as their needs grow. It really is a win-win for both our clients and our partners alike.
CF: Could you talk a little bit about how Spectrum Enterprise is positioning itself in the market?
MK: I think clients need performance. They need bandwidth, and they need the scalability of a modern fiber connectivity solution, and Spectrum Enterprise can uniquely deliver just that. As a primary solutions partner, we’ve got a national reach. We’re making it easier for businesses to evolve their networks and address a wide range of business and technology challenges.
MK: We’ve also tagged this year as the year of automation. It’s our focus to continue to add more automation to make the ordering process more efficient. We want to also simplify how we work together with our partners, which includes investing in our tools, streamlining our processes and improving the systems that our partners are using.
MK: Right now through June 28, our partners can leverage our six-month free promo offer for new and existing clients that are adding locations or new qualifying services. Clients must have or be purchasing an FIA (fiber internet access) or Ethernet product to qualify for the six-month rate. In addition to our enterprise fiber transport solutions FIA and Ethernet, we’re really encouraging our clients to add solutions from our portfolio that will modernize their networks to better meet the needs of their employees and customers.
CF: Could you touch on some trends you’re seeing in the channel?
MK: Current trends we’re seeing in the channel right now include the need for automation, APIs and automated marketing tools. Partners want us to reduce the sales process friction, and they want us to go above and beyond to help solve their clients’ challenges. And the Spectrum Enterprise Partner Program is going to continue to grow through investments in our network infrastructure and technology, increases in bandwidth and new products and services to modernize the network, regardless if you’re a selling agent, a master agent, a value-added reseller or a managed services provider.
CF: Could you touch on some trends you’re seeing in the channel?
MK: Current trends we’re seeing in the channel right now include the need for automation, APIs and automated marketing tools. Partners want us to reduce the sales process friction, and they want us to go above and beyond to help solve their clients’ challenges. And the Spectrum Enterprise Partner Program is going to continue to grow through investments in our network infrastructure and technology, increases in bandwidth and new products and services to modernize the network, regardless if you’re a selling agent, a master agent, a value-added reseller or a managed services provider.
Spectrum Enterprise is giving its direct selling agent partners more access than ever before.
That’s according to Michelle Kadlacek, vice president of the Spectrum Enterprise Channel Partner Program. Kadlacek said Spectrum has given direct selling agents access to its partner portal. As a result, these agents will join the larger aggregating agents in getting deeper visibility into their fiber orders.
Spectrum’s Michelle Kadlacek
Kadlacek said partners are demanding more APIs and automation. That includes more automated marketing tools.
“Partners want us to reduce the sales process friction, and they want us to go above and beyond to help solve their clients’ challenges,” she said.
Earnings
Spectrum Enterprise made a strong showing in Charter Communications’ latest earnings report. Charter, which owns Spectrum, reported that enterprise revenues ticked up from $622 million in the first quarter of 2020 to $638 million in the first quarter of 2021. The company made more than $1 billion in SMB revenue in the first quarter, totaling $1.6 in commercial revenue.
Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge praised the enterprise segment for bettering not just its 2020 sales, but its 2019 sales.
“And that’s despite the fact that these are complex fiber products where today, less than 25% of the time, we are meeting our customers’ CIOs in the office. So that’s a difficult sell to make when you are not in person to have a complex fiber sell, whether it’s for fiber internet access, Ethernet, unified communications, SD-WAN — and yet our sales are increasing and accelerating despite the fact that we can’t be on location to make those sells,” Rutledge said.
Kadlacek talked one-on-one with Channel Futures. She addressed feedback from partners, the company’s managed network edge solution and a promotion Spectrum is running around Ethernet.
Scroll through the slideshow above for the most important things she had to say about the channel.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email James Anderson or connect with him on LinkedIn. |
Read more about:
AgentsAbout the Author(s)
You May Also Like