Mitel Channel Sales Leader Looks to Recast Sales

It's been just over a week since Mitel tapped former Avaya executive Jonathan Buckle to become its SVP, Americas, where he will lead regional Mitel channel sales. Upon his newly minted charge, Buckle will head the No. 2 unified communications (UC) firm globally to sales conquest in the Americas. 

Or so the company expects.

You may recall that last October the UC giant earned the distinction of the second largest unified communications firm after completing the acquisition of competitor Unify — the UCC services businesses of the Atos group. Now that it has had five months to, for lack of a better term, "unify" the brands, the duo has more than 75 million users in over 100 countries.

And with 5,500 plus resellers, service providers, technology and strategic alliance partners, Buckle has an abundance on his proverbial plate. Even though he will only see a share of that business in the Americas, the region is arguably its most demanding market.

Mitel's Jonathan Buckle

Mitel Channel Sales Lean Heavily on Collaboration

Buckle says his background in manufacturing and having worked on building three different channel programs provide him a unique viewpoint to comprehend what drives channel partners and manufacturers. 

The common denominator, Buckle told us, is the customer. 

Related:Former Avaya Channel Leader Will Oversee Mitel Channel Sales, Americas

"You have to put [the customer] at the heart of everything you do," he told Channel Futures. "We have to get a bit more intimate with partners and customers because when you can put yourself in the other person's shoes, you make better decisions," he said. 

It is all about collaboration, Buckle remarked.

"We can't get siloed. In fact, we have to get all our people where the action happens, with our customers," he said, telling us he wants his team to be in the field to understand the necessities of the sector they serve. 

"You can have the best technology in the world, but if you can't implement it or execute it, you end up with a poor result," said Buckle.

It's a notion on which he said Mitel relies heavily on partners to deliver. 

Mitel Places Bet on Vertical Markets For Partner Prosperity 

Buckle believes the opportunity for partners resides in the vertical markets Mitel serves, such as health care and financial services.

"Once we put those teams together and extended that offering to partners/customers," said Buckle, "we found that we had a huge amount of wisdom in critical vertical markets. We now have a lot more resources and knowledge to help customers, even more than before the acquisition," said Buckle.

The Mitel sales leader said he is committed to the channel and its goals, noting that the combined company culture is why he joined the UC giant in the first place.

"If you don't love the company you work for, how do you expect your customers and partners to love your organization?" he said.

That transfers to the services you deliver.

Buckle said that belief drives him to ensure partner success as the new Mitel channel sales executive. It comes down to listening to customers; then, he says, "that will translate into partner success."

With a broad ecosystem of customers, from five seats to tens of thousands of seats, Buckle and his team seems to have placed bets on vertical markets offering success to partners, desiring that they will transform that differentiator into more considerable profit margins for everyone involved.