Carbonite Unveils New Partner Program! Find Out What That Means for You

Carbonite’s newly redesigned Partner Program is all about rewarding partners for bringing in and retaining new business–and those rewards come in the form of higher profit margins, according to Jessica Couto, Carbonite’s Vice President of North American Channel Sales. I sat down with Jessica recently to learn more about the benefits that partners can expect from the revamped Carbonite Partner Program. Read the interview below, then click on the SoundCloud player for more information and expert tips on how to increase sales of disaster recovery solutions.

What are some of the highlights of Carbonite’s newly revamped Partner Program?

Jessica Couto: I’m really excited about this new Partner Program that we recently rolled out. It’s exciting, first off, because it’s simple to understand. And that’s feedback we get all the time: Partner programs need to be simple. It’s also very fair across the board. We reward partners for finding opportunities for us. We’ve provided significant protection on new deals that they bring forward to us.

What can a partner who brings in a new deal expect from Carbonite?

Couto: For example, the gross profit margin that they can make between a deal that they’ve brought versus a deal that may go out to bid is 25%. That is very big in terms of partner programs. It rewards partners for their efforts, and rightfully so. Partners put in a lot of time, and they put in a lot of energy–and sometimes they put in marketing dollars of their own to grow their sales–and we want to reward them for that. The new Carbonite Partner Program takes away channel conflict, as well, because we’ve flattened it out and made it very simple.

What are the benefits of deal registration?

Couto: That’s a good question because we’ve really based the Partner Program around deal registration, and not around volume or how much partners have done in sales in the past. Deal registration helps us foster a closer relationship with the partner, but it also helps the partner feel like we’re going to protect them for their efforts to bring that deal forward.

Want to learn more? Click on the player below to hear the entire interview with Carbonite’s Jessica Couto. You’ll learn more about the Partner Program and get Jessica’s expert advice on how to increase sales of disaster recovery solutions.

How do subscription renewals work under the Partner Program?

Couto: As an incumbent, they’re going to get an extra 10% on the renewal. Somebody that’s just coming in to bid it out would only get a standard 10%. So we’ve created a buffer there.

Let’s talk about some of the roles on Carbonite’s Channel Team. What are our Channel Account Managers like?

Couto: Most of them have been have been here for more than two years, so they’re experienced, they know the product, they know the industry, they know our program–and they are super-charged and super-energized. They love working with our partners as well as the customers and our sales team. They get understand to influence people and create synergy.

What about our Channel Sales Representatives?

Couto: The Channel Sales Representatives are the people who most people might recognize as an indirect sales team. So their job is to work with our partners in terms of our quid pro quo. When we get a lead that comes in from our direct marketing team, the Channel Sales Rep’s job is to pick a partner in their region that can best meet the needs of that customer–and then pass the lead onto them. They also work with the partner on any new deals that they wish to bring forward. For example, we actually had a dental customer here in New England that was struggling a little bit with our product and needed some guidance to help with the backup and recovery of their dental application. And we happen to have a great partner here locally who specializes in dental practices. The Channel Sales Rep brought the partner and the dental practice together–and the partner saved the day. The Channel Team could not be happier about that. There was great synergy there, and we are looking to bring that partner some more business.

Learn more about Carbonite’s Partner Program and become a Carbonite Partner today!

Mark Brunelli is a Senior Writer on the Corporate Marketing Team at Carbonite.