How partners can stand out from the crowd with differentiation

One of the hottest topics in the industry is partner differentiation, but what does it mean in practice? Bertrand Pourcelot, Managing Director of Enreach for Service Providers, recently sat down with David Dungay, editor of UC Today, as part of the UC Today Partner Summit. They discussed some of the strategies that partners can use to stand out from the crowd. 

According to Bertrand, there are two main differentiation categories: one focused on local proximity, customer knowledge, understanding where a customer is on their digital transformation journey and advising them accordingly. 

The other category is more product-oriented, using APIs to achieve CRM, ERP and even vertical market integrations. And that requires having a vendor agile and large enough to have the resources to be an innovation leader. Said Bertrand, “I like to say, big enough to matter, small and local enough to care.” 

Also, Bertrand and David touched on mobile and what ease-of-use means. People use their mobile phones at home, even when they do not need full mobility. Consequently, partners have a vast opportunity to explore new business opportunities with mobile as part of converged contact, enabling more meaningful human connections and more flexible ways to work.  

Bertrand also emphasised, “When you apply traditional or existing fixed capabilities to mobile, they suddenly become very innovative.” Examples he provided include having CRM integration and call recording on a mobile number. “It’s part of digital transformation, and mobile can be an extraordinary driver for innovation. So it is important for users and partners.” 

For sure, while the market may be increasingly competitive, there are some exciting opportunities to do things differently, deliver customer value, and for partners to grow in new directions.