Inkjet & Digital Printing
Canon revamps channel programme for partners facing new business challenges
Tuesday 05. June 2018 - Canon Europe has today announced the relaunch of its EMEA-wide channel partner programme, helping partners develop, manage and optimise growth opportunities, and expand into new markets. Developed from direct partner feedback, the updated programme offers multiple benefits to partners, underpinned by Canons unique knowledge and expertise in new areas of potential growth.
Rapidly advancing technologies have put customers in the drivers seat of the marketplace – and this change is more apparent now than at any time in the past. As personalised and immediate experiences continue to dominate the consumer experience, customers have grown to expect superior treatment from every business they engage with. As a result, Canon is launching a unique, multi-tiered programme to provide partners with the resources they need to meet customer expectations in this increasingly challenging environment.
The new programme centres around providing partners with clear benefits across five new value propositions to enable growth. Together, these value propositions ensure partners have the ecosystem in place to win in the market, in partnership with Canon:
Diversify
Canon will support partners to diversify and grow their business by seizing up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. Partners who are already selling Canon office solutions, are also able to harness Canons knowledge, expertise and existing portfolio, to diversify their offering and meet increasing customer expectation. With the total digital printing market predicted to reach 225% of the 2013 value by 2024i, there are opportunities for growth for expanding businesses.
Collaborate
Canon has invested in centralised planning tools, a cornerstone of the new programme, which enable both parties to set joint goals and support a shared commitment to grow together. These business plans help Canon build a closer relationship with partners, to better understand their challenges and pain points, and to ensure a more transparent relationship. The programme is structured and well-governed with Account Managers available to support partners through regular quarterly business reviews, in addition to on-going and ad-hoc support.
Fabian Hoegee, B2B Marketing & Sales Excellence Senior Director, Canon Europe said: “At Canon, partnership underpins everything we do, and its that spirit of partnership that drives our innovation. Every business has different plans for growth and business development, so our programme offers tailored propositions to ensure that we meet those needs. We are delivering a clearly structured partner journey, that focuses on driving growth, supporting specialism and offers benefits and rewards that reflect performance.”
Expand
Through the updated programme, Canon is committed to helping partners stand out from their competition. To help meet joint business goals, the brand will offer a set of tools including demand generation and lead management services, as well as providing market intelligence, so that partners can become better equipped to understand and expand into new markets and generate higher quality leads across the board.
Win
Through a new Partner Learning Hub, partners will have access to additional training and resources designed to help them more effectively close deals and maximise sales. These resources are structured in three parts: building knowledge of Canons product portfolio and its value proposition; supporting sales conversations; and a new deal registration platform. Partners will also have the opportunity to focus in on particular market challenges through specialist market tracks, which drill down into more detail around the way customers in those sectors think and buy.
Streamline
Finally, Canon will provide a selection of services to reduce admin loads, so partners can stay focused on their goals. This will include a service capability and efficiency roadmap, as well as a services enablement catalogue.
“To succeed in this complex and fast-changing landscape, its important for us that our channel feel like they have a partner they can trust and work with collaboratively”, added Fabian. “With decades of experience in imaging technologies and services, we want to arm our partners with a strong competitive advantage that makes it easier for them to win customers and pave a clear path to growth and profitability.”