Samsung arms partners with tools to support greater mobility

Samsung is known for mobility and with its latest channel partner programme has practised what it preaches, with the keystone of its approach being an app for partners to navigate its systems.

The vendor announced its Samsung One programme earlier this month and is keen to stress that it is committed to making life easier for its existing partner base.

The Samsung One programme boasts a number of features, and the decision to arm partners with an app that covers incentives, rewards and training information is being seen as a smart move, given the increased adoption of digital tools across the channel.

Along with the mobile app, the vendor is also providing specific B2B training, offering incentives for those that hit targets and drive best practice, and is also launching a champion programme, a community where knowledge can be shared among resellers.

Joe Walsh, director of B2B at Samsung UK & Ireland, said the firm was looking to ensure it had a strong relationship with its channel and could use technology to support its ambition.

“Our vision for Samsung is to build an engaging community on one collaborative platform,” he said. “We want it to be the ultimate collaboration platform that enables our partners to provide transformative business solutions to their customers, and therefore the purpose of the programme is to communicate, educate motivate and reward.”

Walsh said its channel was focused on helping customers transform, the channel was “the heartbeat of the business” and it was determined to arm the 12,000 staff across its UK channel base with the best tools.

Some vendors launch fresh partner programmes with the intention of using the rewards on offer to attract some fresh blood, but Walsh is keen to stress that the aim with Samsung One is to arm its current base with the help needed to deal with the problems that their customer base is experiencing.

“One thing that is very evident to Samsung is that the pace of change in the business sector is going through, quite naturally, an accelerated period of digital transformation, and the solutions are getting more complex, so that the lines within businesses are blurring between security and productivity,” he said.

“It’s not necessarily about attracting new, but taking everyone on the journey in a collaborative way and saying, ‘here’s all the different propositions’, in a very structured way that you know is going to give them the tools necessary to have those conversations with UK plc.”

The timing of the launch of Samsung One comes against the background of the pandemic, but Walsh said the coronavirus had underlined the importance of technology for customers.

“Mobility and collaboration has never been more important in the way we work,” he said. “When we made the decision to launch and develop Samsung One, this has been in trade for some time, but we’ve wanted to deal with our partners and really listen to what they felt they needed.”

Walsh added that the decision to put so much emphasis on the app had been in response not only to channel feedback, but in recognition of how mobile people are and how important apps have become for people on the move.

“It comes across as quite a simple and obvious idea, but executing it and getting the application right, making it really user-friendly, making sure that commercially it works for a whole range of partners, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach,” he said.