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Samsung sharpens partner focus with new program

Features marketing toolkits, sales enablement assets, product information, news and commercial incentives.
Danny Mandrides (Samsung)

Danny Mandrides (Samsung)

Samsung Electronics Australia has brought its partner program Samsung One to the local channel. 

The program will initially be offered to select Samsung distributors and resellers for its Mobile Experience division covering smartphones, tablets, wearables and Samsung Knox security and mobility services. 

Samsung One features marketing toolkits, sales enablement assets, product information, news and commercial incentives through a single online platform, as well as a training program. 

The program also contains a number of pillars including a dashboard showcasing partner sales data, analysis and engagement.

There is also a series of business-to-business- (B2B) specific training modules on Samsung’s mobility products and solutions, designed for the development of partners and their salespeople.

The training content will cover essential topics to improve sales performance, including deep dives into why Samsung for business, devices, ecosystem, Enterprise Edition, rugged range, Samsung Knox and solutions and partnerships.

Another key pillar is centred on a Champion Program where partners can nominate champions within their business who will receive additional training, engagement with Samsung and have access to the latest devices to drive advocacy and knowledge. 

There are also incentives on offer for partners who reach certain targets to drive best practice, encourage high performance and incentivise education among its sales force.

Plans are also underway to introduce a rewards program in the future. 

The program features tiered certification levels with Registered, Authorised, Advanced and Elite focusing on three core fundamentals: capability; customer experience and engagement; and business growth. 

As partners move up the tiers, they can gain access to additional bespoke support tools and services as well as greater benefits to meet the needs of their own customers and achieve their goals. 

While commercial, marketing and support benefits vary between tiers, every partner will receive full access to training, sales engagement guides, marketing toolkits and deal registration regardless of its certification.

Samsung One was first launched in the United Kingdom in November 2020. Australia is the second country to receive a local launch.

“Partners have always been at the core of our company’s strategy and they are key in supporting us to drive our growth and achieve our business objectives,” said Danny Mandrides, Samsung Electronics Australia's Mobile Experience division head of enterprise and government.  

“The program is designed to empower our partners with necessary tools to excel and help them to better serve their customers. Samsung One demonstrates our commitment to our Australian distributors and resellers and we will continue to invest in our partner strategy to maximise their potential and growth in the future.”

Speaking to ARN, Mandrides explained Samsung structures its partner model in two streams – one supporting carrier partners and the other IT distributors and resellers. Distributors in Australia include Dicker Data and Synnex. 

“We've come off a watershed year and have grown our business 27 per cent year-on-year,” he said. 

“There's no doubt that the last few years have driven a need to be more connected and we need to collaborate more seamlessly with our employees, but also we need to empower our people wherever they are, and this is true as well for our partners and our customers. 

“In launching Samsung One we acknowledge that mobility and on demand learning have become more vital than ever before and we're bringing a series of support tools together to enable our partners and customers to deliver consistent growth and that's what's key here."

Mandrides added the program launch will change the way it works with partners locally.

In July last year, Mandrides said Samsung commissioned a B2B awareness survey, targeting key partners and end user customers across the enterprise and government market with a sample size of around 400 decision makers. 

“The findings certainly helped myself and the team shape our strategy and go to market approach,” he said. “We saw this as an opportunity to energise the channel by introducing a more mature program that has a stronger focus on deal registration, lead generation, localised business specific marketing support and discount tier rebates.

“Samsung One delivers a more stable, structured approach that we know our partners have been calling out for.”

Mandrides said it was initially launching the program with 24 key partners with ambitions to target an additional 650 partners and onboard them by the end of the year. 

“We want to focus on those core sets of partners that we certainly have visibility with today and ultimately expand,” he said. “I feel like Samsung is in the best possible opportunity right now to really service and support our partners more effectively. 

“This is a huge initiative, which has taken a significant amount of time and work behind the scenes, not only between us here locally on the ground, but also with our regional headquarters as well as being instrumental in supporting us to really get this program out and nailed effectively in the market.”