Pacnet targets Australian SMBs with channel program

Channel partners will play a key part in helping Pacnet hunt for small to medium business customers.

Pacnet's partner program offers support and incentives for its business partners to help them deliver telecommunications products to small and medium businesses (SMBs) across Australia.

The telco plans to grow its current partner base of 350 partners to 450 by the end of the year and is looking at partners to contribute a significant portion of Pacnet's revenue in Australia by the second half of 2009.

Deborah Homewood, chief executive officer of A/NZ said partners were important in helping the telco address the needs of SMBs in Australia and around the region.

"One of the key features of the new partner program is the introduction of a 'Marketing Development Fund' that is available to assist partners in lead generation and direct marketing activities," said Homewood.

 "This is backed by a quarterly discretionary bonus scheme that will provide additional financial rewards to our top-selling partners, in addition to an ongoing commission stream."

Other features of the program include having a dedicated account manager, a priority hotline for technical support and quarterly briefing forums.

Homewood said the market is demanding infrastructure needed to deliver private network solutions and all the associated applications businesses want to run: VoIP, finance functionality and sales and marketing modules.

"To lead the new initiatives, Pacnet has appointed Jason Staples as partner program manager, who has over 10 years experience in telecommunications, managing customer service, sales and channels," she said.

Pacnet presented the partner program through briefings sessions held in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane.

The program was designed for system integrators with five to 30 staff who maintain direct relationships with SMBs, and has three tiers - Dragon, Tiger and Phoenix, reflecting the company's Asia Pacific reach.