Special Feature by Claire Reilly
Audio and headset specialist Plantronics has today launched a refreshed business-to-business training program for its channel partners, designed to increase education and reward sales success. Designed for resellers in the commercial space, the updated Connect Partner program includes elements such as the Connect University training portal and Connect Rewards — a system that incentivises the brand’s partners for selling products and completing training.
While the program is targeted at the B2B space, Plantronics MD Graeme Gherbaz reiterated that the company’s commitment to its reseller and retail partners was strong across the board. Speaking to Current.com.au today, Gherbaz said its connection with retailers spanned both online and real-world interaction, both of which are necessary for sales success.
“We recognise that you’ve got to do both — there’s no one-size-fits-all,” said Gherbaz of online and face-to-face training.
“Our online elements are not about blasting out a message saying ‘There’s a webinar, sign up for it’. We do that for specific events, but the online element is really about targeting people who have a small window of time so they can do it when and where it suits them.
“But we also do face-to-face training,” he added. “We’ve just had fairly substantial training on the retail side for our new Rig product [a gaming headset with audio mixer], and an introduction to the likes of EB Games and JB Hi-Fi staff.”
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Speaking about the benefits of online versus face-to-face training, Gherbaz said both methods had their merits.
“Sometimes it’s more convenient for people to be doing elements in their own time and where it suits them, and other times there are opportunities for face-to-face interaction. For example EB Games will have their expo and pull all their state managers together and you have the opportunity to see people in blocks.”
The example of EB Games Expo is timely: the retailer held the annual event (also known as EBX) in Sydney last weekend, bringing together gaming fans, cosplayers, suppliers and retail staff for a weekend dedicated to all things gaming and hardware. Plantronics picked up the award for “Best Non-Game Exhibitor” and had huge interest in its stand according to Gherbaz, attracting both EB staff and the general public who queued to see the brand's products.
While punters enjoyed getting up close to Plantronics’ gear, Gherbaz said retailers also appreciated the opportunity to get hands-on experience. Quoting an old colleague, he said “product is our best promotion”.
“We’re fortunate, because when people us our product, it speaks volumes,” said Gherbaz. “With the Rig, the audio quality is great, the price-point is great and it gives people additional functionality. What happened at EBX was a testament to that — the store managers all got the product and loved it and they started driving it. For those reasons, we sold out of Rig in a day and a half. I think that’s one of the ways that we manage to cut through: our products speak volumes about us.”
For Gherbaz, getting retailers to sit up and take notice of a product is about a number of elements.
“You need to have packaging that’s engaging, and industrial design that’s appealing; it’s about colours, materials and finishes. Then once you get that, of course, you need to have all the comfort factors and all the audio factors right. So there are a lot of elements in there.”
As far as design is concerned, Plantronics has tweaked on-ear technology to the nth degree. The brand’s head office in California features a “Wall of Ears” — rubber model ears cast from real people — that it uses to test the shape and fit of its products against an “anatomical database” of myriad ear characteristics.
At the end of the day, there are many elements that go into a Plantronics product that the final salesperson or consumer may not see. But according to Gherbaz, the brand works with retailers to ensure the main message about “high reliability” and performance is conveyed. And whether that’s done through online training of the sort established through the Connect Partner Program, or through face-to-face experiences such as reseller conferences or EBX, Plantronics believes it’s “really about being flexible”.
“It varies enormously depending on the retailer. We’ve done specific online training elements that will be hosted by the retailer that they push out periodically to their people. Then you’ve got retailers like EB Games or JB Hi-Fi that have conferences where they bring their people in and you get the opportunity to see groups of 8 or 10 people and take them through the latest products.
“When it comes to training, we’re happy to do it however it works for the retailer.”
All ears: Plantronics' research lab in California features model ears that the brand uses to roadtest the fit of its products.