Thought Leadership piece with Megan Kinghorn, Channel Manager
If we learned one thing from 2020, it’s that business as usual ceased to exist when companies were thrown into an entirely virtual environment. For many sales professionals, it became nearly impossible to open doors, which directly impacted their income. With organizations embracing cloud solutions and remote working, the traditional sales model has become difficult to sustain.
The shift to the cloud and a new approach to sales, however, are also creating tremendous earning potential through the Ancero BLUE Referral Partner program. Our program can provide you with a secondary revenue stream through a mutually beneficial strategic partnership with Ancero.
What Is the Ancero BLUE Referral Partner Program?
You may have heard the term “channel partner,” which refers to a person or entity that partners with an IT service provider to promote or sell their products and services. Ancero BLUE Referral Partners are essentially channel partners for Ancero.
When you engage with IT decision makers who could benefit from cloud solutions, VoIP, data protection, or managed IT services, you refer them to Ancero. When that business closes, you receive monthly commissions for the life of the customer. If that customer adds solutions, your commission increases.
Active Ancero BLUE Referral partners are commissioned 10-20 percent based on the Ancero solution provided. Partners have consistently earned $500-$10,000 depending on how active they are and how long they have been in our referral program.
Over the last 20 years, Ancero has cultivated a partner network of more than 100 referral partners that receive meaningful monthly commissions. We’ve been able to continue building upon their success by making our process direct and simple.
How Do I Get Started as an Ancero BLUE Referral Partner?
The first step is an introductory call that allows us to gain an intimate understanding of what your personal business goals are and how a partnership with Ancero can help you get there.
Next, we provide training on any or all of our managed IT and cloud solutions, such as Utility VoIP and Utility VoIP Contact Center, so you have a firm grasp of our offerings. To be clear, we won’t expect you to become an IT expert. Your role could be as simple as introducing us to a customer of yours with an old server that needs to be replaced.
Building trust in new business relationships can be difficult. We’ve found outrageous success in warm introductions from our partners because we can be direct and get straight to addressing their most urgent need before even walking in the door.
Once we perform our due diligence and complete our internal process to assess, architect, and implement solutions, we pay out a meaningful percentage of the monthly recurring cost as a residual commission for the life of the customer. As we continue to grow our relationship with our new client and new services are implemented, your commissions increase, creating a win-win-win situation.
We have found that some of our most successful partners come from various corners of the technology industry, such as:
- Cybersecurity
- Software development
- Marketing
- Enterprise VoIP / Managed Service Providers (MSPs)
- VoIP providers with no in-house managed IT in house
- MSPs with no in-house voice solution
- Managed print
- Consultants
- Master agents
- Cabling
- Security cameras and video surveillance
By having a network full of diverse industry experts who excel at what they do, we can not only increase earning potential due to the nature of our conversations, but we can also leverage those relationships to assist existing clients of ours with services that fall outside our scope. We at Ancero pride ourselves on service delivery. We know when to bring in a strategic partner to solve a customer problem that falls outside our scope and add value to that relationship.
Channel Partner Success Story: Contact Center and Cloud Infrastructure for Telesales Company
An Ancero BLUE Referral Partner introduced us to a telesales company that focused on outbound lead generation. This customer’s clients are manufacturing in compliant-driven verticals. Our partner was aware that Ancero has its SOC 2 Type II certification, which would help meet the compliance requirement that the existing IT provider could not meet.
Moving the data and applications to the cloud with managed IT services was the first phase to be implemented. After earning the customer’s trust with a successful cloud migration, they let us know they were unhappy with their current VoIP provider’s support and decided it was time to shop around for a better overall solution.
After evaluating their phone system utilization and contact center processes, we presented them with two different solutions that would cut their telecom spend and provide the features they needed.
The first solution is unified communications with basic contact center functionality. This solution provides the benefits of a VoIP system with a web application that allows for easy internal communication and management of their contact center campaigns and queues.
The second solution was our full contact center solution, which includes full scripting, call recording, queue management, and more. This solution would save the customer several thousand dollars per month.
As a full-service provider, Ancero’s ability to layer on services is a win-win for our partner as we pay commission on all gross recurring services. In this case, the customer’s monthly spend is approximately $7,000, with a monthly commission to the partner of $1,300.
Channel Partner Success Story: VoIP and Cloud Infrastructure with Managed IT Services for a Large, Regional Title Company
Our partner introduced us to a successful title company looking for a new IT provider to help with day-to-day management and support of their network across multiple locations. This vertical works outside of standard hours as weekends are some of the busiest days for its sales professionals.
After careful evaluation based on a site assessment and several meetings, we determined Ancero’s 24/7 managed IT services package was the best fit. We knew their existing infrastructure was due for a refresh in the near future. When the time came to replace the existing server, we proposed migrating to the Microsoft Azure cloud instead of purchasing new equipment. This would provide the company with enhanced security and business continuity for remote offices and users.
We next evaluated their telecom so we could help them replace multiple contracts through multiple carriers or providers, reduce telecom costs, and implement a system that would work for both their administrative staff and agents in the field. We also upgraded their connectivity speeds at each location and set them up with direct agreements with Comcast or Verizon.
This customer now has all three of our core solutions – cloud, managed IT services, and managed communications for a total monthly spend of $4,500. The Ancero BLUE Referral Partner receives a monthly commission check for $550.
Create a New Revenue Stream as an Ancero BLUE Referral Partner
At Ancero, we strive to achieve a win-win-win scenario for every opportunity our channel partners bring to us. We win by bringing on a valued client, the client wins by implementing solutions that address their specific business needs, and the channel partner wins by adding to their commission stream and helping the client solve a problem.
If you find yourself interacting with clients who could benefit from managed IT, VoIP, or cloud solutions, we would welcome a conversation to determine how we could build a successful, mutually beneficial partnership.
“Help others achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours.” – Les Brown