The winners come from Belgium, Italy and Poland • Summit: 50 partners from EMEA discuss the latest trends and challenges in partner/customer lifetime values and edge computing
“It’s twice as hard to win a new customer as it is to retain an existing customer,” explains Fiona Coughlan, Principal Consultant EMEA at channel consultancy AchieveUnite, in her keynote address to Rittal’s EMEA Channel Partner Summit on 4/5 November in Herborn.
During her speech, Coughlan also discussed ways of cultivating customer lifetime values and using them more widely for successful business initiatives with the channel partners. It is also crucial to consider the “customer journey”, which incorporates all the consumer’s touchpoints with a brand, product or service. In particular, the buyer’s journey (i.e. the customer’s different phases en route to making a purchase decision) has changed dramatically over the past two years: Around 50 percent of a customer’s research is now conducted online using search engines and mobile devices. This paradigm shift necessitates a corresponding realignment of the customer journey, an essential element of customer loyalty. It is crucial to gain a comprehensive understanding of the customer from every angle. “The aim is to understand the customer and their needs so that developed products can be precisely tailored to them, and they will therefore sell themselves,” said Coughlan, citing American economist Peter F. Drucker. Values such as trust are pivotal to viable customer relationships.
Partner Awards for Belgium, Italy and Poland
Awards presented for outstanding achievements help consolidate good relationships. With this in mind, Rittal once again awarded prizes to its channel partners at this year’s PartnerSummit. Italian systems integrators N&C, premium partners, were presented with the “Top Growth” award for the highest growth in business with Rittal in 2019. Ordin-Access was given the distinction of “Top Project Performance” for its outstanding project achievements in 2019. The Belgian systems integrator has been a member of Rittal’s global Channel Partner scheme since 2016. Another premium partner singled out for an award was AODC. The Polish systems integrator boasted the highest sales figures in 2019 and was therefore awarded the “Top Revenue” prize.
Teamwork: Use your individual strengths
"We can only win together", summarised Thomas Striebel, Director IT Channel & Partnerships at Rittal, after the awards ceremony, and explained that in future Rittal would be focussing even more strongly on individual business scenarios with each partner. By drawing on the specific skills of our partners, we are able to offer all our customers an appropriate value proposition.