The BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Oscars: the awards season ticks round each year with glamorous regularity.
It’s a chance for the entertainment industry to give itself a high-profile pat on the back; to reward excellence and pay deserving tribute to those whose efforts delivered stellar performance.
Of course, they are also a way for the protagonists to recognise and appreciate the vital internal collaboration of the myriad teams and individuals which, working together, enabled them to smash it so brilliantly.
And, so it is (and should be) with most other industries keen to call out kudos and big-up its best.
But in the channel – an environment where mutuality is king – other, more fundamental dynamics are at play.
Awards DO provide for some gratuitous back-slapping: sometimes (pre-pandemic, obvs) in the form of a glittering annual ceremony and dinner.
But at their core, such awards are about much more than a public thank you or well done.
In the channel, they are an annual accentuator of strength, depth and trust: the ever-present values that characterise the very best provider/reseller/end-user relationships.
And if you partner with organisations that hold those values in high regard, you AND your customers are in good shape to succeed.
Swedish-based global audio and video collaboration endpoints giant Konftel are the perfect case in point.
They have recently delivered their fourth consecutive quarter of record sales, and don’t sell anything direct.
They recently rewarded their valued partners publicly (virtually, of course!) and place recognition of thriving relationships at the top of their priorities pile.
“We are focused exclusively on the two-tier channel model so it’s absolutely right that we take every opportunity we can to tell our partners how important they are,” says Konftel’s Director of Global Sales, Tommy Edlund.
“We see our partners as part of our family. They are an extension of the Konftel brand which means our relationship could not be more important.
“For us, our partnerships are an emotional connection as well as a commercial one. When it works well, it is like a finely tuned piano. Hence our fourth record period of success.”
Those latest results of course reflect the explosion in demand for quality remote audio and video communication solutions that has been driven hard by the pandemic.
But Konftel’s partner awards are all the more resonant because new performance records were set DESPITE the pandemic.
“Pre-pandemic, we expected that the remote working transition would occur over three years or so,” says Edlund.
“COVID meant that the process had to speed up drastically. Us posting record sales again this past year is the product of our partners being able to respond to the challenges; like quickly and efficiently increasing production, improving logistics and shipping, and responding from a sales perspective to all of the new and urgent demand.
“The end-user needed the right product quickly; the reseller needed to understand their end users’ needs and respond to them, and the distributors needed the right stock in the right place at the right time.
“The entire supply chain had to work as a team and that’s exactly what happened. That’s no accident. That’s the result of decades of establishing and building and nurturing strong, trusted and effective partnerships.
“That hasn’t just resulted in great performance for us, it’s meant all our partners have benefitted too.”
It’s an attitude to mutually supportive collaboration that not only underpins any annual handing out of accolades but which is also sure to reinforce Konftel’s transition into a major video conferencing player going forward.
“Our strong partner network, combined with an expanding and innovative product portfolio, has catapulted Konftel further forward and helped organisations across the globe successfully transition to more hybrid ways of working”
“Conferencing is a proven and effective environmentally-friendly alternative to business travel, and it will continue to play a key role as working life evolves.
“The world will never go back to the way it worked before so there is more potential still to fulfil.
“We believe that our awards scheme demonstrates our clear and passionate commitment to partnership, and we hope that organisations keen to capitalise on that potential will want to form new ones with us.”
Maybe it’s time to make a start on an acceptance speech…
