Today I experienced the power of partnership - twice in one day from the same vendor - SonicWALL. Our first experience revolved around a technology challenge at a customer site with an implementation. We had fought an issue for a few weeks and just couldn't quite get things configured the way the customer wanted. Our customer was frustrated and we knew that our only real chance to save the sale was to get an engineer from our vendor to come in and help us. They stepped up and delivered in an amazing way. Engineer flys into the closest airport and drives to meet our team on site - rural Iowa. The problem turned out to be much more difficult than anyone expected, but they got it resolved after about four hours of working together on site with our engineer and the customer IT person. The customer response - blown away that we were able to secure a vendor engineer to come to their location and provide that level of support. Not only did it save the sale and implementation, it has given them confidence to move forward with another project which had been placed on hold. Our partner came in on a white horse, exceeded the customer expectations and helped both our companies drive business.
My second experience involved a conversation with the CEO of SonicWALL. Matt Medeiros took 30 minutes out of his schedule to do a conference call with a dozen HTG members who were with me for our pilot CEO Forum meeting. He was traveling in Texas but not only made the time, he gave us invaluable insight into the role and importance of leading our companies with a CEO mindset. I know the group was blown away that first of all Matt would make time to talk with us, but secondly was able to share his 5 step process of leading SonicWALL and a number of other key gems of information as we discussed the role. That half hour did a lot to cement the belief that SonicWALL truly understands the importance of their partners and the channel for the group. A perfect example of a leader that truly understands the power of partnership and investing in the folks that sell their products.
You may think this is a SonicWALL commercial. It certainly is not. It is just plain and honest reality. The local field team has a deep relationship with HTS/HTG and together we plan the business and work the plan. When we need them, they show up. When they need us to execute, we do. That is how partnership works. All the way to the top at SonicWALL. Leadership starts at the top, and in this company, they understand the importance and power of partnering from top to bottom. Thank you to the team and their leader for being the model vendor for the channel. You made my day and impacted both HTS and HTG in a very meaningful and significant way! Kudos to Kevin, Ben, George, Ted and any others that helped us make this possible. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with and work with each of you. And a special thanks to Matt who created and maintains a culture of partnership. We are blessed to be able to work with you and your team.
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