The Future of Channel Partnerships – Konica Minolta’s New Enhanced Partner Programme

 
I am hugely confident that we have the best technology in the market. However, what we now need to do is back that up with the best Partner Programme, one which helps our partners to grow and recognise that this is very much a partnership.
 
Partnership is often an overused phrase, but it's absolutely key and by ensuring it benefits all the parties involved I am hugely confident that the future is very bright for Konica Minolta, our partners, and customers. This is why we will be shortly unveiling a raft of exciting new enhancements which we firmly believe will be market leading.
 
There are four levels in the enhanced partner programme - Premium, Advanced, Elite, and the new level, which is Elite Plus. The levels take into account the amount of overall engagement and alignment a partner has with Konica Minolta.
 
We are also introducing a new part of this, which is the recognition that some of our partners are exclusive to Konica Minolta (mono branded). We very much recognise the importance of these partners, and the enhanced Partner Programme is designed to support those that dedicate themselves to Konica Minolta. These partners are essentially an extension of the Konica Minolta brand deserving additional differentiation and support to recognise this level of commitment.
 
All the new enhancements have been developed based on feedback from our partners and it is tiered in a way that we believe will encourage more partners to align with Konica Minolta. The programme underpins our relationship and is built on the principle that the deeper the relationship the better the benefits for our partners and our business.
 
Typically, the channel supply chain is manufacturer/vendor to partner, and then on to the end user. However, we have taken the view that it is more of a triangle, where we offer support to the end user in close cooperation with the partner in a collaborative approach. This utilizes much more of a team sales approach where Konica Minolta adds resources and helps to further build the relationship of trust.
 
Having listened to feedback from partners, our refreshed Partner Programme is now also moving to further recognise and reward specialisation. For example, professional print is a key area of focus and growth for Konica Minolta. We have market leading products that are best in class in that area, and we have partners who specialise and excel in it, with dedicated engineers, salespeople, and showrooms. We want to recognise that level of investment, to provide some additional accreditation and a level of benefits that justly rewards this and enables these partners to retain as much profit as possible in that area.
 
Konica Minolta is also increasingly moving towards IT Services (ITS) and will soon have a very similar programme to recognise our partners’ investment in this area too, as they seek to find new revenue streams from additional areas, recognising that (in some areas anyway) print is declining. We are increasingly finding that partners are keen to diversify and we have a range of fantastic products in the ITS arena, so we will be launching them into our channel with a similar level of accreditation.
 
Recognising the invaluable contribution of our partners is at the heart of our new enhancements and this is no truer than how we will support our mono branded partners. Rebranded as Exclusive in the enhanced programme, this will give special emphasis to recognise those partners that are particularly committed to Konica Minolta and have firmly nailed their colours to our mast. We are launching a range of benefits which will truly give these special partners the benefits they deserve.