Role of Direct Sales

It seems organizations are doing everything to avoid channel conflict so much so that they are embracing symbiotic relationships with direct sales team.

“We actually have in-house direct sales and we’re obviously selling the channel,” O’Brien said. “But we’ve also brought on resources who have expertise in selling direct and marrying them with those channel managers that bring those opportunities. So, we’re working on larger deals than ever. It can be a little complex with the type of solution that we have, which has many value-adds to it by the way. We’re really focused on what we’ve brought together with these expert sales resources from both angles. It’s a hybrid approach.”

Day agreed.

“[GoTo] is one unified selling organization. Some of our markets are 100% revenue driven through partners. Overall, globally, GoTo is probably 80% partner driven business, 20% direct business. It’s the collaboration model that’s bigger than ever before. We love the direct sales organization. In fact, we’ve created the model where there’s consistency in the direct seller that a partner works with so there’s not round robin. “

However, other companies in the UCaaS space have gone to a more channel focused model.

“We’re essentially a channel centric organization today,” Kelley said of NEC. “We at one time had a very, very aggressive direct sales organization at NEC. Over time, it evolved away from that. And a lot of that had to do with profitability or the lack thereof on the direct side of our business. The majority of our UCaaS business is through the channel, almost 100% at this point.”

Thurnau relished the opportunity to merge direct and indirect sales teams.

“About four months ago, one of our direct sales leaders left,” she said. “Now I oversee all of channel and direct and it’s been great bringing the two together because it was conflict within the organization. We still have our separate meetings. But in bringing them together, they’re able to understand there’s things you learn from direct that channel partners wouldn’t have known. And then the same thing for our direct sales folks who are vertically assigned or product specific. Now they can become experts with multiple things that their customers need and for channels, vice versa. I think it’s been it’s important to marry those relationships.”