April 12, 2019
Granite Telecommunications expands channel management capacity, partner enablement
Channelnomics Staff
At its foundation, Granite Telecommunications built its business on plain old telephony services (POTS). Today, though, the company offers a wide range of communications and technology services, and it’s beefing up its channel resources and partner enablement to shed its POTS image.
The Lowdown: Granite, based in Quincy, Massachusetts, is taking a two-pronged approach to its channel expansion. First, it’s adding more staff to its field channel management teams to better engage with partners on understanding and selling services across its portfolio. Second, it’s launched a full immersion training program to help partners better understand its portfolio of managed, SD-WAN, and unified communications services.
The Details: Granite hired seven new regional channel managers and plans to add 10 more over the next six months to strengthen its ability to work with partners in the field to expand existing customer relationships and capture net-new accounts. In addition, Granite added 10 new client development managers and plans to add five more within the next six months to expand capacity for helping channel managers and partners with pre- and post-sales support.
The new “Drive Faster” training program is how Granite is raising partner awareness of its capabilities and value proposition. Drive Faster, introduced in February, is a two-day full immersion training program in which partners visit Granite’s headquarters for sessions on the company’s service portfolio and meetings with key members of the executive team.
The Impact: The intent of the overall channel investment is to provide partners with greater resources and understanding of the Granite portfolio and value proposition. With expanded field capacity and support, Granite — a $1.4 billion telecom company — expects to see accelerated sales through resellers and telephony agents. The company says its channel partners generate more than $200 million of its annual gross revenue.
The Buzz: “The Drive Faster program will introduce partners – new and old – to Granite’s capabilities and culture. It gives them a chance to meet the client development managers, engineers, project managers, and other personnel that touch channel support,” said Charlie Pagliazzo, vice president of channels for Granite. “Not only do they get to meet the people behind the curtain, they’ll see first-hand how we’re built to make life easier for them. And we have a little fun too.”
“Partners are only beginning to realize that Granite is much more than a POTS company,” said Shawn Graham, Granite’s new manager of regional channel sales. “It has a robust portfolio of solutions and support systems that resonate with end users as well as people who are passionate about doing the right thing for partners and customers.”
