Print.IT Reseller - issue 50

01732 759725 18 PARTNER PROGRAMME level. There will also be an online partner portal providing access to technical, training and marketing support services and announcements. The new programme has been designed with multiple tiers to cater for the needs of a wide variety of partners. “The different partner tiers are designed to reward increased commitment to RISO business. Simply put, the more our partners invest in us, the more we invest in them,” Long said. Approved partners include: RG Partners who have access to the whole RISO duplicator solution range; IJ Partners who benefit from access to the entire RISO inkjet range and IJ & RG Partners who have access to all RISO products across both the inkjet and duplicator ranges. “We still have a loyal user base for duplicators out there and that’s why we have maintained the RG Partners offering,” Long explained. There is also a Corporate Partner level, for those resellers focused on delivering RISO inkjet technology to corporate and commercial clients. “Corporate Partner status sits on its own,” he said, adding: “It can be achieved by any partner level and run alongside it, for example a reseller could hold a premium partner level such as Gold as well as Corporate, there are different incentives for being a Corporate Partner, revamping the programme as we have done, is part of our strategy to attack fresh markets.” Premium partner levels: Premium partners are required to have engineers trained on all current product lines as well as keep their websites up- to-date on all relevant product lines. The first of the premium partner levels, Advanced Partners, benefit from access to the whole RISO product range. Both financial and non-financial rewards are available to Advanced Partners. Gold Partners enjoy all the benefits of Advanced Partners with added rewards such as league table incentives and marketing visits. RISO partners invited to participate at both Platinum Partner tiers enjoy the highest levels of benefits and support across the entire RISO product ranges. Organisations that reach Platinum Star Partner status – the highest level – benefit from competitive pricing, sponsored call days, sales and marketing support and increased financial incentives. Additional support Dependent on the partner level, key benefits include sales support, such as field accompaniment, demonstrations, customer training assistance and telephone days. RISO has also increased its marketing support and resellers will have access to mailers, showroom collateral, brochures, leave pieces and promotional items. The company will also conduct lead generation activity to help maximise sales opportunities. Approved partners can also tap into a dedicated technical support team, technical bulletins with firmware updates and notifications, as well as a range of training sessions covering product overviews (by range or model), new product launches, sales skills and general overviews. Level-dependent incentive schemes include annual awards as well as quarterly and annually league table incentives for sales persons. The new programme was launched to existing partners in January. Long said: “Because this isn’t a revised partner programme it’s a completely new concept for RISO, it has been very well received by partners. We’re not just rebranding it, we are realigning all of our support. Since launch, we have had four new partners come on board.” “We’ve restructured internally so we can increase the sales support available to our partners and we’re opening a web portal for them to access a wide range of resources from one source. It’s a big step change, we have completely overhauled how we are working with our channel partners,” he said in conclusion. www.riso.co.uk RISO has also increased its marketing support and resellers will have access to mailers, showroom collateral, brochures, leave pieces and promotional items ...continued