When Juan Manuel Santos takes over as Colombia’s president in August, the Harvard-educated economist will continue many of the same pro-business, pro-U.S. policies of President Alvaro Uribe that helped transform their South America country into a magnet for foreign investment. But Santos, 58, plans to boost emphasis on creating jobs and modernizing the economy, now that the two-term Uribe has wrestled down Colombia’s once severe security problems — with Santos’ input as his former defense minister. Those are among the upbeat conclusions from participants at WorldCity’s Global Connections event held… Read More
WorldCity
The Latest
Avaya's Andrea Padilla spoke about the technology company's efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean
Avaya working to build indirect sales channels, grow sales, Padilla says
Avaya was a sponsor of the 2003 World Cup, hoping to take advantage of one of the largest global audiences.
“A lot of people thought we were a Chinese watch manufacturer,” joked Andrea Padilla, the marketing director for Avaya’s Caribbean and Latin America operations, at WorldCity’s Marketing Connections event on Jan. 22. “It told us we had an issue.”
Padilla was the discussion leader at the event, which is held six times per year and sponsored by HP. It is exclusively for marketing directors working for multinationals in South Florida.
The “message” is always important, of course, in marketing but targeting the right audience is important as well. And in working toward effective targeting, your approach can depend on whether you are selling to the final customer, often called direct selling, or through a distrbution channel, which is indirect selling.
Jim Duffy, representing accounting firm BDO Siedman, speaks as Connie Lacroes, representing the Spanish hotelier Sol Group, looks on.
HP and Dell sell the same product but sell them differently, for example. HP computers are sold indirectly, to merchants who then sell the ultimate user. Dell goes directly to the end user. At Marketing Connections were examples of both approaches but more common was indirect sellers like Caterpillar, Nokia and medical equipment company Baxter Export.
Avaya, a spinoff from Lucent Technologies, which was in turn a spinoff from AT&T, is a combination. It provides the software for call centers and for on-line help as well as selling telephone systems. About 60 percent of its sales are indirect, to resellers, or through a distribution channel. The remaining 40 percent are direct, including to a large customer like Bank of America.
Avaya’s goal, Padilla indicated, is to move away from direct sales. “That’s what’s we’re aiming for — 100 percent indirect.”
It recently acquired Nortel Networks, the Canadian telecommunications company, which was 90 percent indirect, according to Roberto Ricossa, formerly of Nortel and now a part of the Avaya team.
The answer to the “why” is relatively simple: “Greater coverage,” said Padilla, meaning your sales network can more easily expand since it is essentially outsourced.
HP’s Fernando Maroniene makes a point as Fernando Cimato, also representing HP, looks on.
It can also complicate the marketing process, since a company must market to its customers — the distribution channel — and, to some extent, the end user. It also has to be careful that its resellers don’t have an incentive to sell a competitor’s product or service over their own.
Finally, it must also understand the relationship between the reseller and the consumer in order to make sure its products and brand are being effectively and properly marketed.
Avaya discovered an opportunity in just that — paying attention to the end user. “What percentage of our customers had an outdated version of Communications Manager?” asked Padilla, in reference to one of the company’s products. “We realized we were not putting a lot of effort into our base.”
What followed was a successful effort to work with its existing customer base, providing them an upgraded and superior product while driving revenues to the company and the resellers.
Nokia’s Matt Rothschild asked about customer segmentation — how did Avaya approach its customers? The number of licenses held was one factor, Padilla said. But there’s also segmentation in determining customer satisfaction — CIOs, or chief information officers, often make the purchasing decisions but the actual “effort” or work is often handled by IT managers. Avaya has begun tying bonuses to customer satisfaction, she said.
The Latest From "Global Connections"
