Avaya invests in marketing for resellers

Avaya has launched MarketLeader, a campaign designed to provide resellers with financial and online assistance in the area of marketing.

Patti Moran, senior director of worldwide channel marketing and communications at Avaya told CRN all of the vendor's business was through its channel.

"We couldn't hire the number of sales people needed to do the job of our resellers," she said.

"However the majority of our partners don't have a marketing department because it's an expensive resource.

"With the economic climate looking up, we want to help our channel grow their business with the right marketing tools."

Moran said MarketLeaders was created to help partners generate leads which can be managed through the sales cycle.

The vendor has also pledged to take on 50 percent of the cost of its partner's marketing campaign, she said.

Avaya also plans to overhaul its training program for resellers to make sure sales people are taken off the street for the right type of education.

"The training program has been scheduled for launch at Avaya's partner conference in October, but won't be available until January 2010," Moran said.

Avaya was aggressively recruiting for its channel and is actively targeting Nortel resellers, she said.

"We've been successful in recruiting new Nortel partners from around the globe" said Moran.

"The outcome of Avaya's acquisition of Nortel has yet to be determined [but] regardless of what happens there'd be no guarantee that resellers would join Avaya after the acquisition," she said. "They are independent companies, so we need to make sure we drive loyalty into resellers for both companies."

Moran said the vendor was also interested in increasing its coverage beyond the major cities.

"We want more business in Melbourne, Canberra and New Zealand," she said.