Flying in Pairs

The theme for DistiNext 2023 was Growing Together. This theme ties perfectly into our theme for Americas Distribution, Going Hypersonic to Fuel Partner Success.

A World War II Ace, Colonel Gabby Gabreski, once said, “I look after my wingman. He looks after me. We work together.”

In the military there are always two sent out into battle and they are trained and expected to work together as a team.  I read about two F-4 pilots, Bob Pardo and Earl Aman, who demonstrated this when Arman’s aircraft was injured. Pardo, even in battle, did not leave his wingman but instead demonstrated a dangerous maneuver that enabled the crew to make it back into friendly territory safely. In this story, we see the importance of going into battle with a good wingman.

Growing Together

Although I’d love to say we are the wingman for our distributors, I have been in distribution long enough to know that our mutual efforts enable us to look after each other. After all, a good wingman means they’re a good listener, a voice of reason, and a confided partner.

Andrew Sage, VP of Global Distribution sales, shared a few of his top priorities. I’d like to highlight three of them which align well with the priorities for our Americas team.

Foundational Listening

As your wingman, we want to help you build up strong foundations in your partnerships. One of the ways we are going to enhance the benefits of working with distributors is through the unique offers and services you can provide. This is especially beneficial around enabling MSPs to rapidly create Meraki-powered services offers. The more you are in tune and listening to your partners, the more they’ll see how you are uniquely equipped with services they need to drive greater success.

Voicing the Scale

By increasing rebates for recurring offers, migration opportunities in EA data packs, and CCW-R quote automation, we are resetting your ability to scale and maximize partner growth. You are the voice of reason when it’s time for a refresh. Help them continue to experience the success of Cisco solutions.

Accelerating Partnerships

By giving you aggressive discounts and competitive offers, you can help your partners sell more Meraki SD-WAN, Secure Firewall, and so much more. Through additional investments in key distribution to partner programs, you are enabled to drive greater SMB specializations and demand.

Pairing with Perspective

Like I mentioned live during DistiNEXT, “Just one great partnership with the right people can have an incredible impact on your business success.” We are listening to you, and your voices are spanning across everything we are planning for FY24 and beyond. We are working on shaping up our communications practices, increasing discounts and promotions, and driving business where it’s going to make the biggest impact for you. You help us see things from a unique perspective and this will help us go Hypersonic to Fuel Partner Success this year.

Watch the recordings from DistiNEXT here!

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