The Power of a Good Plan – Cisco Blogs

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States of America and a self-taught lawyer, taught the American people a lesson about patience, endurance, and the benefit of a good plan. He said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Putting in the effort to do the due diligence of planning and strategizing helps empower a greater outcome.

To empower a greater outcome, a sales motion called Power Your Edge (PYE) was created to generate a more team focused approach to planning and strategizing.  PYE is implemented in the US with 2 Tier partners and as a pilot with 2 Tier partners in Latam. Utilizing the power of a good plan, PYE combines the strengths and insight of Cisco (v)PAM, Distributor Account Associate, and the Partner to create a strategic plan for strengthening or building a partner business practice.

This strategic plan for and with the partner brings the best of Cisco, Distributor, and Partner together to address gaps, identify resources, and recognize capabilities. With a consolidated plan to accelerate business, there’s not one person that bears the entire weight to reach sales goals and resolve problems with targeted and cross-architecture solutions or necessary activity budget. With the support of multiple marketing and sales teams, the clarity around promotions, requirements, and certifications is evenly distributed across the teams.

Each collaborator has a few key objectives:

(v)Partner Account Manager – (v)PAM

As the owner of the partner business plan, the (v)PAM is in the driver’s seat and can collaborate with the Distribution Account Associate (DAA) on the plan and give insight into key partner focus areas and needs. By including the DAA in relevant partner business reviews and regular cadence calls, the (v)PAM will be able to quickly identify new opportunities and make small adjustments to the plan with support and resources.

Distributor Account Associate – DAA

As the access and resources facilitator, the DAA works closely with the (v)PAM to identify distribution capabilities to support the partner business plan. The DAA also has the unique visibility into distribution investment and program involvement to help drive partner success.

Cisco Distribution Account Manager – DAM

As the project overseer, the DAM is accountable for escalating the distributor and DAA needs and help to support DAA development. The DAM also ensures the distributor has the appropriate Cisco partner capabilities and resources to optimize the success of the partner business plan.

Alignment with our field has been a focus for our DAMs starting with our Distribution Connect Program that began several years ago and continues today.  To help you better understand the difference between Power Your Edge and our program Distribution Connect, please see our side-by-side comparison.

The true success of Power Your Edge happens when the relationship between the three parties is strengthened, and the partner business is fueled by joint strategic planning. Like President Lincoln inferred, the strength of the outcome is in how well prepared you are for the work ahead.

One of my favorite quotes:

“A Vision without Execution is a Hallucination”.

I know with hard work and determination our vision for what we want to accomplish this new fiscal will transpire.

Learn more by connecting with your Cisco Account Manager and view the side-by-side comparison!

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