Marshal seeks resellers for partner programme
Vendor targets SME market growth with its Marshal Star Rewards scheme and recruitment drive
Internet security vendor Marshal has unveiled an aggressive recruitment drive for SME resellers and also revamped its partner programme.
The vendor, which spun out of parent company NetIQ following a management buy-out (MBO) in 2005, is offering sweeteners to new and existing partners in the form of its Marshal Star Rewards scheme. It is also offering partners a tailored support pack called Campaign Lite, which includes a combination of e-marketing tools for web and email lead generation, and automated lead tracking.
Speaking to CRN, Michael Clifford, vice-president of sales for EMEA at Marshal, said: “This is all about incentivising our partners to sell more. We have the strongest technology in the market and a significant slice of the SME market already. Since the MBO we have added about 1,000 customers globally. We need more partners to help us manage that.”
Clifford said that the Star Rewards scheme has no limit to the benefits partners can earn.
“Unlike other schemes that have a few offers out of a catalogue, with Marshal Stars partners can have anything they want such as a speedboat or a Ferrari, because the number of stars is uncapped,” he claimed. “It is also available to technical as well as sales staff, who are often missed out in these types of schemes.”
Alex Teh, commercial director at Marshal distributor Vigil Software, said: “We are definitely getting more leads from Marshal and have seen our Marshal business grow 40 per cent since the MBO. I believe the key reasons for this success are Marshal’s heavy investment on the technical side and the fact that it is getting its message out there to both partners and end-users.
“NetIQ did not understand product marketing, and the amount of marketing it did was minimal compared with Marshal. Every quarter Marshal is coming up with initiatives for channel partners to help drive both awareness and, more importantly, lead generation.”