Emily Masterton, 8x8

Channel Chief name, bio and background:

Emily Masterton is director of EMEA channel sales at 8x8. She has spent a life in the channel, helping business grow but remembering it's about people.

Her career started at Oak Telecom nearly 17 years ago and then saw her rise at Unify, Atos and 8x8. Today, Emily has become a go-to resource for 8x8 channel leadership, with a distinct reputation as someone who delivers results.

Emily has helped drive consistent results above 125 per cent of the aggressive targets set for the teams she leads, while also delivering major improvements in the way 8x8's partner programme, Elevate, meets the needs and expectations of channel partners. The revamped Elevate programme now looks at holistic challenges inherent to partners operating in the channel - and Emily has been a key part of 8x8's developing its rules of engagement with partners, meeting them wherever they are in their business journey.

What's more, Emily has earned a reputation for being a true leader and a compassionate, supportive inspiration for teams who are pushing to meet and exceed their goals. Bringing the total package of hard-charging dedication to sales excellence, Emily is an exemplary leader in the 8x8 channel organisation and a key to success for the company in her four years with 8x8. Channel partners love her.

Number of years in current role:

4

Number of years in current company:

3

Number of years involved in indirect sales:

20

Reporting to:

Michelle Paitich, global vice president, channel sales

Does this person report to the CEO?

No.

What percentage of your sales come through the channel?

Considerable.

Describe your personal channel philosophy.

It's about being easy to do business with. That one phrase covers all aspects of business in the channel: We should have a platform and suite of products that meets the needs of the channel and end-customers We should be there for end-to-end enablement if a partner wants it our support and training should be second to none There should be channel programmes and initiatives for all types of partners and be as involved, supported and trained as they wish. We should be there for them all - and easy to do business with.

What were your organisation's biggest channel accomplishments over the past year?

1)Partner innovation roadshows - these are massively oversubscribed events that are allowing partners to come in, receive relevant product updates, see best use cases, talk with all of the senior leadership and relevant people at 8x8 and tell us not only what they think but what they want. 2) Our new Technology Partner Ecosystem - we've opened up the APIs and allowing for full integration with third party products, giving partners more possibilities and opportunities to sell. 3) Taking partners on a journey from Unified Comms to looking more at the possibilities offered by Contact Centre solutions. We're supporting this with one-to-one enablement, learnings and trainings, ensuring they are making the most from every business opportunity.

How is your company working to build equity and inclusion in the channel?

There are two aspects to this. Our channel leadership team includes eight women in people management or director roles, representing 62 per cent of such positions. But I would also point out that, across EMEA, we have a high degree of representation and even some teams that are 99 per cent female. My own philosophy is that if you have talent, passion, drive and you care about what you do and who you work with, you'll get hired.

How is your organisation's market development strategy (MDF) changing this year?

MDF budgets are now more allocated based on working with partners, looking at business and marketing ambitions, then agreeing a joint GTM plan and agreeing on funding based on a researched and forecasted ROI. A key part to those MDF plans is making sure that they support events. We want to see more of a physical presence with events and related opportunities. It can't just be about initiatives and campaigns, we want there to be face-to-face opportunities to understand the key issues and have the right solutions presented.

What were the key partner investments made over the past year?

1) Marketing as a Service - aligning partners with agents who suggest enhancements, showing how to improve campaigns using bleeding edge insight and intent data platforms. 2) Our free training/certification programme. Latest stats show we delivered more than 1250 courses to over 4364 individuals across 561 partner accounts. 3) We relaunched our Channel Advisory Board (CAB) to discuss issues of importance. Oversubscribed within days. 4) Signed up to Fit To Switch campaign - the first national campaign group around PSTN switch-off - and sharing learnings/collateral/opportunities with partners. 5) Revamped Rules of Engagement, offering more transparency, enhancements and protections for partners.