Partner content: Acer opens up on partner programme enhancements
The Acer Synergy Partner Programme has been an invaluable resource for our clients in 2020. As a result of the global pandemic, businesses and educators alike have been forced to rethink the way they work and teach, with many accelerating digital transformation plans in order to ensure they can thrive in a new remote working and home-schooling environment.
At Acer, we decided to upgrade our channel programme this year in order to better help our partners during these challenging times. With 40 years of experience in the world of computing, we have been able to expand and tailor our solutions to deliver increasingly targeted services to accurately suit the needs of our partners, and also to help drive business growth through our strategic partners, innovative solutions, and business best practices.
Acer also prides itself on delivering an unmatched level of support to our partners and their customers, and our upgraded Synergy Partner Programme makes it easier than ever to do business with us.
Education
At this year's British Educational Training and Technology Show (BETT), we launched our Acer STEM Rewards Programme targeted at primary and secondary schools as well as colleges. Initially, the programme offered schools a ½ day on-site workshop on STEM aligned to addressing the challenges schools faced in exciting children and teachers within these subjects. It was built to enable teachers to get more value from the device itself and to ultimately support better outcomes when using technology. Acer rapidly adapted the value available and aligned this to the new set of challenges being faced by schools caused by the Global pandemic. This included assistance with remote set-up, installation and training of the products, Microsoft Teams training and consultancy. As a result we saw the uptake in the programme accelerate throughout the summer.
With the upgraded programme, educators can now claim rewards up to the value of £500 with every classroom set of Acer devices purchased, as well as earn up to £150 cashback on devices refreshed via the Acer Upgrade Programme, which also comes with the option of recycling old devices to earn additional STEM rewards. 2020 has been tough on educators, so our programme also offers a 100% money-back guarantee with the Acer Reliability Promise, along with free access into our Prize Draw to participate in a two-day STEM programme at an RAF Museum including an overnight stay in 2021.
If educators come on board with Acer, not only will they receive best-in-class products, be it Windows laptops, Chromebooks or desktop PCs, but they also become part of the ACER Education Ecosystem, a 360-degree initiative that brings together devices and technologies, teaching resources solutions, Academy training, best-in-class service and support, and access to our partnership network to meet the requirements of the schools of tomorrow.
By partnering with Acer, schools are guaranteed to get the best outcome and the reseller is able to add tonnes of value giving them the competitive edge they need.
Enterprise and Commercial
It's not just educators that Acer has helped to support through 2020. We offer the same value propositions for our enterprise and commercial clients, many of which have been forced to adopt a new way of working this year as a result of the mass shift to remote working necessitated by the global pandemic.
The newly upgraded Acer Synergy Partner Programme offers realistic and achievable criteria by which partners can obtain the same rewards and added value that we deliver through Acer STEM Rewards. Our channel partners are also able to access the extensive Synergy Partner Portal, Acer Account Manager and Telesales Team Support, value-adding marketing documentation, product training programmes, and support for tenders. Below, we've rounded up some of the best benefits delivered by our Synergy Programme this year.
Acer Essentials Rewards programme
2020 saw the launch of our new simplified rewards programme for members of the Acer Synergy Programme. This means that by simply selling a qualifying device from our range of best-in-class business products, all of which are suited to home working, you can receive cash on your Acer Essentials Rewards Debit Card. The Essentials Rewards Programme also offers a number of promotions to ensure sales are as simple as possible and that the end-user reaps the benefits.
Acer Reliability Promise
Now more than ever, our enterprise and commercial clients need to know that the devices they're using are built to last. That's why we introduced the ACER Reliability Promise; we're so confident that our products will last and will withstand that wear and tear of everyday use that we're offering our partners to claim a 100% refund of the full price paid off of your Acer device if it develops a fault and is repaired under warranty within the first year.
We apply the Acer Reliability Promise to our full range of professional-grade products, from our ultra-thin and convertible laptops to our wide range of Chromebooks, desktops and monitors. For example, you can pick up theAcer TravelMate P6, an effortlessly portable business-ready laptop that packs a punch, with the peace of mind that it will increase end-user productivity and won't need replacing.
Acer Upgrade Rewards
For businesses looking to upgrade their devices to ensure their remote workforce can work to their full potential, our Upgrade Rewards programme will offer up to £150 cashback on qualifying products. The end user simply needs to purchase a qualifying product within the promotional period, claim and register the device within 30 days, and then provide evidence of the old devices to us within 30 days of approval to receive the cashback. The end user also gets to retain the old devices so keeping the residual value.
Acer Demo Programme
While in-person events have taken a backseat in 2020, Acer's partners also have access to our Demo Programme that promotes hands-on experience as well as workshop and demo-days in order to enhance business and end-customer head-hunting. With the Demo programme, our channel partners are able to demonstrate Acer solutions to the end customer, as well as showcase their own sales and technical capabilities.
Working with the channel in 2021
At Acer, we are more committed to working with our partners than ever before. The channel remains one of Acer's points of strength, as demonstrated by the huge number of new initiatives we launched to support our partners throughout 2020.
In order to ensure businesses and educators continue to thrive going forward, we will be expanding and adding more features to our Synergy Partner Programme into 2021, an initiative designed to meet our customers changing needs and to provide partners with a competitive edge.
"We have seen a significant uplift in revenue this year from the partners who have embraced the value that's on offer within the Synergy programme. It's really exciting to see how we are delivering end to end value in the channel," comments Nick Walter, Head of Commercial at Acer. "Building on the success of 2020 we are enhancing the resource tools and the value available to partners and their customers in 2021".
We've also seen how the Acer channel teams are a valuable support asset for partners and their customers at all levels. The support factor is one of the key objectives of the programme and that's ultimately to ensure Acer is an easy partner to do business with.
To that end, we offer Acer's Synergy Partner Programme in order to provide a wide range of benefits and instruments designed to market Acer's products and solutions effectively and to maximise opportunities across diverse end-customer needs and environments.
This article has been published in partnership with Acer