Avnet Launches Government Sales Education and Training Program

Avnet announced the launch of its Government Market Expansion Program on Tuesday at its New Frontiers conference for Sun Microsystems partners in Colorado Springs, Col.

Created for resellers looking to build their businesses in the federal, state, local and education markets, the G-MEP program will help customers with lead and demand generation, go-to-market planning, training and services.

Avnet will help customers with developing their government sales and winning bids based on targeting the needs of specific customers, said Mike Atlee, national director, Government Solutions, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas, of Phoenix, Ariz.

"We have all the things you're going to have to do if you're going to sell into this market," he said. "We have an understanding of what it takes to run a business selling into the government."

Resellers will also have access to targeted newsletters and a calendar of government events.

Monte Sjobakken, vice president of sales at Global Technology Resources, of Denver, Col., said the program, which has been in the pilot phase for four months, has helped his team generate leads and nurture relationships with potential government customers they had been trying to access through other channels with little success.

"We're having a huge success from a lead generation standpoint. When you're in our business you're looking for leads but it's not only quantity it's quality. We're getting some incredible leads," said Sjobakken.

His company has been expanding its reach to target national agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, and he said Avnet's team has been integral in helping them make that transition.

"I'm extremely impressed with the talent they have from an outbound standpoint. They have some quality individuals and are definitely penetrating the groups we're trying to work with," he said. "From our standpoint we're building out a national presence."

GTR has recently hired reps in Florida, Washington D.C. and Utah.

"They're definitely helping us build a pipeline for those territories," he said.

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