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For ConnectWise, using that Bowflex also includes leveraging ConnectWise's training and education program, which includes more than 10,000 third-party vendor courses available for a $495 annual prescription per employee, ConnectWise's Bellini said.
"We've got to get them to be good systems engineers. If I have a system engineer that wants to become certified in Cisco, Novell, Microsoft, all the major vendors, $495 and they're off to the races," he said. "Why do we do that? It makes a healthier business. It goes way beyond software."
But, perhaps the biggest focus for ConnectWise to drive more success in its partners is likely its community of users, which Bellini puts at the top of his Pyramid of Success. This year, ConnectWise is likely to spend $7 million on its community programs, a figure that includes 30 regional events across the globe in addition to the IT Nation conference.
"Nobody has all the answers, but collectively we can understand any problem and come up with an answer for anything. That's why you see us invest so much in the community. It's an expensive proposition for us, but we get the community to interact with each other, and they tell you that's the greatest value they get. That drives them up the pyramid. If I can get you to educate yourself and interact with your community, I can drive you up to success," Bellini said.
Harkening back to Wooden's Pyramid of Success at UCLA, Bellini noted that the coach would begin the first practice each season by having his players undo their shoes and socks and have them redo it together. In some respects, it's a lesson some solution providers should heed.
"You have to build from the ground up. You do the simple things and you do them well. If you don't get your sock on right or your lace is not tightened, it could cost you a point or two in the game or God forbid you trip," Bellini said. "[Wooden's] philosophy is building on pieces, and he had a fanatic discipline of accomplishing certain goals every day.
"Most software companies don't think they have to have that. And they have no right selling you software unless they're willing to get you the whole way through," Bellini continued. "We're not really asking you to buy something. We're asking you to buy into something. A vision. Software is a necessary piece to it, but it's not the only piece. It's very expensive to do it that way, but in the end you get a much better result."
PUBLISHED NOV. 12, 2012
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