Verizon Business Partner Programs Score High Marks From Partners: Exclusive

The carrier giant is offering stable partner programs that have been gradually improving over the years compared to some of its rivals that “blow things up and start over” every few years with their channel programs, one Verizon partner told CRN.

Verizon channel chief Wendy Taccetta

Verizon Business’ Mobility Co-Sell program is standing out and scoring points with partners when compared to its competition, the carrier told CRN exclusively.

Verizon recently conducted a survey of partners to gain insights into the performance of the Verizon Business channel programs, which have been revamped and are gaining momentum under the direction of channel chief Wendy Taccetta, who picked up the channel mantel in December 2020. The Mobility Co-Sell program came in as a top-rated program while partners also indicated areas of potential improvement for the carrier giant.

A significant majority of Mobility Co-Sell partners said Verizon offers a more “favorable” program than competing carriers they also work with and partners also indicated satisfaction with Verizon channel managers in the Mobility Co-Sell program, Verizon told CRN. The mean score for satisfaction with channel managers in the Mobility Co-Sell Program was 9.5, based on a 0-10 scale.

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Connected Solutions Group (CSG), a Richmond, Va.-based elite Verizon partner that works exclusively with the carrier, said that Verizon’s Mobility Co-Sell program stands out in the telecom market because of its collaborative nature.

CSG participates in multiple Verizon partner programs, but the Mobility Co-Sell program is the firm’s “bread and butter,” said Michael Pittman, founder and CEO of CSG. That’s because the program is about lead sharing, he said.

“We both go out there and find potential customers on our own - we’re leveraging our solutions and our services, and our hardware and our offerings. We advertise out in certain verticals and to certain customer bases to try to bring business into Verizon. And at the same time, through the same lead sharing software, [Verizon] can send us opportunities where our services can help them close a deal or add some real value to the customer deployment of the technology,” Pittman said.

The Verizon Partner Network was revamped at the end of 2021 to become “radically simple and always reliable,” Taccetta told CRN at the time. The Partner Network includes more than 13 different Verizon partner programs and more than 5,000 partners.

Partner feedback is critically important to the Verizon channel team, Wendy Taccetta, Senior Vice President for Nationwide Small Business & Channel Chief told CRN in an emailed statement on the recent survey. “As part of our commitment to our channel partners, we launched this survey to obtain first-hand feedback from our partners about our program…what’s working well, what needs improvement and, most importantly, how we can best serve our joint customers,” she said.

The survey also surfaced several areas where Verizon partners would like to see improvement including enhanced access and navigation when using systems and tools and simplified processes.

Pittman, for his part, agrees with the areas that the survey found have room for improvement but added that Verizon’s partner programs offer better access to resources than their carrier competition. Unlike some of its rivals, Verizon also has offered a stable partner program that’s been gradually improving compared to some service providers that “blow things up and start over” every few years with their channel programs, he added.

“I’ve dabbled in other [programs] in the past and I’ve actually been very happy with how this partner program in general has evolved year to year, getting better reporting and sales enablement and marketing tools, provided internally by Verizon to make the program more successful,” Pittman said. “It’s just that continuity and ability to improve upon it over time.”

Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Verizon said that overall satisfaction across all its partner programs was above average, ranging from mean scores of 6.0 to 8.7.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Week, Verizon this week also revealed that the company pledged a donation to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the largest grassroots mental health organization in the United States dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI has been at this work for more than 40 years.

For business owner Pittman, Verizon’s commitment to social change is very meaningful and important.

“It does matter to me as a partner,” he said. “If you look at my marketing, I brand everything as an exclusive Verizon partner. I’m latching myself on to that brand quite intentionally and if they didn’t have that good, moral background, that would not bode well for me and my brand. Verizon does a good job of letting folks know that they stand for something.”