Avnet Symposium to Help Partners to Sell NetApp Solutions

Avnet Technology Solutions, an operating group of global technology distributor Avnet, Inc., has developed a new symposium series that enables its partners’ sales personnel to quickly and effectively deliver the unique benefits of NetApp storage solutions to their customers or prospects.

The Avnet ProSeries Symposium features an interactive whiteboard communications technique. Whiteboarding helps sales representatives retain more information and persuasively convey that information by incorporating end users’ technology needs, questions and concerns into a dynamic discussion.

“Our partners have told us that they want their sales representatives to be able to present to a C-level audience in a way that engages and persuades,” said Patty Gray, vice president of NetApp and Symantec Sales for Avnet Technology Solutions. “Communicating effectively with this audience takes more than typical slide presentations, which can put distance between the sales representative and the audience. Avnet’s ProSeries Symposium helps sales personnel learn to actively engage the customer using the proven technique of whiteboarding developed by consultant Whiteboard Selling.”

“We are very excited by the outcomes of the Avnet ProSeries Symposium, and it is very complementary to NetApp’s brand awareness activities,” said Leonard Iventosch, vice president of worldwide channels for NetApp. “Participants are walking away with a high level of knowledge about NetApp solutions and a high level of confidence in their ability to deliver messaging that can be customized to address the needs of each customer or prospect.”

The ProSeries Symposium is designed to speed the sales cycle by increasing efficiency and know-how and providing content that can be repeated succinctly. It also allows the partner to bring new salespeople up to speed on the NetApp line quickly — enabling partners to go deeper and wider into the end-user community.

More than 600 Avnet partner representatives have taken the training in the United States and Canada with participant ratings averaging 4.6 on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).

"Avnet has built its ProSeries Symposium around a reality-based, hands-on whiteboarding technique that does more than simply communicate NetApp’s value proposition,” said Deborah Bannworth, vice president of sales, Eastern region, for Sirius. “Whiteboarding helps sales personnel build an immediate comfort level in presenting NetApp advantages and engage clients without taking them into a technology deep-dive. At the conclusion of the training, my sales reps could effectively and succinctly demonstrate the unique benefits of NetApp technology. By increasing their knowledge and credibility, this training has enhanced our status as a trusted advisor to our clients and has helped NetApp solutions stand out in a market flooded with products. I highly recommend the symposium to salespeople at all levels.”

“The training was invaluable,” said Bob Kerr, vice president of sales for SwishData. “I would recommend it for experienced as well as new sales professionals. They will come away with strategies they can use to more effectively sell NetApp as well as other solutions. I believe it offers my company a distinct advantage over the competition.”

Sessions are planned for locations in the United States, Mexico, Germany and Singapore in the coming weeks. In addition, plans are in place to expand the symposium into a multi-part series, with virtualization as the next subject focus.

For more information about the Avnet ProSeries Symposium