Jos Brenkel is a 29-year Hewlett-Packard veteran and leads the Global Sales Strategy and Operations across HP. Prior to this, he led Worldwide Sales for HP PPS. During his entire tenure in HP, he has served various geographies including APJ, MEA, etc. in various capacities.
[quote font=”tahoma” font_size=”14″ font_style=”italic” color=”#333333″ bgcolor=”#f4f4f4″] Jos Brenkel
Global Head of Sales Strategy & Operations
HP
HP Partner First builds upon Hewlett-Packard’s industry-leading PartnerOne program to help partners capture and capitalize on opportunities through customer-oriented, solutions-led sales.
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After the division of the company, what direction is HP Inc. providing to its partners for 2016 onwards?
This is a milestone year for us as a new company, and we are excited to have our valued channel partners by our side playing an essential role in shaping our future. We’ve demonstrated our focus on execution and we continue forward with that same strong sense of execution excellence. Our goal is to enable our partners’ success, amaze our joint customers with innovative experiences, and set the stage for a profitable future where we will grow together.
Brief about the new partner program?
HP Inc.’s commitment to the channel remains stronger than ever. Through the brand-new HP Partner First program, we’re dedicated to being the first in speed and agility, first in simple and consistent operations, and, as a result, first in driving partner growth and profitability. Our channel strategy formula is simple: speed plus simplicity equals greater sales.
Any tweaks or new offerings happening to the HP Partner First Program that are building upon the former Hewlett-Packard PartnerOne program?
HP Partner First builds upon Hewlett-Packard’s industry-leading PartnerOne program to help partners capture and capitalize on opportunities through customer-oriented, solutions-led sales. Our partners have the flexibility to participate in the program track that best suits their current business needs while at the same time exploring new avenues for future growth. We are making it easier for partners to do business by introducing streamlined programs, tools, and processes that deliver innovation and consistency across all markets and geographies. We offer comprehensive services and sales support that gives partners the incentives and skills they need, and that allow them to maximize business opportunities.
Do you have any training & certification for addressing start-ups, e-Commerce business and SME market?
All markets will benefit from our newly revised certifications for PC and print hardware, supplies and services.
As per Dion Weisler, the CEO of HP Inc., your partners are at the center of everything you do. Can you please elaborate on ‘An easier way to engage’?
Our partners are an independent extension of HP and a key component of our go forward strategy. We have 230,000 partners globally. With more than 80% of HP’s worldwide sales are through the channel, our valued partners are critical to our success.
While we’ve made significant strides in making it easier to engage, we know more work needs to be done. As it relates to HP Partner First, everything we offer to our channel partners has been re-thought to make it easier to work and partner with HP. Sales programs, incentive plans, and operations are all simplified. Our channel partners have a dedicated team to help them find their path to success. They also have access to a wealth of information, tools, and resources to help them market their business, create new leads, and generate new sales.
What is the product roadmap for HP Inc. this year?
We’re excited about what lies ahead in 2016 and beyond. There is tremendous opportunity for HP in the areas of what we call Core, Growth and Future.
Within Core, we’re reinvigorating printing in the home, capturing commercial print market share, and leveraging our PageWide technology, while in Personal Systems we’re focused on leading in commercial, delivering the best devices across multiple operating systems and form factors. In the Growth segment, we must drive solutions areas. This means leading and expanding the market in commercial mobility, while also capturing copier pages and driving the digital transformation in Graphics. And for the Future, we must build a strategic partner ecosystem to drive new solutions and services for tomorrow including 3D Printing and Immersive Computing.
A key component in this roadmap is the evolution of business models and the way in which we enable our channel partner to drive sales and to take our programs to new heights.
What kind of budget are you setting aside for the new company’s marketing activities?
With the launch of HP Inc., we have completely rejuvenated our brand. While I’m unable to disclose specific budget figures, I can say that we took the separation as an opportunity to reframe what HP stands for. Under the direction of Chief Marketing Officer Antonio Lucio, we aim to “Keep Reinventing” – a tagline that sums up our company mission to create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. This goes far beyond channel marketing, but our partners are on the front lines helping us to provide experiences that amaze.
What are the outlets of marketing for this year?
Market pressure, digitalization and partner bandwidth are causing a major shift in the way vendors market to channel partners. As declining budgets and shifts in the buying lifecycle increase sales complexity, HP remains committed to speed and simplicity. Our renewed focus and flexibility stemming from the separation gives us the ability to be more responsive to our partners’ needs in an evolving market. For example, our Marketing Campaign Selector allows partners to access HP-generated campaigns and select the one best aligned with their business objectives and customer segment in less than one minute. We’re also making it easier to do business with HP via streamlined programs, tools and processes that maintain consistency across markets and geographies, like our automatic Presentation Builder. Ultimately, as we deliver against the goals of speed and simplicity, we give our partners the incentives and skills they need to drive both growth and profitability.
