2019 in Review: Reflecting on Channel ONE’s First Year

One of the most exciting developments for Champion ONE this past year was the launch of our brand-new partner program, Channel ONE, in July.  As 2019 comes to a close, we’ve invited our Director of Channel Sales, Wade Wiant, to reflect on his experience building this program from the ground up, as well as a bit about his vision for the years to come.

As I reflect on 2019 and the creation of Channel ONE, Champion ONE’s first channel partner program, three words continue to come up in my mind: Determination, Collaboration and Trust.

These three words can mean different things to different people. They can mean different things to different companies and the cultures that they maintain.

For us at Champion ONE, they are a huge part of what we do every day. They are key components of our company environment and culture. They also happen to be the driving forces in year one of a program that will yield benefits not only to our organization but to partner organizations in our market.

Determination. When you are “the new kid on the block,” starting anything new is hard. When you are a nearly 30-year-old company and considered the “new kid” it makes it VERY challenging. If not for the belief in what this program could and would be, there would be no dream to chase and no fuel to make it happen. We overcame many obstacles along the way this year and designed the foundation of a program purpose-built to drive value for partners and their customers. Only determination and the never-say-die attitude of the company helped us sign partners that could’ve easily overlooked us, but instead saw an opportunity to position and sell high quality solutions at a fair price for their customers. In turn, this helped them to keep their status as trusted advisors.

Collaboration. This was vital to bring our goals into focus and start to deliver a world-class program. Many within our building were able to help carry out the vision of the program that I had laid out. In some cases, it involved late nights and many meetings and calls, but in the end, we laid a foundation for a lasting, successful program. Collaboration now goes to the next level in 2020 as the program seeks to strategically collaborate with our partners to deliver results moving forward.

Trust. The cornerstone of the program.A culture of trust is a prerequisite of any successful partner initiative. We wore that attribute on our sleeve all year long. At times, we were tested with various conflicts, but we came through with flying colors. One partner commented that “this felt like the old days again when partner programs did the right thing and put partners first.” The day we lose the trust and transparency with our partners will be the day that Channel ONE ceases to exist.

This is just a start here in year one, the first mile in a long journey on a map that provides challenges and opportunities for our program and our company.  As I reflect on this past year, I have to admit that I like where we are heading, and I embrace the journey ahead.