Lenovo – A Partner-first company

Partners have always been important for Lenovo and the company considers them as its strength to position the brand in the competition. The company is presently focusing on geographical expansion through partners and channel enablement. In a chat with VARINDIA, Pankaj Harjai, Director – Small and Medium Business, Lenovo India, also discusses about Lenovo’s channel structure and strategy     
 
A partner-first company with transparent channel policies is the guiding principles of Lenovo which differentiates the company from competitors. Partners are always instrumental in the growth of a company as they represent a particular company to the end-users. Lenovo considers its partners as its strength and also believes that they are the company’s ambassadors to customers.    

“Lenovo’s biggest strength is its channel partner community and we strongly believe that this differentiates us from the rest of the brands. They are our extended arms and ambassadors in front of the customer. We have always taken pride in being a partner-first company and boast of having one of the most transparent channel policies in India which has led to an all-time high channel satisfaction and NPS scores with our partners,” views Pankaj Harjai, Director – Small and Medium Business, Lenovo India.  

Channel Structure
Lenovo’s partner base is comprised of commercial and distribution channel which sums up to 3,500 partners. The partners are divided into tiers according to offerings which will help them to realize their potential and flourish their business. 

“Our commercial and distribution channel base comprises of close-to 3,500 partners. We have a tiered partner structure with differentiated offerings that helps partners grow and realize their full potential. The tiering is segmented into Platinum, Gold and Silver for our Channel which is standard across all markets. In addition, we have introduced unique initiatives for our core partner base such as medical insurance and other motivational tools to keep them engaged and involved with day-to-day business at Lenovo,” explains Pankaj.  

Partners help a company to expand its reach among customers. Similarly, they have helped Lenovo to reach maximum customers and offer superior Lenovo products. Through partners, Lenovo is aiming to reach 30,000 customers both in the enterprise and SME space.   

“Our partners have always led the way in reaching out to customers and provide world-class Lenovo products to them. We intend to reach out to 30,000 customers in the enterprise and SME space leveraging our partner strength,” adds Pankaj. 

Channel Strategy
Engagement, enablement and ease of business are the three pillars of Lenovo, depending on which the company wants to have a Year-on-Year (YOY) growth in the commercial and consumer segment. In the coming financial year, the company will focus on medium business segment and will increase its footprint to 200 cities.   

“Our core channel strategy is three-fold – Engagement, Enablement and Ease of business, guided by which we want to grow our business YoY whether it is commercial or consumer. In FY 2018-19, we will focus on medium businesses which are expected to grow significantly. We will also aim to increase our penetration from 170 cities to 200 cities and extend our reach to smaller businesses. The priority will also remain to leverage the channel reach to address end- customers, build the skill levels of channel partners and to make our customer experience better this year,” aims Pankaj.  

Focus of the company
The company is currently focused on geographical expansion and partner enablement. Lenovo wants to become a popular brand among customers. It is also witnessing opportunities in the country with initiatives like Digital India, Skill development, Smart cities, etc. It is planning for a considerable amount of investment in resources and expansion of reach to meet the escalating requirements.     

“Our energies are focused on two specific areas. These are being geographical expansion and enabling our partner community to win more customers. We aim to become a household brand in the segment of ICT. 

The emerging states in the country are seeing a rise in demand and PC penetration. Initiatives like Digital India, Skill development and Smart cities have created a lot of opportunities. The rise in internet penetration and education is also spreading awareness. We plan to make significant investment in terms of resources and building our reach and capability to address this growing requirement. We are also making efforts to spread awareness on the benefits of using PC,” concludes Pankaj.