ChannelChat: AgileField Launches Channel-First Strategy On Allbound Powered Partner Portal

When Jeff Gregorec was named EVP, Partnerships and Strategic Alliances at AgileField, a provider of field service management (FSM) solutions, he was handed a pretty full plate. The company was in the process of changing its name – it was formerly known as MobilLogix. It had a renewed focus on mid-market customers. And AgileField was now going to be a channel-first company.

Gregorec had extensive experience building and growing channel programs. But with only a few months to get the foundation of a channel program up and running before the early-November launch of the new brand, the company’s positioning and go-to-market strategy, he needed to work fast.

“I joined AgileField in late August, early September and had some very clear initiatives,” Gregorec said in a call with CMR. The company was already deep into developing the new brand, changing everything from value propositions to logos. High on his list of things-to-do was build out a channel platform to support his newly recruited partners.

With little time to spare, Gregorec selected Allbound as the provider of its new portal solution. He was familiar with the capabilities of the solution and the ease with which it could be implemented. He also liked working with a neighborhood vendor. AgileField is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ. Allbound is based in nearby Phoenix.

Taming Aggressive Timetables

“Once we made the commitment to launch our channel-first strategy, we needed a platform to quickly bring on quality partners and position them for early success,” said Gregorec. “We immediately saw that Allbound was geared for our aggressive timetable.”

By partnering with Allbound, AgileField’s portal was up and running in eight days and the first partner onboarding took place just seven days after that. “We had access to the Allbound solution in the middle of October,” said Gregorec. “With some help from the Allbound team and a lot of late nights on my own, we built it out in such a way that it was partner-friendly and partner-consumable on November 1.”

Prior to the launch, Gregorec said he “had about a dozen partners in my pipeline. One was far enough along that we actually turned them on on November 8. Since then, we have 24 active partners…and a whole host of reference partners.”

Because Allbound offered AgileField an out-of-the-box solution, Gregorec was able to focus on the elements the portal presents. “I could have just turned it on as is,” he said. “But you only get one chance to make a first impression, so we were able to spend time making sure that the images on the various placeholders within the platform were representative of us.”

Features of the new portal include training modules, access to sales and marketing materials, pricing information, and contracts. The portal also enables partners to register leads. Dashboards gives Gregorec visibility into all partner activity.

With the new portal up and running, Gregorec is prioritizing content creation to support his partners. “For us to capitalize on the greenfield opportunities out there, we have to create content.” Recognizing that video formats are increasingly popular, Gregorec has outfitted his own video production room, building “everything from little 90-second to two-minute videos, about various features and modules of our product to its ease of use.”

The company is also producing case studies. Two were recently published. Four more are on the drawing table.

“It’s now about giving our partners the resources and tools to make themselves sustainable. We have something called our partner training forum. Once a month, we do about a 90-minute webcast specific to technical, sales or marketing training.The portal is crucial to sharing this information with the partners” said Gregorec.

With the help of the partner portal, Gregorec reports that he’s exceeding goals. “I had committed that within 12 months, we’d have 25 partners. In just five months, we have 24 partners. We have a pipeline now that’s up over a million dollars.”

In a related press release, Gregorec said that AgileField “just closed our most successful revenue quarter ever. A large majority of it coming from our channel partners utilizing Allbound.”