Winners of Customer and Digital Excellence nods awarded with additional commercials and further marketing and consultancy
O2 has announced the winners of its first Direct Partner Network Excellence Awards since it revamped the programme on April 1.
The awards are split in to three categories. The first recognises customer excellence and was won by ADSI, Cellular Solutions (North-East), Fleet Mobile and Corporate Wardair.
The second category was the Digital Excellence Award, which was given to seven partners: Chess Telecom, Cellular Solutions (South), Aerial, Carphone Warehouse Business, Daisy Direct, Maintel, and Vivio.
Ten partners were recognised for both categories. These were: Active Business, Active Digital, Annodata, Atlas, Challenger, Pure Telecom, Signal, The One Point, Uplands, 8020.
Recipients of the awards will be given new Excellence Award branding, along with additional commercials, and further marketing and digital consultancy to help develop their businesses.
O2 Business head of partners Jason Phillips said: “These awards represent a significant shift in the way we work, as we become more intentional in our focus on customer support and digital knowledge and expertise.
“We are rewarding partners who have successfully made that shift with us. A massive thanks and well done to all those partners. We will continue to work closely with all our partners to deliver above our customers’ expectations whilst build on our success and momentum in the SMB market.”
The revamped awards system follows the biggest overhaul of O2’s partner programme in over five years. The operator ditched its Centre of Excellence programme and replaced it with the Direct Partner Network.
The programme saw revenue share rise from 48 to 54 per cent, but monthly targets were adjusted, with CoE partners tasked with proving they could meet them ahead of the launch.
O2 said the revamped partner network had been over a year in the making and the move from three-year partnerships to five-year agreements had been “well-received” by partners.
Phillips added: “Partners are now recognised not by their scale and size alone but also by their ability to focus relentlessly on the customer and be capable of diversification.
“Partners are now rewarded on customer experience, churn, value and digital product adoption – real recognition that the market has changed.”
