Centre of Excellence partners to reap benefits from membership

O2 today announces that a further twelve UK Centre of Excellence partners have now severed all ties with the UK’s other major network providers to become exclusive O2 partners.

As Centre of Excellence partners, they already benefit from O2’s leading sales, marketing and customer service support. This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement in April that Barclay Communications had become O2’s first exclusive partner in Northern Ireland.

The new partners include Active Business Communications Ltd, ADSI Ltd, Aerial Telephones Group Ltd, Atlas Communications Ltd, Cellular Solutions (North East) Ltd, Challenger Mobile Communications Ltd, Cygnet Holdings Limited, Direct Line Connections Ltd T/A Dialect, Total Telecommunications Ltd, Uplands Mobiles Ltd, Vivio Limited and Welcomm Communication Ltd. They will now be responsible for selling O2 products and services including the exclusive-to-O2 iPhone across the UK.

As experts in delivering the latest O2 business solutions, these partners also have the ability to work with customers of all sizes across both Enterprise and larger business. They have significant experience in providing customised solutions that are based both on individual business requirements and increasing company productivity.

The O2 Centre of Excellence programme is open to all partners but sets demanding qualifying criteria including excellent customer service and a true focus on delivering leading-edge mobile solutions within the business market. These partners have demonstrated their commitment to building customer trust and loyalty, providing superb base management delivering single digit annualised churn. All the partners wholly support O2’s revenue share model as the best method to enable a sustainable business based on typical voice and data revenues. In addition to traditional mobile products, the O2 model has the potential to extend into adjacent markets in the future.

David Plumb, Head of SME Sales at Telefonica O2 UK, comments: “We are delighted to welcome 12 more of the very best UK resellers as exclusive O2 partners. These partners continue to set the benchmark for excellence in the UK and have access to increased investment from O2. For example, the O2 Partner Academy helps partners develop their skills in unified communications, solution selling and service excellence. Although more than 50% of O2 partners are now exclusive we will of course continue to work with quality partners who see the benefit of multiple network relationships.”

Other benefits of membership to the scheme include:

– Flexible, consultative approach and access to all the necessary support and resources to enable partners to develop a tailor-made solution that delivers the results for their business;

– Ongoing investment in partners to keep them up-to-date with innovation, market trends and leading edge technologies;

– Access to channel marketing resource and support to drive core messages and ultimately more revenue;

– Access to the latest training and devices to help partners speak with confidence about how communications solutions can help their customers;

– Access to select direct propositions, such as the iPhone; and

– Access to a number of dedicated service support tools to help partners provide an unbeatable customer experience. This includes priority access into O2’s care and implementation teams for a swifter response to queries and better quality of service.

Plumb continues: “Recognising the need to work closely with your partners is key to success. We are dedicated to evolving the Centre of Excellence principles ensuring we involve all our partners in this process through an open dialogue. Our monthly roundtables provide them with the platform to feedback on all our programmes and suggest improvements. We believe it is only through these true partnerships that our channel solutions will succeed.”

Uplands Mobiles Ltd chose to become an exclusive O2 partner following a highly successful and long-term relationship with O2. Managing Director, Paul Hooper, said: “We wanted a partner we could work with to provide extensive reach without fear of compromise of our local and regional expertise. The benefits of our partnership with O2 include access to an extensive range of additional propositions such as broadband and innovative products such as iPhone as well as additional technical support and early visibility of devices and road maps. We have always operated an extremely close relationship with O2 and I would consider our relationship today to be closer than it has ever been.”

For Total Telecommunications Ltd, a commitment to delivering the very best standards of service has resulted in single figure churn and a solid, loyal customer base. Stuart Baikie, Managing Director, commented on the decision to become an exclusive O2 partner: “We wanted a network partner that shared our values and was really a part of our team. O2 is consistently outstanding and we wouldn’t have chosen anyone else to partner with on an exclusive basis.”

James Wright, Managing Director of telecommunications and mobile data solutions provider, Vivio Limited, said of the partnership: “Vivio is delighted to be a part of the O2 Centre of Excellence programme. We chose to commit to this programme with the majority of our business because O2 is a forward thinking company which really understands how a true partnership works. We have seen real benefits to our business by being part of this programme.”

Journalists can contact the Virgin Media O2 press office on:
press@virginmediao2.co.uk 01753 565656
Virgin Media
press enquiries
press@virginmedia.co.uk
O2
press enquiries
pressoffice@o2.com