BT courts the channel

FOLLOWING an extensive internal reorganisation, BT has created a business unit tailored for retailers called BT Indirect Channels, a fusion of the local business and the partner management units.
BT Indirect Channels has had particular success with the SME (small and medium enterprise) sector, with BT Broadband LITE spearheading the drive. BT’s channel partners have recorded a 59 per cent increase in business broadband connections compared to last year’s average.
To support its aggressive growth targets, BT has launched a comprehensive business-wide
marketing programme. It is offering additional incentives to resellers who increase their connection rate during the course of the campaign.
Broadband LITE gives resellers a competitive entry-level broadband product and is ideal for targeting the SME market. It has achieved unprecedented results in value-added
service attachment rates, with figures indicating that partners are ten times more likely to sell an additional service with this product than with previous broadband products.
Mark Cornell, director of partner management at BT Business, told PC Retail: “The indirect channel is at the centre of BT’s marketing strategy.
Broadband is a core focus across BT Business and we are committed to helping resellers maximise sales opportunities in this area above and beyond the targets of this three-month
campaign.”
BT is providing broadband training for the channel through a specially developed webcast, which has seen record attendance for an online learning tool. Resellers can offer Broadband LITE with download speeds of up to 2Mb for just £19.99 a month until March 31st, 2006.