Working with partners is a big part of our growth strategy. Auvik’s channel sales team loves building relationships and getting creative with new programs. They’re dedicated problem-solvers who are committed to helping our partners succeed.
This week, Stacey Tozer and Kishana Blye Lemus share their experiences on the channel sales team, and what makes it an exciting time to join.
Meet Stacey Tozer, Director, Channel Sales
Growing a channel sales team
I’ve been working in channel sales in various capacities for 18 years. I love working with partners to build meaningful relationships that help both parties recognize success. When I got the opportunity to join Auvik about four years ago, I was thrilled to join a fantastic team building value-based partnerships.
The last few years we have been working with a channel skeleton team to quietly refine our channel strategy based on learnings from our early partnerships. We’ve been creating systems and models that will make it easy for partners to do business with and find success with Auvik.
We have now reached a point where the channel team has evolved from a few core partners driving our MSP business to a strategic component of our overall go-to-market plan. We’ve laid a solid foundation to launch our first phase of our official channel program. It is an exciting time for the channel team and right now we’re in build mode!
Help us build our partner programs
To me, this is a once in a lifetime professional opportunity within Auvik right now. You have a company that is established, has a solid customer base, and has a product that solves a real problem for people that they love using. We’re growing a whole new business on the channel team while expanding on what we’ve already been able to achieve. We’re taking our sales process, that’s been developed to near perfection, and applying that to the channel team.
Some of the exciting challenges we’re taking on include:
- Growing our partner base
- Equipping our partners with what they need to be successful with Auvik
- Exploring a global expansion of our channel programs
We’ve very much in the building phase. For us, it’s about creating programs and building trusted relationships with our partners to understand where we fit and how we can win together with Auvik.
Life at Auvik keeps getting better
What’s kept me at Auvik is the people, and how we’re all striving towards the same objective — to make the company successful.
It goes back to our Auvik Way values. It’s not just about how we work internally, but how we work with customers and partners too. We don’t play the blame game, and we don’t tolerate assholes. You don’t hear “it’s not my job” or “that’s not my problem” at Auvik, because people genuinely want to help.
The opportunities on our channel sales team are to build and create new programs, while being a well-supported function with people who have your back.
Meet Kishana Blye Lemus, Channel Operations Specialist
From BDR to Channel Sales
I studied criminology in university — nowhere near tech sales! When I was applying to jobs after graduating, Auvik stood out to me from my first job interview.It felt like I was telling my story, not answering intimidating questions. It was different from any other interview I’d had.
Like many university grads, I didn’t know what my career plan was, but I was looking for a place where I could learn a lot and use my communications and interpersonal skills.
I started as a business development representative, and knew there are so many different paths from there. I wasn’t pulled towards the flashy facetime of an Account Executive, but I was drawn to a more behind the scenes operational role.
That’s when I talked to Stacey, who was opening a new role in channel sales, and I learned that kind of job would allow me to continue doing the parts of sales I really enjoyed — meeting new people, being creative with building brand new programs, and helping partners use our product.
At that time, channel sales was a small but mighty team of Stacey and I! I got to be part of all our operations and communicate with customers and partners, while working closely with all my coworkers on the sales team.
Here for the growth opportunities
At Auvik, I’ve always been asked about my future goals, what I want out of my position, and where I want to grow. I’ve had incredible managers who’ve helped me do everything to get me where I need to be, and it’s helped build my confidence.
When I was applying to Auvik, I didn’t know what business development or channel sales even was. But I’m glad I took that leap, because you never know where it can lead.
If you’re thinking of applying to work at Auvik, even if you’re not 100% sure, I’d say go for it. There is so much you can learn from a place when you’re set up with resources and helpful people to show you how things work. I’ve found there’s so many growth opportunities at Auvik that if you start off in one role, it may lead you to another path you never even knew existed.
Interested in joining our team? See our current job openings.
