Cisco offers rebate incentives for European channel

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Cisco offers rebate incentives for European channel

By James Niccolai

IDG News Service, 09/06/04

Hoping to boost its sales to smaller businesses in Europe and the surrounding region, Cisco this month is launching a new incentive program that provides financial rewards for channel partners who close deals with new customers, the company said Monday.

The idea is to compensate channel partners for the investments they make trying to secure deals with previously untapped customers. The program, called the Opportunity Incentive Program, provides rebates for partners who are the first to close deals with a new client, Cisco said in a statement.

The networking vendor began piloting the program in late May in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Poland. A total of 458 channel partners registered to take part, submitting 439 new business opportunities, of which Cisco approved 267. Most of the deals were in the areas of IP communications, network security and wireless projects, Cisco said.

Cisco isn’t disclosing the size of the rebates because doing so could compromise the business interests of the channel partners, according to a Cisco spokeswoman in the U.S.

The incentives program is being rolled out across Europe, the Middle East and Africa this month and next. Channel partners must provide Cisco with the decision maker’s name at a potential new customer, and the budget and specifications for the project. If Cisco agrees it is a new business opportunity it will approve the lead, and the channel partner has 90 days to close the deal to get the rebate.

The program is focused on what Cisco calls the commercial market, including small and midsize businesses. The minimum eligible deal size for the program is $5,000.

Cisco does more than 90% of its business through its channel partners, making it imperative that it helps them to be profitable, it said.

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