Dell Launches Second Phase of Social Media Training for Channel Partners

Dell Launches Second Phase of Social Media Training for Channel Partners

• Enhanced training advances social business practices, enables profitability

• Investment in partners to continue as additional training comes in Summer and Fall

TWEET THIS: New social media training 2.0 program launched by @DellChannel to help partners leverage #socialbiz.

ROUND ROCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today Dell Global Commercial Channel announced its enhanced social media training for Dell's certified PartnerDirect partners as part of a continued effort to invest in programs that will enable partner growth and profitability.

The PartnerDirect social media training program, which began in May 2012, has introduced many Dell partners to fundamental social media principles and opened them to the possibility of leveraging social media to advance their business. Due to partner interest in the area of social media, Dell has now refreshed and elevated the training.

"Last year we completed the Dell social media training, and prior to that we had very little presence on social media at all," said Jon Beck, Alliance Manager & Online Content Manager at Fordway Solutions. "Following the training, we realized we needed a more strategic & structured approach, and that has really paid off. The training helped inspire more focused efforts including a website refresh and better engagement across platforms. I'm looking forward to seeing how the new training can help us take social media to the next level."

"The first Dell training session was very helpful, and MCPc absolutely uses social media to engage with Dell," said Jed Ayres, SVP of Partner Management and Marketing for MCPc. "We follow Dell's social properties and frequently tag Dell on Twitter. The ultimate goal is to get exposure through Dell, but also it creates a great internal dialog that keeps us aligned on our joint activities."

To increase that alignment, last month Dell also launched a dedicated PartnerDirect technical community on the Dell TechCenter. This community is open to all registered Dell partners and enables them to easily connect with each other, the Dell Channel team and other Dell team members. Already well established, the TechCenter is an active community that hosts over 350,000 IT professionals each month.

Dell is also preparing to launch new brand training for partners this summer. This will provide them with branding principles while helping them understand the PartnerDirect brand. The training will cover key branding elements such as logos and imagery, so they can represent Dell products and solutions effectively with customers.

"Our partners are an important extension of Dell's sales capability and play a key role in promoting our brand," said Kathy Schneider, executive director Global Channel Marketing and Programs at Dell. "Together with our solutions and social media trainings, we hope to provide our partners with the knowledge and tools to help grow their business with Dell."

These new courses extend Dell's training beyond the current partner certification program, which recently announced an expansion with four new software-related competencies launching in the fall. Dell encourages training for channel partners and offered more than 200,000 free sessions last year. The company views this as critically important, last year its top 25 partners based on training investment grew their Dell revenues by 33 percent and Enterprise solutions by 52%.

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Dell Inc.
Laura Thomas, 512-723-1716
Laura_p_thomas@dell.com

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