What Vectors Is All About: Reseller Success, Relationships and Growth
Jayson Jones, VP of Sales for SkySwitch discusses the success and growth of SkySwitch’s telecom reseller network.
In this Vectors 2019 interview, TMC’s Editorial Director, Erik Linask, speaks with Jayson Jones, Vice President of Sales at SkySwitch. Hear why Jayson Jones considers SkySwitch to be a pioneer of true channel-only, white label telecom, and how that translates into the cutting-edge content offered to MSPs, VARs, agents and resellers at Vectors 2019. Learn why this year’s user-group conference doubled in size, and how it’s projected to do so again in 2020.
Erik Linask and Jayson Jones talk about the importance of building strong relationships within the reseller community.
Full Video Transcript Below:
Erik Linask 0:07
We’re here in Orlando at Vectors 2019. And joining me now this afternoon now, Jayson Jones from SkySwitch. Jayson, thanks for joining me.
Jayson Jones 0:15
Thank you very much, Erik. Glad to be here.
Erik Linask 0:17
So, you know, we’re getting close to wrapping up day one of this year’s event. You know, talk to me a little bit about what you’re hearing from some of your partners.
Jayson Jones 0:28
Absolutely. The SkySwitch resellers that are at the event this year, they’re just really appreciative of the extent that we’ve gone to set this event up, bring in the amount of sponsors we’ve had. I mean, it’s just been a tremendous response from sponsors wanting to join the SkySwitch event and get access into our reseller channel because it is a very lucrative opportunity for them.
Erik Linask 0:53
What have you done different? What have you changed about Vectors since last year?
Jayson Jones 0:56
Well, the event has really grown. And we’re really, really proud of that. And we’re happy about that. But you know, a few things that have changed, we’ve had a few resellers that came on very quickly, and they wanted to sign and they wanted to use the Vectors event as an onboarding platform for them. To kind of springboard them into the onboarding platform. So, we got them signed, as a matter of fact, Compudyne out of Minnesota signed on Friday. They made their first payment and we got their Dashmanager built, and now they’re directly onboarding right now with our team.
Erik Linask 1:35
Well, that’s certainly impressive. And congratulations on that. What kind of benefits did they get from not only onboarding that quickly, but onboarding here at Vectors?
Jayson Jones 1:45
The culture really came naturally to us. As a management team, we just have a strong feeling for caring for our partners. So having them exposed to that and being able to see that firsthand and kind of see how we interact with each other. And the commitment between the partnership, reseller to platform provider is just very unique.
Erik Linask 2:10
How much do you think that environment has contributed to not only the growth of your event, but the growth of your partner community in general?
Jayson Jones 2:20
I think it’s contributed tenfold. They rely on us to keep developing technology and innovating at a high rate. And just so they can go out there and really compete in the marketplace. But when they come together here, not only do they get introduced to new technologies and the roadmap of where we’re going in the next year in 2020, but you know, they get exposed to being able to ask support questions and marketing questions and, onboarding questions with team members from every department. They get exposed to our marketing teams too, so the communication and mutual communication, reciprocal communication is very, very good.
Erik Linask 3:05
How much feedback, or how much commentary or wish list type things, go into planning an event like Vectors? As far as you know, what your partners and resellers are looking for?
Jayson Jones 3:19
That’s, that’s kind of ironic because they really don’t give much input as to what we’re going to do because we seem to be really blowing their minds every year. With all the new content and what we’re coming up with. We’re really cutting edge, I think, in the White-Label space. We like to think that we’re the pioneers of white label and we’re really innovating at a very tremendous and fast rate.
So when they come here, I think they don’t have any expectations beyond, “There’s going to be something new, there’s going to be something exciting, we’re going to learn something, and we’re gonna be able to take back nuggets of information that are just going to benefit their business.”
Erik Linask 3:58
So from a business perspective and, in particular, a partner’s businesses, what would you say really is the biggest goal here at Vectors?
Jayson Jones 4:08
The biggest goal here at Vectors is just to build relationship with our customers. We’re a 100% remote workforce. We don’t go out and see our customers at all. Every conversation that we have, it could be by either audio conference or webinar. Sometimes we do a video conference, but generally, it’s just a phone conversation.
So we don’t really get that face-to-face time with them. When we gather everybody together, and know that only a quarter of our resellers are here, but we get that opportunity just to get that good face-to-face time with them that just allows us to relate. To build relationships, socialize, have some fun, get to know each other.
Erik Linask 4:55
And how do you see Vectors 2019 pushing you forward into 2020?
Jayson Jones 5:01
Very good question. I think with TMCs assistance this year, and management, this event is probably going to really blow up. We see this event probably doubling next year. So we’re looking at about what 350 attendees this year going to 750. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem next year. So with that, we’re glad that you guys are here helping us because there is no possible way we’d be able to manage the whole thing ourselves.
Erik Linask 5:29
Well, thanks, Jayson. Thanks for including us and having us here. And we certainly look forward to helping you enjoy some more growth in the future.
Jayson Jones 5:36
It’s been my pleasure. Thank you for the time