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Who joined us in Vegas this March? And what did they think? Access the post-show report >>
Craig: “Alright, hey again everyone. Channel features editorial director Craig Galbraith. We are looking ahead to the Channel Partners Conference and Expo and MSP Summit just over two weeks away now. I'll get a chance today to talk with Jamie Menor.”
“Jamie is CEO of Cloudli Communications, a business communications provider I've been hearing quite a bit about lately, and also a sponsor and exhibitor at Channel Partners this year. Jamie, how are you?”
Jamie: “I'm good, Craig. Thanks for having me today.”
Craig: “Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for joining me and for Cloudli Communication’s support of our event. You bring a lot of channel knowledge and experience into your new role here as CEO at Cloudli. What was it that attracted you to the company?”
Jamie: “You know, [we’re] in an industry where the reputation of UCaaS providers is not fantastic, we both know that. And there are a lot of UCaaS providers for partners and customers to choose from. I wanted to be able to go to a place, and I've been in the industry going on 24 years now, where you could kind of bring together the best of everything into one company.”
“And as I looked at Cloudli, it is several different acquisitions brought in together, but never really truly integrated. And it's small enough that we can start to mold this into what we want it to be.”
“And as I started doing my investigation into the company, looking at the nimbleness that we have within the organization itself, we are able to now form this into what a partner and a customer would describe as the ideal UCaaS provider.”
“But as I've come into it and got to know it a little bit more, it's more than just that. And we can touch on that later, and people can stop by the booth and ask, but there's more to this little company than just UCaaS. And so that was very intriguing to me.”
Craig: “Yeah, so you mentioned acquisitions. Let's talk about how Cloudli announced a unified channel program with the ConnectMeVoice brand that you bought back in 2022. Maybe give our audience a little bit of a background on that acquisition and what that new channel program offers your partners.”
Jamie: “Yeah, I think, you know, if you look into Cloudli, it's predominantly a Canadian company. And so the ConnectMeVoice acquisition allowed Cloudli an entrance into the lower 48 states. But again, as I got to do my research into the company, the CNV platform is a great wholesale platform.”
“And there's not many UCaaS providers out there today that do both retail and wholesale. And so as we look at the different platforms that we have, the acquisitions that were done, we can now start to really form our strategy around having a good business to business go to market strategy and route to market as well as wholesale.”
“It's got a great portal, great billing system, just a great platform. And so the ConnectMeVoice again allows us into the lower 48, but it also allows us to really penetrate the wholesale market.”
Craig: “So Jamie, what I guess I'd ask, what does Cloudli’s ideal partner look like? What are you looking for?”
Jamie: “Yeah, that's a good question. In our industry today, a lot of our competitors are focused on the TSBs. And that's great. That fits their model. But for us, we find that the small business is being alienated, at a rapid rate.”
“Everyone's going up market. They're talking about customer acquisition costs. And what they've done is they failed to look at this small business market and focus on how to provide good service to them.”
“And that goes beyond just the actual service you're providing, but how you provide it. How do you lead the customer? How do you make the customer feel when you're done? We're looking for partners that are focused on how that customer feels when they're done.”
“The partner ultimately owns a relationship and has a reputation to maintain. And we want to make that partner look fantastic. We want to make that partner look good for recommending us. We treat it like they are our customer.”
“But we're in partnership with that partner. So the ideal partner allows us to be a part of that process. Not just hand it off to us and expect to just earn money as a result, but that we sell the customer together and it's a true partnership.”
Craig: “Yeah, I'm sure they like to hear that. So what messages might you have for prospective partners who stop by the Cloudli booth or otherwise interact with you at the show.”
Jamie: “Yeah, so if you're that partner, if you're the one that really owns the relationship with a customer, you truly are an advisor to your customer. We're your guys. You know, if you ask us who Cloudli is today, I would say that Cloudli is a boutique, UCAAS provider that's got several different options for several different types of customers and partners.”
“But if you ask me who Cloudli is going to be tomorrow and tomorrow being a pretty rapid process for us, we're going to be the premier managed service provider for the small business. We're going to have our cloud communications.”
“We're going to have our FAST product, which is really cool for the healthcare verticals, the school verticals - we talk more about that at Channel Partners. As well as our alerts and notification products. They are great for municipalities, school systems and allows us something that our competitors don’t do when you combine it with UCAAS.”
“And then we’re going to be adding all the managed service products: managed security, managed wifi, access. So that, built on the Cloudli platform itself, with the foundation of innovation.”
“Great support. My foundation in this industry came from Momentum, when they were very small and noone knew who they were. We built that ‘white glove’ treatment and we’re going to bring that here; on-site implementations, and great support. When you call us, you’re going to get us. A vast partner ecosystem that is focussed on the right partners. And then our people within the company. You’ll see us adding some really great people. So, that’s who Cloudli becomes, and if you stop by our booth that’s what you’re going to be getting. You’re going to be getting to meet some of those new people.”
Craig: “Exciting opportunities, for sure. Jamie, thanks for your time today and thanks for Cloudli’s ongoing support of Channel Partners Conference and Expo.”
Jamie: “You bet, Craig, and I appreciate it again - thank you.”