In our “Questions” series of articles, we help the Click community become better acquainted by profiling customers, partners and team members.
What attracted you to the role of Senior Vice President of Partner Channel at Click?
Two things. Firstly, the vision of the leadership team that I am now part of. The opportunity to join an organization that knows where it wants to go, and to be an integral part of that journey, was one that I couldn’t refuse!
Secondly, personal growth. Here at Click, we sell Marketing Tech solutions through a global partner channel. I have a background in marketing, and I love working with colleagues, partners, and customers that span the world. I am constantly learning when I talk with people that look, speak, and think differently than I do. Once you’ve had the privilege of working in the world, it’s really hard to be constrained by the boundaries of any one place.
What are your key priorities for the first six months in this position?
Click has 14 successful years building strong channel partnerships, and my responsibility is to ensure that those relationships deliver the financial and business goals for both our partners and Click. My priority is getting out there and talking with our partners to 1. gain insights into their organizations and 2. understand how Click can help them build their business. I’ve set a personal goal of “90 in 90” – meet our top 90 partners in my first 90 days. I then will spend the next 90 days using what I learn to power positive changes to the way Click interacts with and supports its partners. This solid foundation will fuel the significant growth expectations for Click and our partners as we enter 2025.
If you could have lunch with any business leader, past or present, who would it be and why?
Easy. Steve Jobs. He accomplished what so many of us in technology strive to do- provide increasingly advancing, life-changing technology solutions in an increasingly effortless way. When each of us picked up that pearly white device with a simple button surrounded by a trackwheel, I don’t think we could have imagined how powerful that device would become. I’d love to learn what inspired him to favor simplicity and the customer experience and avoid the pitfalls of over-engineering and feature-bloat. And then I’d like to understand how he stuck to that ideology amidst what I’m sure was daily pressure to “add more.”
What’s your favorite book or podcast on business or leadership?
I spend most of my day dealing directly with business topics- which makes my left brain happy. Feeling a little too-left brained from the working day, I tend to not be a big reader or listener of business books or podcasts. Instead, my right brain fights back and leads me to things like Greek mythology and Shakespeare. I don’t have to be reading about business to be thinking about business, so I find inspiration and creative solutions to business situations from these less obvious sources. Recently I was listening to a great audiobook called “Mythos” by Steven Fry and found myself thinking things like… ”Would that be flying too close to the sun?”, “Where’s the Achilles heel in this project” or “How can we turn this Tempest into an opportunity to innovate?”
How would you describe your strategy for building and maintaining strong relationships with Click Partners?
People do business with people that they like and businesses that they trust. But they also want to do business with partners that deliver results! Each of those feeds and supports the other. My partner team must be constantly communicating with their partners, becoming their trusted resource to help identify opportunities and close deals. Additionally, we want our partners to feel like they are an extension of Click, so we want to listen. Our fantastic product and development team innovates our offerings to meet the evolving needs of our customers, and feedback from our partners is key to continuing to deliver what the market wants.
What’s one thing about you that might surprise your colleagues?
I’ve had a very successful career in Sales & Marketing, but in school I studied Accounting and English. As marketing has become ever more automated and technical, analytics have become increasingly important across the industry. So, looking back, I think it was a good plan!
How do you stay updated with the latest trends in the industry?
I think it’s important to not only stay up to date with the latest technology trends, but also trends for business users of the technology. The best way I’ve found to stay close to the business trends is by staying close to the end users. At Click, that means keeping up with the challenges and requirements of the marketers that use our products. That informs me about the problems for which we could provide solutions. As far as the technology is concerned, I have had subscriptions to Wired and Fast Company for decades. I’ve found those publications keep me in the know while being really fun to read.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received in your career?
Change is the only constant. Embrace it.
Connect with Frank on LinkedIn!
Check out our CEO’s 5 Questions blog here!
