Sennheiser celebrates rapid growth in 2015 with channel success and multiple awards

Marlow, United Kingdom, 9th December 2015– Sennheiser, a leading provider of premium headsets and speakerphone solutions, celebrates an eventful 2015 by winning Best End Point or Device award for PRESENCE™ Bluetooth headset at Comms National Awards 2015. In a year when it also celebrated its 70th anniversary, Sennheiser’s Contact Centre and Office (CC&O) segment continued to demonstrate sustained growth and support for its channel partners.

Investment and growth

Sennheiser CC&O has made significant investment in its UK sales operations over the past year and this has been reflected by figures over the last five years that significantly exceeded the market growth rate. According to a recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan*, global contact centre and office headset sales are expected to follow a smooth growth curve with compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 11.7 percent in terms of revenue for the 2014-2021 time period. Unified communications (UC) headset sales continued to grow over the past year, representing 36.4 percent of total CC&O headset revenue.

Channel support

Sennheiser has achieved this by establishing a proactive end-user marketing campaign for its channel-only policy, which includes advertising, PR, exhibitions and direct marketing to generate leads, allowing Sennheiser CC&O to actively drive sales to its partners. The last year has seen the introduction of a Global Account Team, who aid channel partners in winning global deals, and significant investment in its partner portal “The Blue Space”. This comprehensive resource provides distributors and resellers with a wide range of sales and marketing materials and support, including images, fact sheets, brochures, videos and press releases, alongside tools such as the Sennheiser Headset Selector. It’s an advantage that allows partners to showcase the premium quality of Sennheiser products when selling to customers.

In order to maintain high distribution standards, Sennheiser’s Selective Distribution Agreement ensures that only authorised Sennheiser partners and distributors will benefit from the strong Sennheiser brand awareness, and that customers will receive a consistently excellent quality of service. Branded “Compass 2013”, this seal of quality is awarded to authorised partners to use in advertising and marketing support, allowing them to differentiate from the competition and benefit from Sennheiser’s full range of channel support, training and resources.

Sennheiser continues to add expertise as it grows and has further increased support with a dedicated corporate accounts team, who are generating around 70% of business and passing that back to resellers in the form of “hot leads”. This is another key differentiator, and proven to be a vital tool in boosting reseller approval with customers able to see the potential impact of a partnership first-hand. Strategic appointment of key staff includes the most recent recruitment of a new Corporate Sales Manager for the South West. This role typifies Sennheiser’s ambitions and allows the company to further expand and support a rapidly growing client base, increasing its footprint on this industry and developing new routes to market.

Awards and Nominations

Sennheiser was credited with a number of award wins and nominations in 2015, celebrating its class-leading product range, its unrivalled channel support and the success of its staff. This includes:

  • WINNER – Best End Point or Device, Comms National Awards 2015, PRESENCE™ Bluetooth headset
  • WINNER – Excellent Product Design, German Design Awards 2016, Speakerphone SP10/20
  • WINNER – Mobile Devices Vendor of the Year, CRN awards 2015
  • FINALIST – Service and Support, PCR awards 2015
  • FINALIST – Most Innovative Channel Product (hardware), Comms Business Awards 2015, PRESENCE™ Bluetooth headset
  • FINALIST – PCR Woman of the year, Jane Craven, Director of Sales – Sennheiser UK

Case studies

Just a small selection of the clients Sennheiser has secured in 2015

In June 2015, Sennheiser was chosen by the Environment Agency as sole provider of its headsets and speakerphone equipment in a major revision of its telephony systems. A number of headsets and speakerphones were being rolled out across the agency as part of a refit of the organisation designed to improve quality and reduce costs. Suppliers underwent rigorous evaluation, and Sennheiser was chosen due to a range of benefits including comfort, long-lasting operation and importantly its strong adherence to environmental factors.

In February 2015 Sennheiser was chosen by Wiltshire Police Force to supply 250 headsets for use in its emergency and non-emergency communications centres. Due to the important nature of their work, the new headsets needed to be of premium quality, offer effective noise reduction and be capable of wireless operation to allow staff to move around freely as well as delivering all-day use.

Testimonials from channel partners

“We’ve made good use of the Blue Space portal over the last 12 months and it has been invaluable, and a big help to us in securing a number of new customers”

Angela Casey, Purchasing Manager, Media Comm

“Where Sennheiser stands out for us is an unbeatable combination of superb account management and support and a portfolio of products that have instant appeal. This has helped us to make major strides over the last year and declare a 66% growth Q1 2014 compared to Q1 2015, along with a number of new customers”

Nana Haizel, Product Manager, Insight

“Sennheiser’s excellent incentive scheme and range of support, both in terms of personnel and resources, is what helps them stand out from the crowd. Two years ago Sennheiser was 30% of my business, it’s now almost 70%”

Jason Begbie, MD of Duplex Corporate Communications

“The Environment Agency had stringent criteria in place to determine the best partner, and conducted extensive tests on the products they would use. So it’s great credit to Sennheiser that they are able to provide such a premium quality portfolio and maintain such comprehensive and detailed reseller support.”

Mark Morris, UC and Contact Centre Sales Specialist at Vodafone, a Sennheiser reseller who secured a large contract with the Environment Agency

“We needed a strategic partner going forwards, and were keen to equip each of a multitude of areas with the most suitable equipment. We found that in key areas Sennheiser came out on top, often by a fair margin. It proved to us that it could be relied upon for both support and advice and a consistent, high product standard across the board.”

Ben Thomas, Project Manager for the Environment Agency

*Analysis of the Global Contact Center and Office Headset Market, 2015

[ENDS]

About Sennheiser

Audio specialist Sennheiser is one of the world's leading manufacturers of headphones, microphones and wireless transmission systems. Based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, Sennheiser operates its own production facilities in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is active in more than 50 countries. With 18 sales subsidiaries and long-established trading partners, the company supplies innovative products and cutting-edge audio solutions that are optimally tailored to its customers' needs. Sennheiser is a family-owned company that was founded in 1945 and which today has 2,700 employees around the world that share a passion for audio technology. Since 2013, Sennheiser has been managed by Daniel Sennheiser and Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, the third generation of the family to run the company. As part of the Sennheiser Group, the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S specialises in wireless and wired headsets and speakerphones for contact centres, offices and Unified Communications environments as well as headsets for gaming and mobile devices. In 2014, the Sennheiser Group had sales totalling €635 million.

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