Two weeks ago, while in Las Vegas for VMware Partner Exchange, I was arranging a dinner with a vendor and some of my colleagues. I knew the restaurant I wanted to go to and I went to their website to get some basic information. The website was designed beautifully, but finding the basic information I was looking for  was a frustrating  experience and I gave up.   This experience was a great reminder  about how finding the right information you need when you need it is crucial to how companies do business with customers.

The entire sales process, from initiating a conversation with a prospect to closing a deal, is always easier when the services and resources are readily accessible-where you need them, when you need them, in the format you need them in. So, when we started hearing buzz about a toolbar that one of our Partner Business Managers had created to do just that-we pounced.  

The VMware Partner Network toolbar started as an easy navigation destination for our partners who needed quick links to pages within Partner Central for deal registration, and contact information for their VMware renewals representative.  The toolbar went viral – over 1000 users in 18 countries – and before we knew it global partners and VMware channel teams were asking us to add more links and develop local version toolbars. So, we did.

Today, the newly updated VMware Partner Network toolbar gives you access to sales, marketing and technical tools, support contacts and quick links to Partner Central pages. The toolbar is available in seven languages and tools and links are updated automatically by the global VMware Partner Team.

When you download the toolbar you gain quick access to:

• Key sales, marketing & technical tools available on VMware.com & Partner Central-TCO Calculator, Prospecting Day, Customer Success Story, SnS T&C 
• Access to critical sales, support and marketing phone numbers by geographic region- Access to Distribution, Partner Support Center, Partner Marketing Bureau
• Top Partner Central destinations  to perform daily tasks  - Opportunity Registration, Promotions, Renewals Portal
• Key VMware & VMware Partner Network Twitter feeds

Get started now –download only takes a few of minutes! 

-Sandra Glaser Cheek
Director, Global Partner Communications