November 19, 2021
At iProov, we value our partners and are deeply committed to our joint success. To ensure that we provide you with all of the support you need, we’re expanding our partner team.
This month we introduce you to Darren Hughes, Sachin Masade and Henry Walsh. Together they are responsible for running our partner program, onboarding partners, providing partner sales enablement and training, and running joint marketing activity.
Darren Hughes, Product Marketing Manager at iProov
Darren, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’ve spent over 25 years in marketing, business development, and partnership management. Before that I actually always wanted to be a policeman! I think I just have a strong sense of curiosity and problem solving, so it appealed to me. As part of the iProov partner team, I’ve got different problems to solve: essentially how do I work with the partner to best enable their teams? How can we tell a shared and mutually beneficial story? And what is the most effective way to engage the partner teams so they clearly understand our key market differentiators? If I can get the message across clearly then they are well placed to answer detailed questions on our technology themselves and ultimately sell effectively.
When I’m not working you’ll normally find me on the river bank. Whether that’s carp fishing in summer or pike fishing in winter, being alone with my thoughts gives me an opportunity to unwind but also just think. It’s where most of my best ideas come from!
What does your role as Product Marketing Manager involve?
I’m constantly thinking about how iProov’s key differentiators can help each partner individually. It’s important not to overwhelm partners, but to give enough to make their interactions and experience with iProov easy.
iProov technology is about solving a problem, so really each product is a story in itself. I tell those stories to our partners, explaining why iProov works the way it does. For example: why do we have face abstraction? Why do we use a controlled illumination of colors on the user’s face? There’s a reason behind it all. When I explain these things as a story, it all seems to fit into place. When people “get” what we’re doing and it clicks, it’s rewarding.
At the end of the day, I’m showing our partners why they can trust us with their business. And in doing so I get to see how collaboratively we are combining some of the best cutting-edge products and technologies in our industry. Our partners are uniquely brilliant and it’s exciting to see how together we are solving many problems.
What do you have planned for our partners moving forward? What can they expect?
One thing I’m quite excited to talk about is our upcoming Partner Hub. This will be a dedicated partner area online where partners can get access to all of our resources, messaging, and collateral.
This self-serve portal will provide brochures, info sheets, and regular marketing collateral but also easy access to ask questions and request more support. Essentially this joint area is where we can collaborate and make sure the partner has the right type of material, meaning they can answer any question they get, or know how best to present iProov technologies themselves. All the essential iProov material will always be at their fingertips, which just makes everyone’s life as easy as possible.
And of course, should the partner need something unique or bespoke then I can work with them to ensure they are fully supported.
Sachin Masade, Channel Marketing Manager at iProov
Sachin, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I have spent the last 10 years working with channel partners across emerging markets. Before joining iProov, I worked for Xerox where I was involved in the launch of their new partner portals.
On a more personal note, I started my career in India, which is where I grew up, then I went to the USA before settling in the UK. I actually always wanted to be a professor and teach postgraduates! In my free time, I keep up with all things cricket…I’m a bit of a superfan!
What does your role as Channel Marketing Manager involve?
Day-to-day, I’m constantly thinking about and planning how iProov can best communicate with our amazing partners. I’m creating marketing and communication plans to drive momentum with our networks, creating engaging content that can be shared with our partners and supporting the wider marketing team with partner onboarding and enablement.
As a relatively new member of the iProov team, a lot of my work is still researching. When I truly understand an organization’s unique challenges and their individual needs, I can establish exactly where iProov can help them best. What are the problems we’re facing in the industry and how are we best posed to solve them together?
My main project at the moment is creating the iProov partner newsletter—which is likely where you found this blog post! Moving forward, the newsletter will act as a hub: a place where our partners can find out about new content and keep up to date on iProov product releases and updates. Please continue to look out for our partner newsletter at the end of every month.
What do you have planned for our partners moving forward? What can they expect?
Next year—COVID allowing—I’m really looking forward to meeting a lot of our partners in-person to build better relationships and closer methods of working together. I’d like to set up regular catch-ups, and also plan for a partner summit.
A lot of this is in view of running shared campaigns. It’s going to be a huge focus for me and for iProov moving forward. This might include shared whitepapers or joint marketing campaigns. Part of this will be supplying those partners with the messaging, co-branded resources and graphics. It’s all about making partners’ lives easier to meet our shared goals.
Henry Walsh, Partnership Manager at iProov
Henry, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I studied History at Cambridge and joined iProov straight after I graduated in 2019. It’s been an amazing place to start and develop my career.
I was drawn towards partnerships because it involves fitting pieces of a puzzle together. I enjoy running discovery calls and finding out exactly what our partners need so I can fit iProov’s products to those needs.
I was a rower at uni and I think those early mornings prepared me well for working with our partners in Asia-Pacific! I’m also a big scuba diving guy and am looking forward to getting back into that more seriously post-pandemic, possibly on some APAC visits!
What does your role as Partnership Manager involve?
While Darren and Sachin all work within the Product & Marketing team, I sit on the Revenue side of the business. This means that I’m usually involved with our partners at the earliest stage of the relationship: discovery calls, for instance, where I establish which iProov product they’ll benefit from most and why.
I also take care of partner onboarding. I connect people on the partner side with their relevant counterpoints on the iProov side and set out the processes that will underpin our relationship. This step is vital in ensuring that the partnership gets off on the strongest footing.
I enjoy my role because the interactions are always collaborative. Working with partners is a really positive experience—I think it’s because we’re doing something immediately mutually beneficial. We know we can help each other and my job is to make that as easy as possible from day one.
Also, I love that my job has a global remit. That means that it’s varied and at times unconventional: sometimes early mornings talking to Australia and New Zealand, sometimes late evenings speaking to American partners. But it’s exhilarating to work across those geographies and cultures at this stage in my career—and I always had something to do during lockdown!
What do you have planned for our partners moving forward? What can they expect?
As mentioned by my colleagues, we’re building out a more concrete partnership system with a focus on co-marketing. I’m excited that the program is being strengthened across the business. There will be more updates soon in the upcoming newsletters.
We’ll continue to be flexible and go the extra mile when working with our partners. We’re all very easy to get along with in the Partner team… and if you’re not a partner yet, then I’ll be your first point of contact!
If you’re curious about partnering with iProov, then you can submit a partnership enquiry here. Henry will be happy to take you through a discovery call.
