Day 2 of the ChannelNext East conference in Saint‑Sauveur, Que., featured a strong roster of industry experts delivering insights on building a sales culture, preparing for cyber incidents, maximizing business valuation, modern governance, and understanding “misaligned currency”, which is a concept that has nothing to do with money.
Building a Strong Sales Culture
The day opened with former channel partner Andrew Leith, now a neuro‑inclusivity advocate and certified revenue and leadership coach outlining the cultural gaps that quietly erode sales performance.
“Sales culture is built on the three Ps: People, Process, and Product and there are gaps in all three that can lead to revenue leakage,” he told the audience at the Manoir Saint‑Sauveur hotel and conference center.
He highlighted how talent, activities, and effort can deteriorate when leaders fail to set clear expectations and accountability. Leith emphasized the intersection between well‑being and revenue, warning that neglecting this connection can create what corporations call the “meat grinder.”
“People need to feel they are part of something bigger because something they truly want to be part of,” he added.
Preparing for a Cyber Incident
Channel partners from across the greater Montreal area heard from a stacked panel of experts specializing in cyber incident response.
Panelists included Yannick Thibodeau (Groupe ISM), Jacques Sauvé (Trilogiam), Sébastien Lefond (Lussier), Andy Larin (AllCare IT), and Eric Parent (Eva Technologies).
The group stressed that tabletop preparation is essential before a breach, offering strategies for restoring business operations and conducting legal forensics after a cybersecurity attack.
Their message was clear: incident response cannot be improvised; it has to be rehearsed.
Understanding Your Why
Former My Blue Umbrella founder and CEO Michael Contento took the stage to share updated strategies for maximizing business valuation for MSPs. For Contento, everything starts with one question: “What is your why?”
He explained that MSP leaders must understand the reasons behind selling or scaling whether it’s because of retirement, burnout, growth barriers, or acquisition challenges.
One of his strongest takeaways: clean up messy books early. Buyers want clean, transparent, defensible financials especially your general ledger and EBITDA.
“This is about engineering your business for value long before you plan to sell through clarity, clean financials, scalable systems, and strong intangible capital,” he said.
The Governance Pivot
One of the industry’s rising CISO voices, Gigi Agassini of GA Advisory, addressed one of cybersecurity’s most pressing challenges: governance.
Agassini told the audience that governance must shift from “compliance paperwork” to “real‑time operational oversight.” Traditional governance that features policies, checklists, and annual audits are no longer keeping pace with modern threats.
Her message: organizations must move from static governance to living governance that continuously monitors, adapts, and enforces controls.
Misaligned Currency
The final expert of Day 2 delivered one of the conference’s most impactful sessions.
Glynis Devine, CSP and Chief Empowerment Officer at She‑Suite Leaders, explained that MSPs and channel partners operate using internal “currencies”, which are the values that drive decisions.
When these currencies are misaligned with one’s work or leadership style, people lose energy, clarity, and effectiveness.
Devine described currency as a metaphor for core motivators such as:
-autonomy
-connection
-mastery
-impact
-recognition
-stability
Teams perform better when they understand each other’s currencies, leading to stronger communication, fewer misunderstandings, and more effective collaboration.
“It’s not about changing people and more about aligning roles and expectations with what drives them,” she said.
