Channel Sales
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Last month I challenged each of you to complete a brief 'self-audit' on your partner planning efforts. You might recall I challenged to you answer a set of key questions about partner planning process, consistency, scope and outcomes, and the impact of this on partner trust. Many thanks to those of you completed this as an on-line survey; we can gain some real insight from the survey results.
Partnering relationships are critical to our business. They can take the form of joint ventures or strategic alliances, selling through distributor partners or partnering with your suppliers/vendors. The more effective we are in building these relationships on a personal level, the more benefit we will get from the partnership, particularly in growing the business. Follow these communication tips to get more out of your partnerships.
One common element of most channel programs is the availability of Market Development Funding (MDF), sometimes called Joint Marketing Fund (JMF) or Co-Op Funding; but many MDF requests are not approved because they lack simple metrics or an expected return on investment.
Channel Enablers notes with interest the success of a major systems vendor who established a dedicated channel sales and marketing team focused on influencer partners. It’s a real-life demonstration of channels best practice execution that sets a benchmark for other vendors.
Trust is essential in building high performing channels. Resellers that have a high degree of trust in their manufacturer partners contribute 78% more sales than those with a lower level of trust. Geoff Wright looks at the relationship between partner planning, trust and revenue success.
Your channel partners have a unique view of your business and your markets - they have insight into your customers, your competitors and your own organization's workings. They see and know things about your organization and your market that you don't.
So how well are you tapping THEIR knowledge to improve YOUR business?
In this 13 minute video Senior Consultant Gene Blackley describes how properly constructed and run Partner Advisory Boards can provide valuable feedback and market insight.
Gleaning insights from partners to help shape go-to-market strategies reaches beyond collecting partner feedback. It requires a targeted approach to build an influential forum between a vendor and its partners where the forum's purpose is to strengthen the relationship between the company and its customers through the channel. With this purpose in mind, the idea of the Partner Advisory Council is born.
If Sun Tzu, the often quoted ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher, had been a sales leader running a multi-channel organization he most certainly would have made some key observations and analyzed best practices. What would he have to say about partner plans, incentives and strategies and about competitive victories and defeats?
Brazil is now the sixth largest economy in the world and it is only one of several fast growing countries in the Latin America Region. Channel Enablers V.P Philip Moon speaks with Arnie Perez, CEO and Founder of Blitz Sales and Marketing, about what vendors need to do to succeed through indirect channels in the region.