Channel Enablers Partner Manager Resource Center

About a decade ago (even earlier for some), the technology channel went through a transformation. Channel partners that had been resellers transitioned to new business models that put them in the services business. It was a transformation of necessity. Margins available to pure resellers had eroded to such a point that there just wasn't enough margin and cash flow for a reseller to survive without some fundamental change to its business. Are we in a similar period of evolution and change today?

 Successful channel management is built on effectively and efficiently repeating and automating process.  Regular reporting, communication and meetings keep all parties informed and committed to task, and trust is built by predicably and reliably repeating the basics over and over again.  Consistent application of programs and resources demonstrates fairness, and plans and processes must be regularly reviewed to be effective.  In short, the mundane is a critical part of successful channel management.

As we enter a new year, many channel managers and sales people are thinking about the new quota that they have received. Regardless of how last year went, 2012 is probably going to require some hard work and new ways of doing things to achieve a new level of sales success. How in the world will you achieve that number? One thing is for certain, some new tactics and approaches are going to be necessary for 2012 to be a success!

A key success factor for channel managers is knowing how, and with whom, to spend precious time and resources.  As with all sales jobs, there is rarely a shortage of opportunities.  Most of the time the issue is identifying which opportunities are worth investing more of the limited resources we have available to us.  Good selling is very much about prioritizing.  The problem is that some partners are experts at sharing a wealth of seemingly great ideas.  Beware of the partner that shares too many great ideas!  They may be a deceiver!

It's a common complaint, "Partners don't help execute the partner plan."  It's a source of frustration for many reasons. Someone spent a fair amount of time documenting a plan and when the plan isn't executed, that effort seems wasted.  There seem to be opportunities to grow business for both parties, but those opportunities are being missed.  And frankly, when the plan doesn't get executed, some trust is lost because the partner doesn't believe such plans can work and the vendor doesn't believe that the partner will do anything that is put in a plan anyway.

Channel management is the responsibility of Channel Account Managers.  The CAM is working with channel partners every day and is right in the thick of things when it comes to influencing partner outcomes, selecting partners, enabling partners, measuring partners and leveraging partner programs to drive partner behaviors and results.  But if a vendor sees channel management as the sole responsibility of CAMs, channels will fail in that organization!

There is quite a bit of interest in the channel related to "Return on Working Capital" (ROWC) or "Return on Invested Captial" (ROIC).  This is particularly true of distributors.  In reality, as individuals and business professionals we are all interested in maximizing our return on working capital.  After all, we have only a limited amount of cash.  With that cash we have to buy some goods and services, pay bills and, hopefully, make some worthwhile investments with whatever is left over.

IT vendors spend millions of dollars enabling partners.  I'm certain that each time a vendor pours money into enabling its channel partners there are plenty of good reasons to do so. I am not naive enough to believe that reputable IT companies foolishly spend money on anything (enabling partners or anything else) without asking first what result they are seeking.  But when I stand back and look at the big picture of how money is spent and what results it produces, it appears that all too often there is not a systematic approach to deciding how partner enablement spending should be allocated or budgeted.

Business professionals are increasingly required to accomplish tasks through influence.  It is quite common for people in any role to have some of their responsibilty reliant on the quality and quantity of work produced by others.  This is especially true in a channel or alliance environment.  Channel managers must be experts at influence as they are tasked with producing results (sales, customer satisfaction, market penetration, etc.) by leveraging the resources of people and organizations that do not directly report to them and are, therefore, not in their direct control.  For them, and anyone else that needs to accomplish work by influencing the behaviors and activities of others, one thing is certain...understanding is the first step!

The disciplines of Finance and Accounting have been an integral part of corporate operations for a very long time.  Using instruments such as the Income Statement, the Balance Sheet and the Statement of Cash Flows, Finance and Accounting Departments attempt to track, measure project the financial position and health of the organization.  While that function is as important as ever, some of the tools used in the effort may need to be thought of differently, particularly in service-oriented areas such as channel sales.