Channel managers often feel they have a most challenging and frustrating job. They are judged on the performance of their partners, which makes their personal success highly dependent on their leadership and coaching skills and their ability to influence partners over whom they have little or no positional authority. This is a similar challenge to that faced by sales managers all around the world whose success is dependent on the performance of their sales team. Lessons learned from Miller Heiman’s research into sales managers in world-class sales organizations apply to world-class channel managers too.
Let's not forget, the reason companies go to market through channels is to reach more customers, with a more competitive whole-product solution, at a lower overall cost. Channels always have been, and always should be, about the customer because it is the end-user customer who pays for everything!
Every year, Miller Heiman enlists the feedback of sales professionals from around the world to identify the best practices that are most effective in generating real results for sales organizations. Philip Moon looks at how some lessons from the 2012 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study provide insight on how to improve partner sales productivity.
In a world where customers are moving toward managed services and away from hardware and software purchases, which of your partners will make the transition? What role do vendors play in enabling the channel to make the transition to selling managed services? For those partners that can't or won't make the transition, how will you recruit qualified partners to fill the gap?
Anna Johnson of CCI sat down with Craig Schlagbaum, Comcast Business Class Vice President of Indirect Channels, to discuss a new model of recruiting and enabling the channel to take advantage of the opportunity of a recurring revenue service.
Following Gartner's recent report on what it sees as the 5 key trends that will shape cloud computing strategies between now and 2015, Ian Moyse provides his perspective on the impact cloud computing will have on an SME audience as the cloud market and the cloud channel matures.
Miller Heiman has announced the acquisition of inside sales and customer service experts Impact Learning Systems of San Louis Obispo, California.
Impact Learning Systems is a training and consulting company specializing in skills-based programs to improve communications between front-line employees, customers, and partners in the telephone sales, customer service and field-service sectors.
The move to the cloud is just the latest in a series of calls from high-tech vendors, for channel partners to transform themselves to new business models. In this brief video-blog, Philip Moon looks at three reasons why such change initiatives often take so long to produce benefits and three practical steps to attain partner transformation and investment.
Miller Heiman Sales Performance Summit
In May 2012 Channel Enablers President Braham Shnider spoke to an audience of sales executives at Miller Heiman's annual Sales Performance Summit held in Sydney Australia.
The event was focused on sharing best practices and delving into the latest developments and research findings which contribute to drive increased sales performance. Braham's topic was how to professionally develop your channel sales team to win an unfair share of partner investment and channel revenue. In this 40 minute presentation Braham shares channel sales best practice research findings and customer case studies.
As solutions migrate to the cloud resellers worry about account control, falling margins and differentiation. Cloud CRM is growing rapidly and new channels are emerging to cover the market. Cloud CRM might provide an opportunity for partners seeking new margin opportunities, but Ian Moyse asks if CRM is ready for broad line distribution.
Channel Enablers is seeking an experienced telephone based business development specialist based in North America.
The successful candidate will be responsible for demand generation; creating opportunities at the top of the Channel Enablers sales funnel through telesales and marketing activities. This is a great opportunity for an experienced, self-motivated sales person who has excellent executive level telephone sales skills and who wants to develop in the role to become responsible for the entire marketing pipeline generation process.