In today's competitive marketplace, your channel partners can be your most valuable asset—or your biggest blind spot. If you're not regularly engaging with them, you might be leaving significant revenue on the table.

Understanding Partner Goals

Channel partners aim for four key outcomes: more deals, bigger deals, faster deals, and margin expansion. These goals aren’t just nice to have; they’re essential for both your partners and your business.

The Challenge of Mindshare

One of the greatest challenges in managing channel partners is ensuring that your products remain a priority among many competing offerings. Your partners are often inundated with choices, so how do you keep your brand top of mind?

Innovative Solutions:

Create Value Beyond the Product: Consider unique selling propositions such as exclusive access to premium inventory or superior customer support that can make your offerings more attractive.
Leverage Technology: Tools like gamification (Program Compliance Manager) can motivate partners by rewarding high performers, but tailor these strategies to fit the partner's culture and market.

Fostering Communication

Regular communication can prevent partners from feeling neglected and promote a collaborative relationship. Too often, partners are left to seek out updates and resources.

Action Steps:

Establish a Routine: Schedule consistent check-ins to share updates and gather feedback. This responsibility should largely fall on CAMs if you have any.
Invest in your Partner Portal: A functional and customized platform where partners can access resources and communicate can streamline interactions and enhance engagement.

Gaining Control Over the Sales Process

When channel partners handle your products, you may lose some control over how they’re sold. This can lead to inconsistent messaging and customer experiences.

Best Practices:

Define Clear Guidelines: Provide a comprehensive sales playbook that outlines key messaging and strategies.
Ongoing Training: Regular trainings ensure that partners are equipped with the latest information and techniques to sell effectively.

Enhancing Visibility

Understanding how your partners engage with your products is crucial for optimizing your approach. Yet, manual tracking can be labor-intensive and prone to inaccuracies.

Implementing Solutions:

Automate CRM or PRM Systems: These tools can automate data collection and enhance the experience for both you and your partners, as well as provide insights into partner performance helping you adjust strategies accordingly.
Monitor Engagement Metrics: Regularly analyze which resources partners use and how they sell your products to identify trends and areas for improvement.

Providing Adequate Training and Resources

Your partners need more than just product information; they require ongoing support and access to effective sales materials.

Recommendations:

Comprehensive Onboarding Programs: Develop training modules that are accessible anytime, allowing partners to learn at their own pace.
Create a Library of Resources: Make sales collateral easily accessible, ensuring partners have the right tools at their fingertips when they need them.

Addressing Resource Limitations

If your internal teams are already stretched, it can be challenging to support your channel partners effectively.

Strategic Approaches:

Repurpose Existing Content: Tailor current materials for partner use, making it easier to support their efforts without starting from scratch.
Use Third Party Resources: Using services like the ones offered by DWG Channel Services can help you follow best practices and enhance your partner experience when you don’t have the resources or know-how to do it yourself.

Conclusion

To unlock the full potential of your channel partner programs, proactive engagement is essential. It’s not enough to simply provide resources and hope for the best; you need to build meaningful relationships that foster collaboration and drive results. By understanding your partners' goals and challenges, you can tailor your approach to meet their specific needs, ensuring that they feel valued and supported. By adopting these strategies, you’ll create a loyal network of partners committed to driving mutual success, ultimately transforming your channel programs into a powerful engine for growth. The time to act is now—don’t wait for your partners to reach out. Take the initiative and watch your revenue soar.

Source: https://www.bigtincan.com/resources/6-channel-partner-sales-problems-and-solutions/

Maximizing Revenue Through Effective Channel Partner Management