Chaftftel

Strategy &
Marketiftg
...for the Rest of Us

by Jacquelifte Fraftklift
 The Go Guide for challenges we face in
developing indirect channels. You are ww .
not alone! w. co
m
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Guide Rest of Us 1

I was working for a popular software company at the dawn of the

Internet. The CTO gave a demonstration of the Internet to the entire
company and described thrillingly what would now be possible. The auditorium
was abuzz. The SVP
of Sales pulled me aside afterward, with odd bravado, to let me know that
the channels marketing organization I ran would be at stake in six
months. She explained with confidence that the Internet would supplant
our need for business partners and all things distribution. I remember
thinking
Huh? Whatd I miss?

Six months later, however, I was gainfully employed and the companys thriving indirect
channel was as critical to the business as ever. While the Internet created a new channel
and changed dramatically the way we did business, it did not supplantour business
partnerstrategy. Instead, the Internet added to our opportunities with partners
and required that we make room for new thinking and business practices.

It also added to the complexity, and reinforced why indirect channels is not for the faint
of heart. Put simply: A thriving channel is a business imperative for any company
that wants to scale. In fact, Im hard-pressed to name one billion dollar company that
doesnt use indirect channels. Even Dell has broadened its reach to service providers to
help expand its reach into the corporate market. And, Apple, with its clean, elegant online
and direct store presence (is that a magnet that pulls you in when you walk by?), still
uses resellers across the world to get its product to customers and provide support.
Many com- panies in the B2B technology market, in particular, continue to bring home the
bear with a formidable direct sales force (Oracle, EMC, etc.), but even those behemoths
conceded eventually that they needed additional logistical and services capacity,
especially if they wanted to reach the mid-market. Indirect channels, in other
words, are critical to growth and are here to stay.
So, the point of this book is threefold:

1) To acknowledge the challenges we face in developing indirect

channels (you are not alone!)
2) To accelerate the learning for those confronted with
these challenges (through pragmatic templates and tools)
3) To be the Go To guide for your future reference

While a lot of this information is from direct experience, much is derived from a diverse
base of clients. As a working e-book document, your experiences and insights are critical
to its value. Please feel free to share and keep me honest, as you see fit.

Organizationally, you can jump ahead as needed to the sections that follow:

Nomenclature and Framework.........3 Business Partner Program............19

Channels..............................4 Requirements.......................20
Segments.............................5 Benefits.............................22
Partner Profiles.....................8 Recruitment...........................23
Business Proposition..................11 Enablement/Readiness/Onboarding...25
Company Brand.....................12 Loyalty.................................28
Market Opportunity...............13 Letting Go/Close......................29
Core Solution Fit...................14 About Author/R2M...................30
Return On Investment............18
 First, the Nomenclature and Framework
Raise your hand if youve ever had this conversation at a social gathering:

Well-intentioned Stranger [WIS]: What is your line of work?

You: Oh, I work in the channels group for [insert hot technology company here] WIS: Huhwhat do you do?
You: I find, recruit and help business partners sell our products.
WIS [with head cocked like a dog]: Oh, thats interesting. Well, excuse me, my kids Tweeting me.

The first point about channels nomenclature is that you can give up the notion that you
will ever find the right words to explain to your mother what you do for a living, or
anyone else for that matter.

Every once in awhile you will run into someone who gets it and you can enjoy the secret
handshake, but for now, heres the jargon and how to put it to good use in laying your
chan- nel strategy foundation.

For starters, I will define three key concepts: channels, segments and partner profiles.

Theres a hierarchy of nomenclature that can get confusing, so note the visual along
with the term.
Channels
The term channels can get confusing. Channels, more
often than not, is used in the context of indirect chan-
nels, meaning sales channels other than your direct
sales force. Technically, though, they both represent
routes to market, and should be put in context of one an-
l
other when developing a channels strategy. Whats the
difference?

chDainrneeclts are
straightforward. They
include the product/service providers resources and
assets dedicated to selling and supporting its product and
service, otherwise known as the direct sales force, telesales,
telemarketing, web site, etc.

Indirect channels include business partners and routes to the customer

that leverage resources and assets outside the control and not owned by
the product/service provider. These are commonly referred to as resellers and
solution providers, but include a myriad cast of players (more on that later).
Technically, channels should be considered a holistic term that includes both
direct and indirect channels. More often than not, however, it gets reduced to
meaning indirect channels.

Segments
First, why do we care about channel segments? Qualifying partners into channel segments
allows you to:

Extend and reinforce a common language across the company

Accelerate the recruitment process to find partners

Extend benefits to those partners cost effectively

Channel segments define the bucket in which partners with common

characteristics fall. Segments are defined most easily by the partners business
model, i.e. how they make money. We begin with how a partner makes money
because if you understand that, it will be easier to construct and tailor your
business proposition to the partners that fall into that segment.

How technology partners make money fall typically into three

broad categories:
Hardware
Software
Services
Services can be broken out into two sub-categories as well: Professional Services (higher
margin, consulting-oriented services) and Customer Services (break:fix, etc.). Lets keep
it simple and focus on the three broad categories for now.

At the highest level, channel segment nomenclature often boils down to Resellers
(primar- ily hardware focused) and Solution Providers (primarily software and/or services
focused). As a starting point and for sake of example, you can see how the business
models of these broader channel segments differ from one another:

Percent of Revenue Reseller Solution Provider

Hardware 80% 10%
Software 10% 40%
Services 10% 50%
TOTAL 100% 100%

If you understand this, you will see why one size does not fit all, in terms of what
each channel needs from you to be successful supporting and selling your offering.

If it was only this easy, Id be out of business.

Where it gets messy and confusing is qualifying all the business model
variations and where you draw the boundaries. For instance, its equally important
to identify the profit side of the equation. Software, for example, may not represent the
bulk of the revenue, but may contribute a large share of the companys profits.
Further, a partner
can look like a systems integrator one day, and more like a hardware reseller another day.
Sometimes, partners put software under services, or services may mean wireless band-
width. While complex, the framework enables you to have a dialogue with your partners
and demonstrates that you understand and care about how they make money.

As mentioned, there are multitude of segments and ways to qualify channels. Some of the
other segments that you hear about are listed in this table with the relative business
model focus highlighted. This table is provided as an example and not intended to
represent the absolute picture.
Channel Segment Hardware
Software
Application Service Providers (ASP)
Consultants
Corporate Resellers
Direct Marketers
eTailers
Hardware Integrators
Independent Software Vendors (ISV)
Managed Service Providers (MSP)
Network Integrators
Retail
Service providers
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Software Developers/Providers (Horizontal, Vertical, Custom)
System Integrators (Regional, Global/GSI, Federal)
Wireless Carriers

Primary Secondary Little/No Presence

Whats important in building your channels model is what is relevant to you and your
partners, then exercising the necessary amount of flexibility for exceptions.
 Partner Profiles
Profiling partners within each segment allows you to do a few things better:

Manage your partners as a portfolio enabling you to minimize duplication of resources and manage your risk
Create guidelines for sales and marketing in recruiting the right partners

Fine-tune your business proposition to the partner level

Within channel segments, while partners look similarly based on business model, individual
partners within that segment may vary dramatically, based on:
Target market (enterprise, mid-market, small-medium business [SMB])
Vertical market expertise (health care, education, government, etc.)
Geographic presence/reach (regionalworldwide)
Core competencies & solution differentiation
Routes to market & distribution strategy
Vendor relationships
Revenue/size

Whether you outsource the recruitment effort, or have your channels organization take
on the task, a partner profile will help you qualify fit between your respective
companies.
 Here is a sample partner profile template to tailor for your own use:

SAMPLE PARTNER
PROFILE
Profile Characteristics Fill-in-the-
Category Revenue, # of employees
Blank
Company description
Years in business Emerging, established

Geographic coverage Local, regional, global

Business model Percent of revenue and/or profit driven by

hardware, software, services
Services provided Customer service, professional services, etc.

Technical certifications/expertise Infrastructure (e.g. ITIL), Network (e.g. Cisco), Enterprise

software development (e.g. Microsoft), Security, Database, etc.
Channels to market Direct or indirect (if indirect, which partner types?)

Target market(s) Vertical and/or geographic

Target decision maker(s) Line of business, IT, C-level, etc.

Applications Horizontal and/or vertical

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If you sell through more than one channel segment, as most companies do, you will likely
find it useful, if not essential, to chart your channels in a Channel Blueprint. A Chan-
nel Blueprint is an internal document that allows you to visualize your routes
to market in one place. It can be used to socialize and rationalize your channel
strategy. When you can see all of your channel segments in one place, it sometimes
becomes apparent, blaringly, where you are duplicating market penetration strategies and
where are the holes.

Your Channel Blueprint can be created easily in a worksheet and should be updated
annually. A Channel Blueprint typically starts out small with a select number of rows and
columns, but once stakeholders see the power of their strategy articulated in one place,
the tool can become a lightning rod for initiating dialogue within product
groups and across the sales organization.

Here is a simplified Channel Blueprint sample for your reference.

CHANNEL BLUEPRINT
SAMPL E

Blueprint Telesal Direct Channel Channe Channe

es Sales Segment l l
Category Chann Channel #1 Segment Segment
#2
Channel segment description
Geographic coverage

Business model

Services provided

Channels to market

Target market(s)

Target decision maker(s)

Applications
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Guide Rest of Us 11

Business Proposition
Many companies refer to their product/service positioning in context of a Value Proposi-
tion to their customers. When it comes to working with business partners, however, the
customer value proposition is table stakes. While partners want to know that you have a
compelling customer story, they are more interested in hearing about your
Business Proposition to them. Like any productive partnership, they want to know
how they can make money with your offering, over and above other offerings
they could or do support.

If youve done the work above to understand your partners business model, then youll un-
derstand how they make money and where your solution complements or enhances the op-
portunity within their target market and existing customers. Think of the Channel
Business Proposition as a pie made up of four pieces:

4
RETURN ON INVESTMENT

3 1
CORE SOLUTION FITPROPOSITION
BUSINESS BRAND STRENGTH

Although the size of each slice of the pie may

vary, ideally, your business proposition needs to
2 fill up the complete dish to be compelling.
MARKET OPPORTUNITY
Brand Strength
Your companys brand lies somewhere along this continuum:

Im sorry. Who?Well-recognized, highly valued brand

The first technology company that I worked for was Data General. As a sales rep in my
blue suit, scarf and pumps uniform (then, perish the thought ), the first question I had
to answer before I could explain how fabulous the customers life would be with our
incredibly fast metal box, was Data Who? This was tough as our primary competitor was
Digital, at the time, and Data General was not a household name.

As a sales rep, I couldnt move the needle all the way to Well-recognized, highly-valued
brand, but I had to get the customer as far away as possible from Im sorry. Who?
Until I convinced them that we were a reputable, financially sound, responsive company,
no amount of product or market opportunity would turn a head. This works the same way
with business partners. It doesnt mean all is lost without a brand, it just means
that the other components of the business proposition will need to
compensate.
The market opportunity
Like your brand, the market opportunity also falls along a continuum:

Too early. Too late.Hot, growing market

Once you get beyond your brand, you can look at the market opportunity. Again, your solu-
tion will play somewhere along a continuum. The hotter, more sustainable the
market, the more attractive is the business proposition to the business
partner.

And, claiming its an emerging market is not enough. Arm yourself with third party analyst
reports and/or sizing data to demonstrate to partners that the market in which your
solu- tion plays is viable and interesting. Pretty graphs help, too.

Then, make sure that the market is one that either maps or complements
the partners existing market penetration strategies. In other words, if your
target partner is focused on large enterprise accounts, dont expect it to be able to get
you into the SMB market. If your target partner sells to manufacturers, it is unlikely to
break new ground for you in health care or education. Its not reasonable to expect
a partner to throw caution to the wind and invest in an entirely new market
unless you are going to front-end that investment.
 The goal ere is to make it easy and accelerate time to market. Shoehorning
h your into a market in which the partner doesnt currently play is like,
solution well, ing that glass slipper on Anastasias bulbous toe. It wont work.
jamm
The greater the match between the market opportunity and the
partners existing market focus, the more you can compensate for a
weaker brand.

Core Solution Fit

There are three ways to qualify your solutions fit with a partners offering:

1) Match with partners current solution

2) Stable, and easy to understand and use
3) Match with business model/core competency

Have to haveNice to have

One of the first essential questions to answer before talking to a business partner about
a prospective partnership is how critical your offering is to the partners current
solution? Does the partner need your product/service to complete the full solution for
the customer, or is it a nice to have add-on? The more critical your offering is to the
complete solution from the customers point of view, the more compelling it will be
to your partner.
Another indicator of the amount of attention youre likely to receive from a partner is
the percent of revenue that your offering represents of the entire customer
solution. If your offering represents two percent of a million dollar opportunity, thats
$20,000. In the big picture scheme of things, that is not an eyebrow raising opportunity.

At the same time, dont underestimate the importance of an easy to use and
stable product. If your product is so new to the market that your partner will be
required to field many technical support calls, or requires a lot of sales training or tech-
nical certification, it will be less enticing for the partner to make the investment in your
product/service.

Revisiting the partners business model and core competencies is important here too. If
your latest whiz-bang is a hardware device and your target partner sells software, it is
unlikely that the partner is going to begin selling your device anytime soonwithout a
complete re-engineering of its business model. However, a software provider can be an
extremely influential business partner with prospective customers and some would argue
has more influence on the hardware decision than the hardware provider does. The point
here is that your offering has to fit the offering, core competencies and
busi- ness model of your partners for the partnership to work well.

Solution fit can compensate for a weak or undiscovered brand. On the other hand, its
sufficient, but not enough. If youre going up against the likes of Microsoft or Cisco,
your offering will need to be particularly compelling to get a partner to take a risk on
your behalf.
 Oneofthetoolsweusetode- WHOLE PRODUCT ANALYSIS
termine fit between product WORKSHEET
Technolog
offerings is a Whole Requirement y
Provider
Partners
(need to outsource)
(core competency)
Product Analysis Worksheet. Brand Awareness & Equity
Lead Generation
In this template, you can complete Business Requirements Definition
for what are your core compe- Sales/
Marketing
Pilots/Trials
Pre-Sales SE Technical Support
tencies and what is better Selling Capacity
Support/Maintenance Contracts
outsourced to partners. This Customer References

minimizes conflict with your part- Systems/Servers

Hardware Network Infrastructure
ners and helps you identify what Peripherals/Devices
you really need from them. It Network OS
serves as a qualifying tool as well. Database Platform Software
BI Tools Software
You will likely have to edit the Software Application Software (CRM)
vari- ous categories for your Horizontal Application Software
Application Software Verticals
customer solution, but it Middleware

should get you Order Entry/Management

Reselling Management (logistics,
started. Delivery/ Inside Sales, and user agreement, etc.)
Fufillment Order Staging/Shipping
Partner compensation mgt.
Financing

Needs Analysis/Site Survey

Project Management
Professional
Services Custom Development
Installation & rollout

Product Configuration
Data Configuration
Integration/ Systems Integration
Configuration
Solution Assembly & Installation
Testing/QA/Debugging

Help Desk
Technical Support
Customer Diagnostics
Support
Break/Fix
 The other tool that we use to help channel leaders articulate their value to
prospective partners is this simple fill-in-the-blank Business Proposition
Template. In this template, we ask that you identify your offering in context
of the business partners pain (or hole in their offering), the category in which your
offering plays, and your primary differentiation. This last part being the most crucial as
you ask prospective partners to invest in your offering, over-and-above, or in addition to,
what they are already doing.

BUSINESS PROPOSITION TEMPLATE

Business Proposition Element Fill-in-the-Blank

For (target partner segment)

Who are or need (this is the PAIN)

[Technology Provider] is or provides

(solution or category)

That
(compelling reason to care: address the PAIN)

Unlike (alternatives)

[Technology Provider]
(list top three differentiators)
The Return on Investment (ROI)

Giant sucking soundCha-Ching!

Once you get beyond brand, market opportunity and product fit, there is the pesky little
matter of rationalizing the partners return on investment. While margin is critical,
the ROI calculation that partners make, even if some of it is in their heads,
is more complex. Its not as simple as plopping a worksheet in front of your prospec-
tive partner and touting that your solution will generate 20 more points over what theyre
currently getting from Cisco. That 20 points may be eaten up readily in:
Training staff on your offering
Rationalizing it with existing business plans and stakeholders
Changes to infrastructure or operations
Time surrendered from existing solutions

So, when you go down the ROI path, you may want to capture answers to the
following questions ahead of time so you are ready for the partners
objections.
1) How many technical and sales resources will the partner have to tie up supporting
your solution? What is the cost to integrate your solutions (time and money)?
2) What will be required for the partner to rationalize the partnership to internal
stake- holders? If its a board decision, it will take more time, but it may increase
the likeli- hood of success.
 3) What will be required operationally between your companies to make this
partnership work? If the partner is taking license or ownership of your offering,
what logistical mechanisms are required to make it work?
4) Will the partner fund this with incremental time, or take time from existing endeavors?
If the former, will the partner have to hire new people? If the latter, what business,
if any, will it give up, as it ramps sales and operations for your offering?

Business Partner Program

Another key part of the business proposition equation is the business partner program you
will put in place to ensure the partnership is a success. Because this element of your
business proposition is so critical and requires a lot of thought, however, Im giving it its
own section.

In building or refining your program, it is helpful to think about it terms of the primary
areas in which your partner will need help to grow its business with you:
Sales
Marketing
Operational
Technical

Business Partner Programs are designed typically around Partner Requirements and
Benefits. The following represents a best practice model for program design. The kinds
of things that fall under each category will differ for each company, but the following
tables provide some guidelines for what partners need to be successful in working with
you. Admittedly, this is in its simplest form, so feel free to broaden this context by
looking at some of the Channel Champion Partner Programs on the CMP web site. Channel
Champions
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Of course, you will not be able to offer everything to every partner, so most companies
tier their offerings based on the partners investment in the relationship 1. While Im not
a big fan of the Gold, Silver, Bronze monikers, they work for sake of example. The
farther to the right, the more each party has invested in the relationship; the column on
the left is where low-touch mechanisms are deployed to minimize costs. Note too that
specific benefits and requirements might look differently across geographic regions.

Requirements
Unfortunately, many companies struggle to hold partners accountable to the
requirements theyve put in place because they are fearful of putting the relationship at
risk. If you are not going to hold the partners accountable to the
requirements, however, your program integrity is at risk and your business
proposition is compromised for the partners that have worked to meet your
requirements. Its a fine line to walk, but as one wise channel executive I know once
quipped, sometimes we have to just say no to send a message.

In developing program requirements, you can take a similar approach to devising benefits.
The requirements to be a gold partner are more challenging and, hence, the benefits
more lucrative. The tables on the next page suggest relative requirements, so you will
want to refine to meet your specific requirements.
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REQUIREME
NTS

Sales/Relationship
BRONZE SILVER GOLD Marketing BRONZE SILVER GOLD
Business Plan None Annually Every 6 Months Branding Compliance Yes Yes Yes
Certified/Accredited Sales StaffMinimal More Most

Designated Marketing ResourceNone Shared Dedicated

Customer Satisfaction Bar Higher Highest Jointly Developed Marketing Plan None Case-by-case Every 6 Months
Demo Equipment/Evals Optional Yes Yes Reference Customers/ None Some Most
Case Studies
Geographic Coverage Local Regional/Theater Global
Vertical Market Specialization None Some Most
Revenue/Influence $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000
Commitment1

Operational BRONZE SILVER GOLD Technical BRONZE SILVER GOLD

Completed Application Yes Yes Yes # of certifications (product Least Stringent Stringent Most Stringent
(Renewed Annually) and/or technical)2 (if at all)
Deal Registration No Yes Yes

Dedicated Technical Staff Least StringentStringentMost Stringent

Logistical Capabilities Optional Yes Yes Help Desk Availability No Yes Yes
Sell-Through/
Influence Reporting Through Yes Yes Services Attach Rate No Stringent Most
Distribution
Stringent Tier 1 customer support No Stringent Most
Stringent
Website Partner Locator Info Optional Yes Yes

1
eTnhde tr in requirements is to move away from revenue/influence commitments and toward
the partners investment in
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building expertise around the of Us
technology
22
providers offering. Ive included it here, however, as some
companies still have a hard time letting go of the revenue requirement. Also, revenue/influence
requirements only work if you can measure them.
2
Kinedep in m that the breadth and depth of certification requirements should be based on the depth
and breadth of the technology.
Some companies dont require certification if the product/technology is relatively simple to install and
integrate. You may have some
open products that anyone can sell and support.
Benefits
The following tables provide an example of how you might organize and allocate benefits
once requirements are determined.

BENEFI
TS

Sales/Relationship Marketing
BRONZE SILVER GOLD BRONZE SILVER GOLD
Account Rep Coverage Telesales Shared Dedicated
Agency Services No Select Yes
Advisory Council Participation No Select Yes
Listing on web site Yes Yes Yes
Demo Equipment/Evals Discounted Discounted Discounted
Market Research No Select Yes
Exec Briefing Center Access Case-by-Case Yes Yes
Marketing Resource Telemarketing Select Yes
Executive Sponsorship No Director-Level VP-Level
MDF/Co-op Dollars No Select Yes
Incentives No Yes Yes
Monthly Newsletter Yes Yes Yes
(e.g. Rebates and Promotions)
PR Assistance No Select Yes
Partner Conference Yes Yes Yes
Qualified Leads No Select Yes

Sales Training (free) Yes Yes Yes BRONZE SILVER GOLD

Technical
Access to Knowledgebase Yes Yes Yes
Free Tier 1 Support No (web-only), or paid forYes Yes
BRONZE SILVER GOLD
Operational
Product Briefings and/or No Select Yes
Deal Registration Discounts Yes Yes Yes Beta Participation
Low Interest Financing No Case-by-Case Yes Systems Engineer Support Telephone Shared Dedicated
Partner Portal Yes Yes Yes Technical Training (free) Yes Yes Yes
Peer-to-Peer Collaboration Yes Yes Yes Tech Notes Availability Yes Yes Yes
Talent Acquisition No Select Yes
Recruitment
Once you have determined your partner strategy and business proposition, the job of
recruitment begins. Like finding customers, recruitment is a multi-faceted initiative that
requires both marketing and sales. Like finding (and keeping) customers, its chal-
lenging and nearly impossible if you dont have marketing to pave the way. You
wouldnt expect end customer sales reps to go out and sell your stuff without collateral, a
web site, or support resources to back them up. Likewise, channel account managers
require the same support and backing to be successful. Partners need to be brought
through the same decision funnel as customers and they need the similar tools.

AWARENESS

CONSIDERATION

PREFERENCE/TRIAL

COMMITMENT/READINESS

PARTNER ENABLEMENT

SALES
So make sure that you have resources and approaches lined up accordingly.

While you need sales and marketing to work in harmony for partner recruitment to be
effective, you do not have to count on highly paid feet on the street resources to do the
entire job. Telesales and telemarketing organizations can be extremely cost-
effective in paving the way for a senior-level channel resource to bridge and
further qualify partnership potential.

Because recruitment can be a complex process, its important to define roles,

responsibilities and hand-offs from the get go. Many companies find that a flow chart is
the best tool for determining who owns what part of the process when.
Partner Readiness and Enablement
If ever there was an example of teach them to fish, partner
enablement is the area.

In some companies, channel account managers are rewarded handsomely for the number
of partners recruited. The impressive bar charts that show hundreds of partners have
signed up each quarter, however, only tells half the story. Signing them up is easy
relative to getting them to sell. Unfortunately, some companies leave partners to
figure it out on their own, and then wonder why sales are dragging.

If you have a direct sales force, you probably know a lot about what it takes to get some-
one to sell your solution independently. Typically, theres a training requirement and most
companies pair a new rep with a seasoned rep for awhile before turning the rep loose on
the market.

On another level, however, getting partners to sell on your behalf is more challenging
than engaging your own resources. Not only do you need partners to learn your
technology, there may be work involved to make your respective technologies compatible.
Once compatible, the training can begin, but even with training, there is a ramp up time
required for partners to be able to answer customer questions and receive high quality
technical support.

What most companies do not like to hear, or reject outright, is that this process can
take three to nine months, depending on the complexity of your solutions and the
mar- ketplace. Unfortunately, we see far too many optimistic forecasts from companies
that under-estimate this critical stage.
 So, to help companies create realistic forecasts and line up resources to
accelerate sales, we use the following forecasting tool:

FORE C ASTING T OOL

# Partners
15

10

5
Recruited Enabled Selling

0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Before you can create a forecast, however, its helpful to outline the steps involved in
onboarding your partners. That is, what are the discreet steps that you will need to go
through together before your partners are a trusted, competent extension of your com-
pany, bringing business in on your behalf?
 Heres a simple Onboarding Checklist to get you started:

ONBOARDING CHECKLIST
Completed Step

Contract review, revisions, signature

Credit review & approval

Partner portal access/engagement

Joint business plan developed

Joint marketing plan developed

Technical training and/or certification

Sales training and/or certification

Collateral & tools

Customer pre-sales support

Customer post-sales support

Etc.

If you consider your partners an extension of your sales force and do the
hard work of enabling them sell on your behalf, the rewards of leverage will
deliver handsomely. If you cannot invest in the necessary onboarding requirements, you
may want to consider holding off on your partner initiatives. Like customers, partners
have long memories. Getting back in the door to the job right a second time is costly and
humbling. Better to have fewer partners who sing your praises and sell
confidently, than many disgruntled partners.which is a great lead in to our final
chapter.
Loyalty
Several companies have come to us over the years bemoaning a lack of loyalty from their
partners. Again, I remember a quote from one wise mentor along the way:
If you want loyalty, get a dog.

Loyalty, like marriage, is a two way street. If your partners are not loyal,
the first thing to consider is the degree to which your business
proposition is still compelling. Over the years, companies evolve their
programs and solutions. Customers business requirements change, as
does the
competitive landscape.

If your business proposition is sound, you may want to inspect the level of engagement
with the partner, at both the field and corporate levels.
1) When was the last time a channel manager (including tele-resources) called or visited
this partner?
2) How easy is it for the partner to get an answer to a question, operational, technical,
or otherwise?
3) Are there unresolved issues? Sometimes partners raise issues at Council meetings
and/or Webinars, only to have them ignored.
4) Whens the last time you visited a customer with the partner?
5) To what degree are your partners included in new product roll-outs, or are they left
unprepared for new product requirements from their customers?
6) To what degree are your direct selling resources compromising the work of
partners? In other words, whens the last time you revisited your sales engagement
model?
A Few Words on Letting Go
If youve done all you can to maximize your business proposition for a particular partner,
and bending over backwards is creating too much strain on the relationship and resources,
it may be time to cut the cord. Its hard to let go of a partner, especially if the re-
lationship goes back to the beginning of time. But, some of your initial partners will not be
the same partners to carry you through the next phase of company growth. Fighting the
tide can be a waste of time and energy that would be better spent elsewhere. So, some-
times, parting company makes good sense.

The best way to manage your portfolio of partners is to embrace and insti-
tute a seed, feed, and weed methodology. Reviewing your partners
on an annual basis (minimally) for fit with requirements, including partner
satisfaction, allows you to evaluate objectively whether a partner works
well in todays environment. If you dont weed the garden
periodically, there will be no room for the beautiful flowers to
sprout.

Close
The good news is that working with channels is never boring or static. The bad news is
that working with channels can put gray hair on your head, or cause you to lose it
altogether. While the above material wont likely help you answer your mothers inquiries
about what you do, its designed to touch the surface and get you started. And, if you
noticed your heart racing while reading this book, you might even develop a flair or
passion for working with channels, so look out!
Go Chaftftel Strategy aftd Marketiftg ... for the PAGE
Guide Rest of Us 30

About the Author

Jacqueline Franklin is a results-driven professional with a track
record in delivering compelling go-to-market strategies and
programs for companies that want to accelerate time to market and
scale through business partners and strategic relationships.

She publishes a monthly newsletter, Ahead of the Curve. You may

sign up to receive the free newsletter on the Routes2Market.com
web site at www.Routes2Market.com/Resources.

You may also enjoy and participate in the Routes2Market blog at

www.Routes2Market.com/ Blog.

About Routes2Market
Routes2Market is a service provider focused on two of the most challenging areas of business:

Business Partner Development and Channel Marketing

Marketing Strategy and Programs

We help business leaders achieve success and grow revenue through compelling go-to-
market strategies and best practice channels development.

Copyright info The copyright of this work belongs to the author, who is solely responsible for the content. You are free
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