7 Steps to smoother channel management• Channel partner visibility• Guided sales process• Improved partner training & onboarding• Channel conflict management• Alignment of corporate marketing function with partner

sales• Partner portal• MDF Fund management

Key elements that must be in place for any channel sales model to

operate successfully

Channel partnervisibilit

y

Guided salesprocess

Improvedpartner training

& onboarding

Alignment of corporate marketing function with partner

sales

Channelconflicts

management

MDF fundmanageme

nt

Partnerportal

Are you being fair to your channel partners?

SALESPERSON CHANNEL PARTNER

The sales teams have all they need to survive in the jungle

When companies hire salespeople a lot of thought and effort goes into their training and the onboarding process. They are told exactly what is expected of them and given the support and tools to achieve those goals. Examples include having a marketing team to support their collateral needs, being provided with refresher training, and market trend updates.

However, for channel partners it is all about survival of the fittest

Channel partners, on the other hand are often left to fend for themselves. At the time of recruitment they are provided with a short induction session and are then saddled with a bunch of sales and marketing materials, process documents and expected to become revenue drivers for the company within a few weeks or months. End result: Another failed channel relationship.

Give your channel partners what they REALLY need: A guided sales

processGiving your channel partners a guided sales process helps them sell more effectively. A channel sales playbook is the foundation of the guided sales process. Sales playbooks are a systematic organization of all marketing and sales assets and data that your channel partners will need to push your product/service.

Playbooks help your channel partners wrestle the 3 big gorillas of the sales jungle the what, when and how of prospect communication.

What to say to a prospect?

How to say it?When to say it?

Designing a foolproof partner training & onboarding program

For their partner training and onboarding program to be truly successful, vendors need to:

• Make sure your training and partner onboarding program spells out the sales process clearly

• Define the process flow for all types of leads and all steps in your sales cycle

• Make sure all the sales best practices are documented and made available to your new channel partners during the onboarding process and later on, for any refresher training

• Ensure your channel partners are not only given access to the sales and marketing materials they need, but are also briefed on how and when they are to be used

Here's a little bit more on how you can rock your partner onboarding & training process

• Automate partner certification programs

• Monitor partner engagement and performance to identify and coach channel partners who are not meeting expectations

• Set up a system that can send reminders & updates to channel partners about upcoming training sessions or certification requirements

All this can get a little overwhelming and it makes sense to invest in a

system that can help you document and organize your sales processes

and workflows

Alignment of corporate marketingfunction with partner sales

Another challenge that the channel sales model brings is a lack of local marketing and sales communication. For your sales to truly take off at local levels, you need great marketing and sales campaigns designed for the local audience. You may be a brand but for the end consumer it is all about who they are buying from. If you want your partners to be able to sell your products/services effectively, you need to make them a part of your brand.

Lower your channel partner'sdependence on corporate

marketing

One of the reasons why channel partners aren’t able to push vendor products as effectively as they’d like to, is lack of support from the corporate marketing team. The vendor’s corporate marketing team is too busy to offer individualized support to each channel partner. As a result, channel partners are not in a position to sell the vendor’s products/services as aggressively as they’d like to.

Avoiding channel conflicts

Hint: Having a solid deal

registration mechanism helps

judge partner performance

objectively because lead

registration numbers are key

indicators of channel partner

success

Channel partners look up to their vendors to protect their interests. Channel conflicts can strain your channel relationships and cost you valued channel partners. One way to avoid channel conflicts is by putting a solid deal registration mechanism in place. This allows vendors to control the flow of leads to their channel partners and with every lead needing the vendor’s approval, the chances of two channel partners pursuing the same lead drops to zero.

Earning more brownie points with your channel partners

You know you are not the only vendor for your channel partners, but you want to be their favorite. If you want them to push your products ahead of your competitors, then you need to make it easy for them to sell your products. Here are a few tips to help you achieve that goal.

Give them full view of their

leads and lead activities

Make it easier for them to close by helping them stay

in touch with their leads throughout the sales cycle

Help them engage in high impact one-to -one conversations

with their leads

Help them explore and take advantage of newer marketing and sales avenues like social media

Provide access to tools and

mechanisms that help them manage their leads better

Provide access to powerful lead

generation tools

LEARN HOW YOU CAN MANAGE YOUR CHANNEL PARTNER RELATIONSHIPS

BETTERWWW.MINDMATRIX.NET

2403 Sidney Street, Suite 150,

Pittsburgh, PA 15203Phone:

412.381.0230Fax:

412.774.1992