Channel Management Blog
Our blog features channel management tips, best practices and expert insights to help you get the most out of your PRM and create a successful partner program.
How to Increase Deal Registration
Deal registrations are the key to channel visibility and, therefore, to accurate channel sales projections. The first key to getting partners to register their deals is to acknowledge this value proposition for yourself. Obviously, the better you can see what’s in your sales pipeline, the better you can forecast your partner channel revenue, and the […]
The Channel as Search Engine Optimizer
Five Steps for Dominating SEO Using Your Channel Lets face it: The reason you build a reseller channel is to accelerate your company’s sales ten times faster than you could by building a direct sales force. Historically, Partner Relationship Management has focused on providing static marketing materials, funds for marketing campaigns, and distribution of leads […]
More MPG: Three Things You Can Do to Make Your Channel Program More Efficient
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that launching an indirect channel sales program is a significant undertaking requiring a major investment of time and budget. How do you make sure you’re maximizing your chances this investment pays off? One key to success is always fine-tuning your channel program to make […]
The Truth about the Magic Hockey Stick
It looks so nice on the channel partner revenue graph — a line inclines gradually for a year or so, and then makes a sharp upward turn, the shape of a hockey stick. Everyone thinks their indirect sales program is different, that wild success is inevitable—just get some partners and launch. But the fact is, […]
How Do Your Partners Rate?
Let’s say you’re a VP of Sales and Marketing, and your CEO has asked you to come up with a list of your company’s top go-to-market partners within your indirect sales channel. How would you go about it? You can do it old-school: pick up the phone, set up an Excel spreadsheet to keep track […]
Joint Business Planning: A Myth or Necessity?
I bet you’re hoping I’m going to say “myth.” No one likes planning, right? But we might as well face facts: joint planning with partners is a critical best practice, and vendors that make the effort are much better positioned to have a successful channel. Joint planning keeps your partnerships from going dormant. Vendors usually […]
FAQs About Partner Relationship Management (PRM)
Launching an indirect channel sales program is exciting, but I can tell by the questions I get from customers that this is an area that’s regularly underestimated in terms of planning and resources required. Here are some of the most common questions we hear as people embark on their partner relationship management journey and answers […]
How to Minimize Indirect Sales Channel Conflict
Notice the title isn’t “How to Prevent Indirect Sales Channel Conflict.” That’s because, unfortunately, conflict within a partner program is pretty much unavoidable. But accepting that on the front end makes it a lot easier to mitigate the negative effects. So the question then becomes, “How will you manage and minimize conflict within your channel […]
Three Keys to Partner Engagement
I was recently asked by a new customer if we had any documentation or training materials for partners that would get them more engaged and keep their new Partner Portal top of mind. I thought about it, and responded, “No,” not because Channeltivity doesn’t have documentation and training materials—we do. I answered “no” because I […]
The Beauty of the “Ready, Aim, Fire” Approach to Building Your Channel
This bounces off the post we wrote last week, where we explained the three things to consider before shopping for a channel solution. Not getting ready before moving to the “aim” and “fire” phases may be the most common reason for the failure of an indirect channel marketing strategy. You can invest the time now […]