The Marketing Executives Group International

Author: Rich Aroian

Channel Marketing executives need to look beyond lead generation and branding. This article identifies 10 areas critical to Channel success and outlines how Channel Marketing can be a key leader in each one.

Well managed, successful Partner Programs are typically dependent on a host of variables ranging from the level of trust and shared commitment between the vendor and their partner network to the “in the weeds” details like effectively supporting end users. I believe that Channel Marketing, often an afterthought primarily focused on branding and lead generation, should serve as a major leverage point and key contributor to a company’s success in the Channel. This is based on two factors; the overall role of Marketing and an understanding of the critical drivers’ common to high performance Channel Programs.

A high performing Channel Marketing organization has two basic objectives. The 1stis providing service to Sales; both your own Channel Sales team plus the actual Partner’s Sales community. The best examples in this area include lead generation campaigns to create new opportunities and Channel centric sales tools to help your Partners move those opportunities through their pipeline to closure. The 2ndobjective for Channel Marketing should be to; selectively, provide leadership to Sales. Based on your company’s structure and organizational philosophy this can be realized in multiple areas, including new market opportunity planning, go to market plans and recruiting strategy development and execution. 

Channel Marketing’s ability to embrace both of these objectives allows you to take a leadership role or at the least be a fully vested contributor  in insuring 10 key drivers outlined below are operating as effectively as possible.

1. Partner Sales and Marketing Alignment with your Company’s overall strategy

The reality in today’s high technology marketplace is a constant evolution of a company’s go to market strategy. Most companies have a strong, direct sales model so many of the default marketing programs and pricing strategies are built to support Direct, not Channel sales.  In this environment Channel Marketing has two roles. The 1stis to proactively work within the overall Marketing organization to build in the Channel’s overall requirements into your company’s annual operating plans. The 2ndis to then work the details of aligning key elements of your Channel go to market strategy; messaging and positioning, pricing, account and market coverage and customer support, to compliment and leverage the overall direction of your company. The goal is to maximize your company’s overall marketing investment and reduce any conflict in the marketplace. 

2. A competitive and clearly defined value proposition for your partners

Vendors attract and keep the mindshare of the best resellers with a very crisp value proposition. Channel Marketing can help develop and communicate the expected margin, additional revenue sources, investment required and the market opportunity available to partners of all types when they add your solution to their portfolio.

3. Program design

The overall design of your Partner program is typically driven by Channel Sales Leadership but Channel Marketing must play an integral role not only in program roll-out but in its actual development as well. Areas such as Market Development  Fund programs and the tactical role of  Channel Marketing in both single and two tier distribution models are best designed in early in the Program’s design as opposed to later.

4. Recruiting strategy and execution

Identifying and attracting the right partners requires the same rigor as the any complex sales process and Channel Marketing should provide the same level of support to finding and recruiting new partners as you do in finding new end user prospects. When necessary, this may require helping build the right “prospective partner profile” as well as supporting the periodic audit of existing partners.  Channel Marketing should also be prepared to create “leads”, perhaps by  planning and executing Regionalor local events that bring prospective partners and vendor representatives together on a face-to-face basis  or creating  Integrated Marketingprograms that combine value proposition tuning, with tele-recruiting and all the required recruiting materials.

5. Market Planning

Technology vendors often use their partners to enter new markets or territories.  Channel Marketing should take a leadership role in evaluating market, partner, sales and company input in identifying new opportunities for the Channel   and then develop and execute programs tailored specifically for these new markets.

6. Sales enablement and technical enablement

Many companies typically make their standard technical training courses available to their partners but often don’t align the delivery of these courses to their partner’s requirements. Channel Marketing can take a leadership role in creating effective delivery models to make training more cost effective for margin conscious partners. Often more importantly, partners don’t receive the focused solutions sales training which results in higher close rates for your products.  Channel Marketing should take a leadership role in identifying specific sales skills not always taught in the standard courses and build the programs to transfer these skills to your Partners.

7. Business Plan development

Having a simple, mutually developed business plan with each of your key partners allows you to set clear goals and build the supporting programs to achieve them. While most companies rely on the Channel Sales team to own this process Channel Marketing needs to insure a crisp Marketing Plan is a subset of the overall Business Plan. Channel Marketing organizations proactively engaged in the business will often use this process as an important gate for MDF access and lead development programs.

8. Marketing programs and lead generation

This area is obviously the core, day to day responsibility of any effective Channel Marketing organization. While effective programs in each of the other nine areas reviewed in this article will have a big impact on the effectiveness of any marketing program there are numerous best practices to consider.  Any successful campaign starts with a clear understanding of the target market; leading to an actionable list of prospects. This list may come from any number of third parties, your own company’s database and, often most importantly, from your Partners. Best practice campaign design includes a crisp value proposition, a mix of web based outreach, a proactive Social Media component, tele-qualification and a measurable process for moving qualified leads to the right Partners.  In short, today’s best practice Channel Marketing campaigns are end to end, multi touch and have measurable objectives every step of the way.

9 Pipeline management

 Pipeline management and the associated visibility to and confidence in your partner’s pipeline is a     direct responsibility of the Sales team. However, Channel Marketing must take a leadership role in defining how marketing leads are managed by partners. Visibility to Marketing generated leads allows for realistic ROI analysis for marketing campaigns and overall pipeline movement is an indicator of sales and technical enablement effectiveness.

10. Program ROI and Key Performance Indicators

Partner Programs universally use revenue and margin as the key measures of success. Additionally, I believe there are multiple, underlying KPI’s that measure the effectiveness of the above 10 items and ultimately drive your program’s financial performance.  Channel Marketing is in a position to establish and measure these KPI’s to monitor the program wide performance and take timely, corrective action with the other stakeholders of your company’s Channel Business.

In closing, Channel Marketing can establish a unique role in helping your Company grow a profitable Partner led business. Developing and executing efficient and effective marketing programs should be viewed as merely table stakes. The overall complexity of a company’s indirect distribution value chain, as evidenced by this article’s 10 critical success factors, requires thoughtful leadership from an organization that’s equally close to Sales, the Partners, End Users and a Company’s overall Marketing and Product Groups. With the right leadership and skills, that organization can be Channel Marketing.