Channel management is the organization and management of everything channel (sales/partner). This is commonly addressed through a channel or partner portal.
Peter Ganza, Director of Marketing at Magentrix, recently sat down with our resident Channel Coach, Paul Bird, to answer some of the most common questions individuals have been asking online.
What is channel management?
Paul Bird: “This is the process of managing all of those agents or resellers that are representing a product or a service. One of the challenges is that very much like a real estate agent doesn’t sell one house, a technology partner or someone in the technology channel likely doesn’t sell one product.
So part of channel management is actually being top-of-mind, getting mindshare, encouraging them to represent your product and service, so the channel management process can be direct where you’ve got channel management directors in the field helping or you’ve got online portals that help resellers get in and access the tools they need to sell products.”
In previous posts, Paul clarified what channel sales is and what a channel partner is. Channel management is the organization and management of everything channel (sales/partner). In the technology industry the most common way of addressing this is through a channel or partner portal. Most commonly referred to as partner relationship management (PRM).
Every organization, small or large, has (or should have) a logical place to store this channel data. In most cases, a customer relationship management (CRM) system such as Salesforce. Stuck in an email and spreadsheet nightmare? A CRM can help! Once a system of record is in place the best way to manage and maintain your partners is with a partner relationship management system.
If you need guidance on which CRM system is best for your organization, feel free to contact us.
Do you have anything to add to this topic? Feel free to share and comment below. What does your definition of channel management look like?