3 Things Successful Channel Managers Are Doing to Enhance Their Partner Program

A good channel partner stays on top of leading trends within the field. This includes researching what other companies and channel teams are doing to stay ahead of their competition and grow their business.

Here are 3 things leading channel managers and teams are doing to achieve success within their given market space.

Make improvements to channel partner training, processes and strategies

Channel partners who are open to trying new tactics are the ones who will achieve success.

Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Star2Star Communications mentions that to grow and improve their channel partner program, they will be enhancing training opportunities, pricing strategies, ordering process, and end-to-end support services. With the goal of:

“automating our support efforts to help our Partners become more efficient and focus on what is important: building relationships and closing deals.”

It is a strong approach to optimize your channel partner program regularly. Providing channel partners with up to date training materials, collateral and even learning modules will increase their knowledge and understanding of the business. This will not only bring your company success, but it will also bring success to your channel team.  

To read more about channel optimization, check out 5 Successful Partner Relationship Management Strategies.

Gain insights from channel partners to improve partner experience

Understanding channel partners is key to creating success.

Sara Straley, Assistant Vice President – Channel Marketing at AT&T Partner Exchange, prides her team’s success and growth on:

“keeping a close pulse on what they need to succeed and equipping them with the offers, marketing tools and training to get there.”

By understanding her partner’s pain points and what they need in order to succeed in their role, brought Sara's team success.

Take the time to analyze how your channel partners are working and where they can use collateral and resources to close deals.

As a leader, also ensure that you are not only providing material support to channel partners but leadership support as well. Push your partners to their full potential and create drive and passion within your team.

Prosperity comes in understanding your channel partners and your channel team as a whole.

Launch a channel partner portal

Providing channel partners and channel teams with the right tools is the base of a successful channel program. Without tools, there would be no building, and therefore no growth.

A partner portal, or platform, is a tool that enables channel managers, partners, teams, and customers to work together in a secure, digital workplace. In a portal, users are able to:

• access all types of collateral they may need
• on-board partners effortlessly and quickly
• register deals in a unified deal registration platform
• collaborate and much more

Catherine Cruz, Director of Business Solutions at D-Links mentions in her interview, with CRN Women of the Channel, that her overall goal is to provide a tool like this to her channel teams:

“I also want to enable and empower our sales team and arm them with tools such as partner scorecards and social selling skills, which will help drive stronger partner relationships throughout the channel.”

Catherine’s goals are strong and will bring her channel team success. With the right tool of implementation, the channel sales team will be sales enabled and empowered with knowledge and support.

There are further benefits to a partner portal, read our article What Is PRM Software and How Can It Help Your Business? to learn more.

Follow the trend, learn from it, and lead the force

Whether you’re new to the channel partner world or a leader, keeping up with business trends will propel you to greater heights.

As a channel partner, look to your channel managers for growth opportunities and learn from them. Analyze the way they think, the way they interact etc. Doing this will get you closer and closer to your individual career growth.

If you’re a channel manager, you may be looking forward to your next career jump, as you focus on creating a channel team of champions. Keeping your focal point on your channel team’s success will demonstrate how strong you are as a leader. Grow your team, provide them with the necessary tools, plus more, and you’ll move forward in your own career as well.

Talk to us to learn more about how you can better manage your partners within your channel partner program.

Do You Trust Your Channel Partners? Do THEY Trust YOU? Access the webinar!

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