At ChannelCon, CompTIA gave me the opportunity to discuss those traits and their effects on solution provider revenue. In the Quick Start to Profitable Partnering session, my discussion centered on a number of best practices they could employ to get the most from their key business alliances. Much of what we covered was fairly common knowledge to long-established channel professionals, but knowing doesn’t always mean doing: Many still fail to follow through on some of the most critical relationship building activities.
The execution and follow-up steps can easily be overlooked or forgotten in the chaos of running an IT services company. That’s why solution providers have to create accountability systems for each of their vendor and distribution relationships, as well as any other third-party alliances. Partnerships should be considered key assets and critical investments, which can increase the value of your organization when properly managed.
Is your company getting a solid return from its top alliances; the vendors and distributors that drive the majority of its solution portfolio? I’m not referring to every supplier on your line card, just the handful of partners that help drive the majority of your business. That’s where your company’s focus and expectations should lie: following the traditional 80/20 rule that applies just as well to channel partnerships as it does to your customer base.
Identify, Then Delegate
Which of your vendors are most important to the success of your business? Can you quickly rank suppliers based on their portfolio and customer service value? That exercise is extremely valuable to the organization, since it forces you to assess the current contributions of your vendor partners and helps identify resources you earned access to and may not be utilizing. That’s why solution providers have to put someone in charge to manage the complexities and the people. When no one owns these relationships, things tend to slip through the cracks — including access to critical lead generation and training programs.
Solution providers who want to get the most value from their alliances delegate partner responsibilities to their most capable employees. They select trustworthy and creative individuals who understand what your customers need to run their own businesses. Whether a member of the management or sales team or a respected technician, no matter who’s in charge, he or she has to be able to empathize with your top vendor and distribution partners. These individuals must be able to uncover and comprehend the objectives and concerns of their colleagues — a key attribute for companies looking to build stronger and more beneficial business relationships.
Finding the Right Partner Managers
Choosing those partner managers is a big responsibility, since the role they play in the solution provider organization’s overall success is so crucial. Not only do they wield tremendous control over the programs a provider participates in, but they frequently govern access to critical vendor and distributor resources, including the main distribution frame and sales and marketing materials.
If only partner management were that simple. It takes someone with:
Good listening skills. They must be able to pay close attention when vendors are discussing their needs and the benefits they can provide your company. More importantly, partner managers have to comprehend the value of that information and convey it effectively to others. Whether detailing new programs, reviewing existing options or offering up an overview of their three-year product roadmap, the information shared by vendor partners is crucial to your business results as well as your mutual relationship.
Problem-solving capabilities. Can they effectively assess opportunities and do they understand how to take full advantage of them? Employees who can resolve straightforward issues with minimal support typically make great vendor managers.
Flexibility. Are they willing to stay afterhours to take an important call from a vendor representative? Can they create and implement new ideas to improve the alliance and your business results, such as improving the client onboarding process for a partner’s cloud service? A great relationship manager will give 100 percent to the role.
In the highly competitive channel with a number of critical skills shortages, some solution providers may never find an individual who meets all these requirements. The owner may have the skills to perform some, if not all, of these activities themselves — and some do. Others divide and delegate the responsibilities across their entire workforce and include the task specifics right in their job descriptions. Marketing professionals may manage the incoming vendor lead process, while the support team could be charged with handling the partner onboarding process and product roadmap discussions.
Regardless of who handles your company’s partnership responsibilities, the key is to recognize the value of these alliances. Are you maximizing the resources and opportunities your vendors and distributors provide? Can you honestly say you’re being a great partner — helping grow their product and services sales while effectively using the tools and programs they provide?
If not, be sure to download and read the CompTIA’s Quick Start Guide to Profitable Partnering. It’s a free resource for all registered CompTIA users. If you’re not registered, you can sign up here at no cost.
Brian Sherman is principal consultant at Tech Success Communications, an IT channel business development and marketing firm. He served previously as chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and senior director of industry alliances with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.
