Some vendors call it Partner Enablement. Partner enablement equips external partners with the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to sell your stuff effectively.
Indirect sales is different from direct sales. In direct sales, the sales people work for you and there is a sense of control over that sales team. In indirect sales, the sales force does NOT work for you. The messaging and management of the indirect sales force has to reflect this dynamic. It often does not.
Channel partners come in many flavors: franchisees, resellers, distributors, or even social media influencers. Most people think of it as one Channel. It isn’t. The IT/Telecom channel has many different business types: Agent, VAR, Inter-Connect, ISV, systems integrator, MSP, MSSP, influencer, referral, affiliate. Treat them as similar at your own risk.
One big disconnect vendors have is treating it as one big channel and that every partner is a partner to recruit. This is flawed because the best partner programs know what a good partner looks like and what kind of partner has the ear of the Target Buyer.
Our Channel is moored in its roots of Microsoft and Cisco servicing the small business. A majority of partners – probably 85% – are great at selling mass market to the mass market (SMB). People seems to forget that 99.9% of businesses in Canada, the UK and the USA are Small Business! Often when Enterprise is mentioned, it means that the partner has sold one line item to a remote branch office.
The art of Channel Sales Enablement is to align the vendor and the channel team with their ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) and their Partner Profile. Adjust the messaging from the end user to the partner. Find ways to make the Partners more successful at selling their services to the benefit of the customer.
This is Channel Sales Enablement.
Getting in the Channel looks easy and fast to most vendors. It is neither. A recent study showed that only 20 vendors were responsible for 80+% of orders through the TSDs. Most TSDs have more 250 vendors on their line card, but the same 20 vendors at each TSD take up most of the air in the room. How do you attract attention? How do you get your stuff sold? That is why you call RAD-INFO INC! (813) 963-5884