In the competitive landscape of the IT industry, the effectiveness of a company’s channel strategy can be the difference between success or failure. Channel managers play a crucial role in driving revenue, expanding market reach, and fostering strong relationships with partners. Which is why it is so surprising to me that so many companies hire either non-performing direct salespeople, or junior salespeople, into channel roles.
The role of a channel manager is complex, and requires a unique blend of skills, including business acumen, strategic planning, relationship management, effective communication, and selling skills. These are very different to the skills required for a direct sales person (prospecting, negotiation, closing, etc). If you view channel managers as 2nd class salespeople (who are inferior your enterprise sales team) you’re most likely squandering your single biggest opportunity to drive incremental revenue.
Let’s look at what makes great channel managers, and why it’s so critical to either hire the right people. And if not, to at least train them in how to work with partners.
Coaching Mindset
Direct salespeople are driven by the motivation to close sales. They derive personal satisfaction from being the one who seals the deal. In contrast, channel professionals are motivated by empowering others to succeed. Their satisfaction comes from helping others achieve goals they may not have reached without support. They don’t just sell to partners… they also sell with, and through, partners. Just as not every exceptional player makes a great coach, not every outstanding salesperson can excel as a channel manager.
Business Acumen
Channel managers require a deep understanding of business operations and market dynamics to effectively engage with partners and align channel strategies with overall business objectives. In contrast, junior salespeople often lack these skills and resort to familiar tactics: asking for orders, inquiring about pipeline prospects, or touting product features. These approaches fail to add value to partners. Consequently, junior salespeople struggle to establish relationships with executive level management in their partners, or influence partner commitments to their technology. In our experience, few salespeople possess the necessary business acumen to engage in meaningful conversations with medium to large partner business owners. This highlights a critical skills gap in channel management, underscoring the need for targeted training to excel in this role.
Strategic Planning Skills
Many direct salespeople tend to be quite tactical and outcome driven in their approach. Their planning methodology (SPIN, Challenger, MEDDIC, etc) is based on closing the sale. After all, their goal is to win a deal and then move on to win the next one. In contrast, channel managers must think beyond the immediate sale, embracing a long-term perspective that fosters collaborative growth and mutual benefit. They need to persuade partner business owners to invest in the vendor’s technology and cultivate long-term relationships that can span 5, 10, or 20 years. This requires a level of longer-term strategic thinking, to identify growth opportunities, align partner strategies with business goals, and drive long-term success. This strategic mindset can be a departure from the natural inclinations of direct salespeople, highlighting the distinct skills required for effective channel management.
Conflict Resolution Skills
Direct salespeople often prefer to control their sales process, driving deals forward independently. However, channel management requires a collaborative approach, working closely with partners to achieve shared objectives. This blend of cooperation and competition can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings, potentially harming partner relationships and overall channel performance. Effective channel managers possess conflict resolution skills to address disputes diplomatically, navigate complex partner dynamics, and foster trust to strengthen relationships. The end result is seamless operations, more robust partnerships, and mutually beneficial outcomes.
Leadership Skills
Channel managers are responsible for getting their partners to sell their products, comply with the rules, and achieve sales targets. In other words, they have all the responsibility of a sales manager, but without the authority. Which means they need both management and leadership skills in order to persuade partners to achieve results. It is rare to find these skills in direct salespeople (who are more driven by winning the sale themselves rather than through empowering others), or junior salespeople (who lack the experience and expertise to influence others). In order to influence partner behaviour and motivate them to achieve shared goals, great channel managers must possess leadership skills, not just management skills.
Communication Skills
Direct salespeople excel at articulating the value of their technology to customers, to persuade them to buy it. In contrast, effective channel managers must communicate a different narrative: why partners should invest time and resources to sell it. This requires conveying not only the product’s superiority but also a compelling value proposition that resonates with partners. Channel managers need to communicate why partnering will drive mutual growth and profitability, how the technology aligns with the partner’s business goals and strategy, and what support and resources are available to ensure partner success. In essence, channel managers must craft a partner-centric message that extends beyond product features, highlighting the benefits of a collaborative relationship.
Selling AND Relationship skills
I’ve met a lot of direct salespeople who can close a deal, but then move on to the next opportunity and leave a trail of issues for their SEs or consultants need to clean up. And I’ve met a lot of salespeople who build great relationships with customers but never seem to make their number. That’s because it can be a challenge to achieve an outcome AND build a relationship. Which is why the role of the channel manager is so critical. They have to build trust and strong relationships with partners by understanding their needs and challenges. But they also have to be effective salespeople – selling to, with and through partners – to generate sales growth and create a mutually profitable relationship.
Summary
Putting the right people in channel roles is critical for success if you want to build a successful indirect model. Effective channel managers have a fundamentally different mindset to effective direct salespeople. Channel managers must also possess a unique combination of business acumen, strategic planning, leadership, selling and relationship building skills. And depending on your market position, the emphasis will need to be different (eg. more focus on strategy for working with global SI partners, or more focus on sales when building a challenger brand, or more focus on planning when growing an established brand).
When you place non-performing salespeople into channel roles, or when you expect direct salespeople to simply transition to being partner managers, it might be an indication that your business does not understand the real value of professional channel management. To bridge this gap, make sure you hire experienced channel professionals in the role, or consider enrolling existing teams in targeted training, such as our Dynamic Channel Excellence workshop to turn them into stars.
One final thought… I have a friend who I consider to be an exceptional channel manager. Over the years, she has been told that “she is wasted in channel”, meaning she would be more valuable as an enterprise salesperson. But I would actually argue that if your business has a high performing salesperson, who has excellent leadership, planning and business communication skills, they are wasted in direct sales.
