Stop Putting The Wrong People In Channel Roles

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 … Continued

6 Lessons from the Trump-Harris Debate for PAMs

In 2017 I wrote an article about 10 Lessons that Channel Managers could learn from Trump. Watching the Trump-Harris debate a few nights ago prompted me to think about that article, and see what we could learn from this debate. Firstly, I should say that while I’m not a Trump supporter, and believe that Harris … Continued

8 Tips to Unlocking Success with a Partner Advisory Council

We are often asked by vendors about the value of a Partner Advisory Council (PAC). In this dynamic landscape of modern business, where collaboration is often touted as the key to success, we believe a well-run PAC can be a game-changer in shaping the partner relationship. In this article, we will explore the concept of … Continued

Why Partner Management Needs To Change

In the conventional partner-vendor engagement model, partnerships are measured and graded primarily based on revenue generated and certification level attained. This results in a tiered hierarchy, such as Gold, Silver, and Bronze. However, emerging technologies like Cloud and XaaS have shifted the dynamics of the partner-customer-vendor relationship. The largest partners may not always be the … Continued

Subscription Selling Is More Than A Monthly Bill

The move by many businesses across many different industries to engage with their customers on a subscription or recurring revenue basis, rather than perpetual, has had a profound effect on the overall customer sales engagement model, not just the billing model of monthly subscriptions. In this article we look at the differences between the traditional … Continued

6 Tips for Managing Small-Medium Partners

We were asked recently by a client to create a channel management training program specifically focused on how to engage with and manage a territory of partners that were selling to Small Medium Businesses (SMB). Most of these partners were SMBs themselves so we use the term Small Medium Partner (SMP) as they have different … Continued

What A Channel-Centric CEO Looks Like

In our Channel Training courses, we talk about how companies evolve through five stages of partnering maturity: Novice – vendor is unsure of partner value Tolerant – there is ad-hoc engagement with partners Reliant – recognition that there is a need for partners to achieve targets Aligned – the vendor’s systems fully support partnering Centric … Continued

Reassessing Sales Incentives for MRR

We’ve recently worked with a number of companies who needed help redesigning their sales incentive programs to drive sales of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) through XaaS, Cloud and Managed Services, rather than traditional CapEx IT. While there may not be a single perfect incentive model for all organisations, there are certainly some valuable lessons you … Continued

Implications of the Ansoff Matrix on Channel Strategy

In last month’s article – Not Everybody Wants to Grow – we made a brief reference to the Ansoff Growth Matrix. In this month’s article, we explore this model further, and its implications for your channel strategy. Igor Ansoff was born in Russia in 1918, but is largely considered to be the father of strategic … Continued

Not Everybody Wants to Grow

It may be abhorrent to many vendors, but not all solution providers/MSPs want to grow their business. It may be that they’ve achieved a level of organic growth and profitability they’re happy with, or it may be that the additional investment required may be too great, or it may be a business culture that prefers stability. … Continued