What are the best ways to train and support channel partners?

After many years working with channel partners of many types and sizes I found the best way to help them to be successful on your behalf and drive revenues for you was to invest hard at the start. Training and lunch and learns is one thing, but what I found worked again and again was having a team of channel sales people confident to sell to end users and to align the channel partner to find opps and introduce us alongside them to help. In this way the customer got the best expertise they could, creating higher win rates and the channel partner sales person had to attend with us and learn from how we sold our solution. Quickly by osmosis the channel salesperson picked up how to sell us, how to handle questions, demo etc

Here are key strategies to define clear expectations and goals. 1. Communicate clearly: Ensure partners understand objectives, KPIs, and success metrics. 2. Provide comprehensive training on products, target market, and sales process. 3. Joint planning: Collaborate on business plans to align priorities and strategies. 4. Regular reviews: Conduct performance reviews and use data to track progress. 5. Incentives: Implement incentive programs to motivate partners to achieve goals. 6. Ongoing support: Provide resources, guidance, and tools for success. 7. Feedback loop: Gather partner input and use it to improve training and support. 8. Continuous improvement: Evaluate and optimize the program based on feedback and results.

To train and support channel partners effectively, align expectations with business goals, provide tailored training, set SMART goals, offer ongoing support, incentivize performance, track progress, and cultivate a collaborative relationship. This ensures clarity, motivation, and alignment for mutual success.

As Zelios Agency Channel Manager, I revamped our partner program by defining clear expectations and goals. Collaboratively, we outlined roles and crafted a detailed partner agreement. Tailored training programs equipped partners with essential skills. Continuous support and open communication fostered success. Our efforts bore fruit as partners thrived, driving business growth and forging lasting relationships.

The best ways to train and support channel partners include providing comprehensive product training sessions, offering ongoing support and resources such as manuals, guides, and videos, facilitating regular communication and feedback sessions, incentivizing performance through rewards and recognition programs, and fostering a collaborative relationship built on trust and mutual success. Additionally, tailoring training programs to meet the specific needs and challenges of each channel partner can further enhance their effectiveness.

Training and supporting channel partners effectively involves providing comprehensive tools and resources tailored to their needs. Start by offering in-depth product knowledge sessions, sales training, and ongoing education to ensure they understand your offerings inside out. Equip them with marketing collateral, demos, and sales enablement materials to effectively communicate value propositions. Foster open communication channels and provide timely support to address queries and concerns promptly. Regular performance reviews and feedback loops help refine strategies and ensure mutual success.

Help the manager grow personally and professionally. Talking about their goals and ambitions can help them identify areas where they want to develop. Give them access to resources, training programs and opportunities for professional development to help them achieve their goals and boost their self-confidence.

I would organize your sales channels' training priorities something like this: 1. Simple quoting and order processing 2. Simple product knowledge 3. Advanced quoting and order processing 4. Advanced product knowledge In my current organization, our sales channels primarily provide Inside Sales support. They handle warm leads and reorders in their territories. So when you think of things in terms of the 80/20 rule, 80% of what they need to do is process simple reorders and simple new orders. This is why we start with Salesforce software training. As the channel partners advance into more and more challenging requests, we will provide training on-demand and one-on-one until there is a large enough group to teach more about products.

Forne?a aos parceiros ferramentas de vendas que os ajudem a fechar mais negócios, como: - CRM - Software de automa??o de marketing - Ferramentas de prospec??o - Geradores de leads - Ofere?a treinamento sobre como usar essas ferramentas de forma eficaz. Suporte técnico: - Ofere?a suporte técnico de qualidade aos parceiros, para que eles possam solucionar problemas e dúvidas relacionadas aos seus produtos ou servi?os. - Crie uma base de conhecimento online com perguntas frequentes e tutoriais, para que os parceiros possam encontrar solu??es rapidamente. - Ofere?a treinamento sobre como solucionar problemas técnicos comuns.

Hay diferentes tipos de canales, con diferentes funciones y responsabilidades. A cada uno hay que darle las herramientas específicas para que cumpla con su papel. En cualquier caso hay que darles apoyo, formación, material de promoción, herramientas de seguimiento, etc. Una buena práctica es tener un KAM específico de la cuenta, que se responsabilice de que esté bien dotado de los recursos necesarios, así como de la formación del personal, no solamente en la parte técnica o de producto, sino también en la forma en la que deseamos que se hagan las ventas.

The best ways to train and support channel partners involve delivering ongoing training and coaching. Provide comprehensive product knowledge sessions, sales techniques workshops, and regular updates on market trends. Use online platforms for easy access to resources and foster a collaborative environment for sharing best practices. Tailor training to partner needs and offer incentives for continuous learning. Feedback loops are crucial for improvement.

Think about how you can improve your processes and systems to minimize stress for the sales manager and avoid unnecessary pressure. Analyze your current work methods and identify areas where improvements, automation or simplification can be made. This will take some of the pressure off everyone in the team and create a more comfortable and efficient working environment.

Conteúdo sob medida: - Adapte o treinamento às necessidades específicas de cada parceiro, levando em considera??o seu nicho de mercado, nível de conhecimento e experiência com seus produtos ou servi?os. - Utilize diferentes formatos, como webinars, treinamentos presenciais, tutoriais online e materiais de autoaprendizagem, para atender a diferentes estilos de aprendizado. - Ofere?a certifica??es que reconhe?am o conhecimento e as habilidades adquiridas pelos parceiros, incentivando-os a se aprofundarem em seus produtos ou servi?os.

Los temas formativos y coaching comercial, son muy valiosos. El conocimiento específico del producto, como se usa, se prescribe o se vende, la parte técnica, la utilización de las herramientas de marketing o de promoción del mismo etc son muy importantes para una venta efectiva. Los vendedores del canal agradecen estas herramientas formativas, ya que les facilita realizar su labor y ser más eficientes. Las certificaciones en determinados segmentos, como en prestación de servicios, software etc, tiene un gran impacto, pues da además la garantía al cliente de que está en manos de expertos, lo que es muy valorado. Otro punto interesante es el feedback de mercado, de competencia, del resto del canal y de los propios resultados del mismo.

Regular training and coaching are vital to ensuring your partners are up-to-date with your products or services and sales techniques. This could be done through online courses, webinars, or in-person workshops. A Learning Management System (LMS) like Thinkific or Wahoo Learning can be used to deliver and track partner training.

Somehow my company either got out of the habit of regonizing sales channels or never really did to begin with. Craving recognition myself, I realized I had the opportunity to create Inside & Outside sales awards for my region. I "gave" these out right here on LinkedIn in a Post format which recognized these two people's achievement and value to my region. The response was pretty incredible from their networks and from mine, and my company decided to retroactively come up with these awards in a trophy format to be delivered physically. My sales partners aren't really getting any commission directly from their efforts on my products, so this is the least we could do to reward great behavior.

Keep a culture of appreciation and thanksgiving: It's important to acknowledge and appreciate the hard work of the boss and other team members. Show them how grateful you are for their contributions and accomplishments. This will create a positive, motivating work atmosphere where everyone feels valued and appreciated.

Programas de incentivo: Crie programas de incentivo para recompensar os parceiros por seu desempenho, como: - B?nus - Descontos - Viagens - Prêmios Reconhe?a o bom trabalho dos parceiros em público, para motivá-los e inspirá-los a continuar crescendo.

El reconocimiento de logros, categorización, incentivos, premios, certificaciones etc, es algo que funciona muy bien en una red de ventas, lo mismo ocurre con las empresas que constituyen el canal y con los vendedores de las mismas. Una buena convención, en la que se reconozcan dichos logros, se premie a los que consiguen los objetivos, y a los que prestan mejor servicio a sus clientes, tiene un impacto muy importante en los resultados del siguiente ejercicio por la motivación que consigue, además de fidelizar al canal.

Recognizing and rewarding your partners’ achievements can motivate them to perform better. This could be through financial incentives, awards, or public recognition. A Partner Relationship Management (PRM) tool like Allbound can help manage rewards and incentives.

Regularly ask for feedback from your partners and act on it. This shows that you value their input and are willing to make changes to support them. Tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms can be used to collect and analyze feedback.

Regularly monitor and evaluate your partners’ performance against the set goals. This can help identify areas where they are doing well and need support. A CRM system like HubSpot or Microsoft Dynamics 365 can provide detailed analytics on partner performance.

En muchas ocasiones las empresas que constituyen el canal, son peque?as, las han fundado comerciales aventajados, pero carecen de la formación y de las herramientas adecuadas para la gestión, es por ello, que compartir con ellos la información de su desempe?o, el análisis de la misma en términos de eficiencia, tasas de conversión, fidelización de clientes, valor de los mismos, margen etc, les es muy útil. Normalmente también desconocen si lo están haciendo bien o su desempe?o no es el adecuado, para ello hay que darles información de como están situados frente al resto del canal, así como con la competencia. Esta información es muy valiosa. Un valor a?adido es darle estrategias para mejorar los ratios que estamos analizando.

Apart from everything else the key is to build and maintain the trust and confidence amongst channel partners. This is the starting point for any long term business partnership.

To maintain a healthy lifestyle, it's important to provide information about nutrition, exercise, and stress management. You could even organize a short seminar just for all the employees to learn more about healthy living and how to manage stress.