Channeltivity

In most traditional marketing, the focus is on reaching and influencing an end user to buy a product or service. Channel marketing still has a product promotion slant. But channel marketing is different because channel partners are intermediaries. So, in this scenario, it’s more about?enabling partners?to sell your product rather than pushing end users to buy it. How do you do that? What are some proven channel marketing strategies you can try out in Q2? Lucky for you, we've got 6 best practices for developing a successful channel marketing strategy — based on advice from 3 channel marketing pros: https://lnkd.in/gd_c6nK4

You could measure partner contribution in terms of closed deals or referrals, but that may not paint the whole picture. Partners can amplify your growth in myriad ways, from opening doors to new geos to improving customer retention through smooth implementations to boosting brand awareness. And when measuring performance, those metrics need to be taken into account as well. Importantly, though, partners can’t do any of those things if: ? They don’t see value in your program ? They don’t know how to sell or launch your solution ? They don’t know where to go to get marketing materials The best way to know whether they’re properly enabled and incentivized is to measure engagement in every aspect of your program — and that, friends, is partner analytics. Learn what partner analytics really is, how to apply it to your program, and offer some best practices to adopt along the way. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gNzkcgnc Big thanks to our fantastic customer, David I. for his contributions!

The best partners care deeply about the customer experience. But how do you know if they do or not? Here are some ways to find out: ? Look at their reviews. Are customers happy with their results, or are they reporting major issues? Pay attention to customer opinions on the company’s level of support. Are they satisfied with the help they get? ? Talk to references. Review their list of partners and try to spot companies that aren’t in your line of business. Because they aren’t competitive with you, they may be more willing to give their honest opinion on working with a company on your potential channel partner list. ? Ask about their SLAs. This is particularly critical if you’re operating in an industry with heavy compliance restrictions or where channel partners need to step in last minute. ? See whether they are willing to go through training. If they’re not keen to invest in your?training and certification, that could indicate a lack of commitment to service quality. Want more partner recruiting tips? We got 'em. Check this out: https://lnkd.in/gDPcXHeE

We’re thrilled to share that we successfully completed our third SOC 2 Type II audit! As Zach Smith, our CTO, puts it: “At Channeltivity, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of information security for our customers. Successfully completing a SOC 2 Type II audit with no exceptions underscores our dedication to safeguarding customer data for a diverse set of high-tech enterprise clients.” To learn more about our security and compliance practices, head to our website: https://lnkd.in/gKCKvWwu

Thinking about a transition from sales to partnerships? ?? We've got 3 questions for you: ? Do you want to vie for CRO one day? ? Do you enjoy forming long-term relationships? ? Are you excited to try something new? If you checked all 3 boxes, it might be time to make the switch. And we've got 6 tips (from multiple people who've bee in your shoes!) to prepare you to knock it out of the park. https://lnkd.in/gPkkE8Ej

Every channel partner runs their business differently. Catering your offering to the way they work can help them feel valued and prevent them from competing with one another for the same opportunities. Some ways to minimize conflict? → Providing exclusive products or bundles to specific channels.?This encourages customers to use the intended channel (without competing against other channels offering similar items). → Offering exclusive product lines.?That way, partners can focus on their specific markets without feeling threatened by each other. → Implement a minimum advertised price (MAP) policy.?This sets a baseline price for which products can be sold to stop partners from giving customers extreme discounts that other partners can’t match. → Institute channel-specific incentives.?Internal sales teams, distributors, and partners all have different motivations. Play into those wants and needs by offering comp kickers, better margins, or exclusive access to product betas or marketing opportunities. Need some ideas to jazz up your incentives? Check out this list of?partner program tweaks: https://lnkd.in/gv96xdJt

If you’ve ever participated in vendor selection before, you know a lot of discussion happens around specific features and functionality. And, of course, you want to know that your partner portal will do what you want it to do. But knowing what features and functionalities will best support your specific needs requires some significant pre-work. And there may be other tangential things you need to take into account that you may never have considered. So, if you're in the market for a PRM (or any other partner-related tool), be sure to check out Trish Rilling, Anthony Luzza, and Sarah Muzquiz's expert advice on what to prioritize in an evaluation. Get their tips here: https://lnkd.in/gpyg8yPk

With so much on your plate, it’s easy to neglect partner portal content. But the thing is, refreshing your content is one of the best ways to keep your partners informed about how your company and program are evolving — and that allows them to sell or implement your products more effectively. May we suggest a little spring cleaning? ???? We've built a checklist out for you! It covers your: ?? Portal Home Page ?? Partner Program Guidelines ?? Library ?? Co-Branded Collateral ?? Training Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gMru9u73

If you’re like most partner professionals, you’re always on the hunt for that ‘one partner program tweak’ that will dramatically change the course of your career. We hate to break it to you, but there’s no ‘hack’ that’ll magically transform your partner program. ?? There are, however, a *series* of tweaks you can make to ensure your program grows and evolves sustainably. And we know they work because real people have had real success with them. Keep reading to learn why it’s critical to keep enhancing your partner program and recommendations from people who’ve scaled partner programs before: https://lnkd.in/gv96xdJt Matt Driscoll at Spur Reply George Klippel at Ateme Brian Wichinski at Cloudian Inc

One way to avoid channel conflict this year? Standardize your onboarding process. Giving any partner preferential treatment (unless you’ve specified how you’re doing it in your tiering standards) is a recipe for channel disaster. Write a standard operating procedure to keep the process consistent. At a high level, a partner joining your program should trigger: — An invite to a one-on-one meeting with their partner manager,?who runs through the same presentation for every partner under their purview. You might also consider filling out a?joint business plan?to solidify your goals for the relationship. — An invite to your partner portal.?Make sure they have the same permissions as every other partner in their category and tier. Create a video to show them around the portal, pointing them to training courses, marketing assets, and deal, lead, and referral rules. — Enrollment in ongoing email marketing sequences?to remind them of perks, SPIFFs, and?channel co-marketing?opportunities to?increase partner engagement. Trish Rilling?at Grititude has another tip,?“After every conversation, recap everything via email. Be sure to outline all the topics that were discussed while also including next steps needed to keep everyone on the same page.” Want more pointers? Check out our guide to channel conflict: https://lnkd.in/gVFt-Qap