What a Reseller Wants from Vendors

My last article explored that what technology vendors want from their channel partner is not always right. This article looks at the topic from the channel partners perspective and explores some of the wants that are important to them. It is aimed at vendors to help them to be more successful with a channel strategy and grow channel mind share.

Vendors to work to their tune, not the other way round

Time and time again I see tech vendors implement a channel drive but only really consider what they want and not what their partners want at a granular level. The right channel strategy is to not have too many partners signed up, but a small number of highly engaged and performing ones. Having a small number of partners allows the vendor to focus better on them as individuals to avoid painting every partner with the same brush. There a number of very simple questions to ask which will help determine their wants:

1. What are your top strategic focus areas for the year?
2. What is your go to market strategy? - e.g. enterprise, mid-market, SMB, software focussed, service driven etc
3. What things are important to you?

These are just a sample of questions but three very important ones to always ask. A vendor then must consider the answer and tweak their approach accordingly. For example, if partner A is focusing on cloud then they may not be interested in selling any more servers, or if partner B is aiming their go to market in the SMB space then they may struggle to sell an expensive enterprise product. If a vendor can align themselves to the partner rather than the other way round, they will open up more as you are supporting their drive which in turn will benefit your own.

Trust

Vendors work with channel partners because they hold key customer relationships. The vendor wants to be introduced to these customers giving them a chance to position their product. However, remember that these customers are the lifeblood of the channel seller so they may initially be hesitant to introduce anybody without trusting them first.

So when you meet a new channel seller, rather than asking to be let into their accounts, consider how you build their trust first. Build a relationship, give them a deal in a net new customer, share intel, if you find an opportunity in their customer bring the deal to them, be consistent, never lie to them, never pressurise them; these are just some examples. Consider that building trust is one of the single most important things when working with a channel seller.

Improve Margin

Most channel partners operate on margin/profitability as their main form of compensation. This compensation filters down to the sellers commission plans so revenue is not usually on their minds. The opposite is true for many vendors, they work off revenue recognition and as they mature a combination of revenue and margin. Therefore, vendors need to consider this when implementing a channel strategy and when sales people are working with channel sellers. A channel seller wont care for a ￡1m deal at 1% margin (￡10k) if with a competing vendor they can do a ￡200k deal at 20% margin (￡40k). So stop talking about revenue, and start talking about margin. Most channel partners will look at the margin profile of a vendor before deciding to work with them. Finally, this also relates to the first point, if you don't ask about the resellers business model then you will miss this critical information.

No pressure

Just because a vendor seller wants to be introduced to an account, doesn't mean the channel seller wants to. There are a number of reasons for this which I will be covering in another post, however sometimes vendors place too much pressure on the channel. Have some patience, build the trust and it will flow, if it doesn't then move on.

Consistency

Next to building trust, a consistent experience is another key element that channel partners want. Don't go hot and cold, don't start a flurry of activities then lose patience and stop communicating. Ensure that the messaging, enablement and general engagement is consistent; be available to help. Be dependable, available to answer any questions, support them when things go wrong. All of these attributes provide a good experience and builds trusted relationships.

Keep it simple

Sometimes we all make things more complicated than they need to be, this is also true in channel sales. Channel partners look for vendors that are easy to work with so if a vendor makes it difficult to work with them, success will be minimal. KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) was a principle started in the 1960's with a goal to design systems with simplicity as a key goal. When working with channel partners, make it easy for them to work with you. Bundle solutions with pre-defined pricing, produce simple training programs which are easy to follow and non-intrusive to the day, produce in-30sec collateral so it is easy to digest, have simple and achievable incentives, make it easy to design your solution and quick to quote; these are just a sample of ways a vendor can make engagement simple. Remember: if a channel partner finds it hard to work with you then they will dis-engage.

Hopefully the above tips help vendors become more successful in the channel. It is by no means an exhaustive list but some of the one I think at the foundation are important. As always, leave your experiences for others to learn from in the comments.