What a Vendors Wants from a Channel Partner

Having worked as an end user, in the channel (reseller, SI) and vendor, I have seen different sides of what each party wants from a relationship. For this post I want to focus on what the vendors wants, where vendors go wrong in their want of a channel and what vendors should consider to make a partnership work. This post is aimed at the vendor to help them have more success with their business partners.

What a vendor wants

The answer to this is clear; to sell their products. In technology, most vendors especially startups are channel centric; they sell through the vast network of resellers, solution providers and system integrators. These channel partners hold numerous relationships with the right target market customers, so working with them is a good way to get scale and reach. Among vendor wants, the below are some:

1. Provide access: for a channel sales person to open their accounts and make introductions. When it works, this can get a vendor closer to a customer quicker than direct sales, this is because the reseller already has a trusted advisor relationship with their client.
2. To help grow reach in the vendor's target segment
3. To sell the vendors technology over that of their competition
4. To develop and execute joint marketing campaigns into existing customers to drive pipeline

The vendor sales persons role is simple: sell as much as they can to as many customers as they can. This is why vendors generally want to work with resellers on relationships that they are already selling into. More mature vendors will have a channel team in place whose job it is to enable channel partners and drive pipeline for the sales teams. I will explore this specifically in a another post and why this is a good and bad strategy.

A common mistake vendors make

One common mistake I see many vendors make, particularly startups or young growing companies, is that they only consider what they want - this is usually due to aggressive targets and pressure to meet growth expectations. Some assume that just because they have the best technology in that space, that a channel partner should drop any competing vendors and only position their products. However in reality, this is not how most channel partners operate; many work to customer demand. If a customer wants to buy vendor A servers then the channel partner is most likely going to sell them vendor A servers. That's why in the early stages, it is important for vendors to market their offering directly to the target market to create interest. There are exceptions to the rule and vendors may find resellers who are good at helping seed the market early on but the majority will wait until an offering has matured a little and customer demand exists.

Vendors must remember that for a channel sales person, their customer relationships are the crown jewels; it's what pays the mortgage and puts food on the table. Most of these reps will be cautious to disrupt that stream by introducing an unknown. Also, these sales reps get numerous vendors regularly asking the same thing "Can you introduce me into xyz account". If the rep went to their customer every week with a new vendor then I am sure they would get annoyed. Some partners negate this by doing quarterly technology workshops where they cover off current trends.

What vendors should consider doing

To be more successful in sales with a partner and grow revenue together, put yourself in the partners shoes and consider the following:

1. Learn the channel partners business model - what is their go to market, key areas of focus, and strategic objectives for the coming year. Then align yourself and the messaging to these areas
2. Understand that they have other vendor relationships - don't assume that a channel partner will disrupt an ongoing revenue stream just because your technology may be better. Show them how your offering can be more profitable and provide better value to their customers
3. Build a relationship and trust - this one if very important, if the partner rep trusts you then they are more likely to speak with you about key accounts. Never say this "If you wont introduce me into your account then I will just go to another reseller and ask them" - this is the quickest way to destroy trust, instead find another way to collaborate with them
4. Learn what the partner needs from you - Ask them what is important to them and what they need from you as a vendor
5. Provide the partner with the right knowledge - instead of always asking them to introduce you into an account, arm the reseller with your value proposition, how to spot an opportunity and what questions to ask. That way when the timing is right, the sales rep knows what to look out for
6. Target white-space together - breaking a partners stable revenue stream is a harder sell for a vendor, this requires patience and continual knowledge transfer. One area to consider is white-space, a vendor will find the partner is very keen to collaborate to open a net new account rather than disrupt an existing one. It is a longer sell but leveraging the partners experience could help opening a new account easier
7. Be patient - making a channel work takes time and patience. I have seen many vendor sales reps give up on the first or second try because a partner rep wont introduce them into an account. Find out why and work the relationship, build the trust and over time you will find new opportunities coming your way

In the next post I will cover what a channel partner wants, which will tie in nicely when reading both posts together.

As always, I would love to hear from you. What experiences can you share, has something worked or not worked for you.