Is your business a promising startup or a developing one? If your answer is a big yes and you are determined to find definite ways to grow your business and succeed, check out the best channel partner programs available to you and join the one that will bring out the best in your business.
Here are two conclusions drawn about channel partner programs:
- The best channel partner programs provide that cutting-edge factor to expand your reach to new markets – that is, if you have a great product or service offer.
- A successful channel partner program requires time and effort to establish and see great results. Plus, you must invest quite a bit on the resources needed by your channel partners within that year. However, you have no means to know for sure if your investments pay off until later. In fact, many successful channels say that it takes at least 12 months to feel the rewards if any.
4 Crucial Elements Of Success For Your Channel Partner Reseller Program
Here’s a detailed guide on the four main elements to focus on with your channel partner reseller program. Do these well and your partner program will soar high!
MOTIVATION OF CHANNEL PARTNERS
Many channel programs do not give enough attention to this key element and more do not care to invest precious funds and resources to address this. Most manufacturers think that providing commissions on products or services sold is enough motivation. If you also think this, then you had better think again.
Put yourself in their shoes and imagine that your company has chosen you as the sales team leader. As the leader, you are given free rein to hire 10 of the best performing salespersons available. Do you think that these top 10 salespersons will choose you, who offer just commissions, over some other companies who provide a good compensation package?
On top of this, say you are able to convince them to work with your company initially. How will you continue to motivate them in the months or years to come so they will choose to remain working for your company? Since your salespersons are crucial to your income generation, it then makes sense to provide them with training to keep them updated with whatever skills and knowledge they need to remain the best at what they do. Providing them excellent tools and coordinating team building activities and recreational options are other ways to provide your precious resellers the motivation not only to keep selling your products or services but also to choosing to stay with you for the longest time possible.
Long-term Motivation
Remember that the efficiency and profitability of your sales team are not just measured in a month or a year but is a lifelong value. Since employing, onboarding, and training employees require so much of your resources, it then becomes an important consideration to motivate them to stay working in your company until they retire – if possible.
In the same way, your channel partners are your extended sales team. Investing in the means and ways that your channel partners including your channel resellers can succeed is equally as important as investing in your company sales team.
What Motivates Your Partners?
Know and discover the proper motivation for each partner. After all, not everyone is motivated by monetary rewards. While it is a primary motivator, other channels may be earning enough not to care about this anymore. Belonging to a channel community, building something awesome or useful, ability to create more upsells, the list can be limitless and can best be determined if you take the time and effort to know what makes each channel partner or reseller tick.
Some motivators include:
- Revenue/Income: Almost all companies are established to generate revenue or income. So, who wouldn’t be motivated if shown calculations and projected income that is proportionate to your efforts as a channel partner or reseller, right?
- Belonging To A Channel Community: In a channel community, mutual benefit is fostered and supported. So, if you belong to one, you not only have access to collaborators, you also have access to experts who can help you out in marketing and selling your product or service.
- Amazing Sales Tools: Having access to amazing sales tools that equip your resellers and channel partners to close sales easily is almost always a great motivator.
- Leads: Who doesn’t love getting qualified leads that are easily followed up and closed? Remember that warm leads result in more sales than cold leads.
- Storytelling: This motivator may not be as appealing as others listed here. But some resellers actually like having a compelling story to tell. It can also lend credibility if you deliver it right and is understood by your clients.
2. PROPER AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Proper and effective communication is another crucial element that you need to consider to ensure that your partner program succeeds. Emphasis must be given to PROPER and EFFECTIVE communication since almost everyone can communicate. But whether they communicate what needs to be said is another matter entirely. To succeed, you and your channel partners must develop the ability to communicate effectively and properly to create a clear message to your clients.
![PROPER AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION]()
Examples of Communication Failings
Here are the three most common communication failings that occur during the orientation or consultation.
- Some channel partners simply provide product or service information and just concentrates on its features and uses. Plus, maybe the background history of the company that created that product or service. What they missed out to explain is how the product or service can help the partners and the clients, which is the most important information that should be communicated clearly to your channel partners and resellers.
- Learning how your channel program works can be confusing and overwhelming, to say the least. Communicating this clearly to understand it will help convince your prospective channel partners to join and commit to selling your product or service.
- You allot insufficient time to give proper and important product information to your channel partner resulting in rushed or unclear information.
In the end, these and other limitations can impact the success of your program. However, with proper planning and proper communication, you should be able to ensure success.
To start, make sure that all your information is clear and that this disseminated information is accurate and consistent. The information includes product or service features and functions, sales training tools, sales presentations, and the like.
Remember: Think like the client and provide the information that you would want to know if you were the one buying your product or service. As such, provide these data to your channel partners so that they will also know how to present your product or service in an appealing manner to your clients.
3. PROPER TOOLS FOR CLOSING DEALS
Your channel partner has to be able to access the same resources that your company sales team uses. What’s even better is if you create great sales tools including articles, presentations, brochures, videos as well as others, and give these to your channel partners. These can surely help them close deals easily and effectively.
But why are these sales tools significant? Great presentations provide a systematic and effective presentation of relevant information that your clients would want to see to be convinced to purchase your product or service. Having these pre-made shows that your company is organized and reliable in the way that your sales team or channel partners are able to explain the product or service briefly and properly.
Check out this list of some valuable sales tools that you can conceptualize and create.
- Product or service demonstration
- Sales presentations
- Email templates and ready-made emails
- Conversation guides
- Analysts’ or Experts’ statements
- Competitors’ information
- ROI calculations
Some marketing tools that you can provide for your channel partners include:
- Websites
- Blog articles
- Brochures
- Infographics
- Marketing campaign printouts
Remember: Create creative and impressive tools for your channel partners’ use. It may cost more to create these but its long-term effect outweighs that cost. In the same way that determination gives you the strength to traverse hurdles to succeed, your BIG efforts can create more avenues to close deals.
4. ELIMINATE BLOCKERS
Understanding your channel partner program can already be overwhelming enough to your channel partners, especially to resellers who are handling various products at once. Thus, eliminating blockers that make it harder to understand and engage in your product or service is an important element for your success.
See some things that can complicate or hinder the process of your channel program.
- Self-Centered Agreements: Is the agreement all in favor of you? How about your channel partner’s rights? If your agreement doesn’t promote mutual agreement, then how can you expect to succeed in getting channel partners, much more one coming from channel sales?
- Lengthy Agreements: This kind of agreement requires time and money to process for both you and your channel partner or reseller. Make it simple and direct. The quicker you become partners, the quicker your new channel partners can start marketing and selling your product or service.
- Mediocre Sales Materials: Little or no access to sales channels means lesser successful sales presentations for your channel partners as well. So, invest in prime and effective sales materials for your channel partners’ easy use.
- Poor Client Support: No one to talk to in case your partners need clarifications or better answers to queries. This is not just bad for you but is also bad for your partner. To solve this, make sure you or your CSR is always available.
- Low Or Poor Communication: If your response takes more than 48 hours to be done, then that is not a good indicator on your part. Avoid this at all costs and maintain the standard WITHIN 24 HOURS response time. Offer various ways to be reached and employ automatic responses to FAQs and have proper CSR to handle urgent issues for faster resolution.
- Low-Quality Education: Your education program offers little to no interesting and useful data that your channel partners can use to close deals or sell your product or service. To solve this problem, make sure to provide the right information such as why your clients should buy your product or service instead of your rival’s.
The Bottom Line
When you build your own set of best channel partner programs, always remember to incorporate these four elements. They are the motivation of channel partners, proper and effective communication, proper tools for closing deals, and eliminate blockers. Minding these should enable you to avoid committing many mistakes and ensuring that you have created and designed your channel program to be as successful as can be.
Join a channel that supports mutual growth and success. ForzaDash sincerely welcomes channel partners like you, who want to belong to a big channel that can both rely on each other always. Call ForzaDash here today.
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