A sales executive’s ability to keep sales team members and partners motivated and focused is critical to making sure that the organization positions itself to meet revenue goals.  As many of us have experienced however, company and market dynamics always change day-to-day efforts –whether it is a new product launch, suddenly underperforming partner channels, or changes in personnel, sales executives are forced to figure out how to be nimble and adjust while keeping control and everyone focused.  As a sales executive looking for solutions, does this sound like you sometimes? *Revenue Goals & Objectives – How ... [More]

I was recently discussing channel management with a colleague in the IT industry who is having trouble getting the most out of his sales channel. As he elaborated on the problem, I realized he’s not alone in what he described and that these issues have probably gotten the best of all of us at one point or another.  As a result, I thought I would ask the group…what is your main frustration regarding channel partner development and activity? You can find the Poll at this Link. I’ll be capturing the groups thoughts and provide feedback in a future blog.  Until then, if you have any additional comments (or frustrati... [More]

While traveling I was reviewing a white paper we developed on one of the most common topics I am asked about ---how do I activate the other 80% of our channel partners while still focusing on my top performers (20%)?  Usually this is followed by additional comments and questions related to: - Channel Sales Strategy:  I focused the design of my organization to maximize the return from the 20% that are driving 80% of my business. Now more than ever I see opportunity as well as risk in the remaining 80%. How can I most effectively engage this group given current organizational design and competencies? - Expanding Into New Markets: ... [More]

Now that you are fully committed to looking for ways to improve your partner channel overall performance, one of the areas you may be considering is relying more on your channel distributor, but beware.  This is a particularly popular approach for companies that want to cut costs and improve the efficiency of their coverage of SMB.   Here is a common scenario I run across:  “For years I’ve been leveraging my own resources to support my channel partners.  It’s how we’ve always done it, but this year I decided to do something different and take the SMB end of my product segment and rely exclusiv... [More]

Now that 2012 budgets and company objectives are in place, sales and marketing executives are looking to meet revenue goals the most efficient way possible ---by increasing the health and performance of channel partners. As these sales and marketing executives take a look at their current channel activity, they are asking tough questions such as: - My market share is eroding, my partner channel’s sales are declining and the usual “fixes” don’t seem to be helping. What’s changed? (The economy excuse is getting old). - What is the best way to identify the root cause of the decline and underperformance... [More]