It can get rather over complicated in the channel. If you are a channel manager or chief, you may know what I mean. In many ways, it’s about making choices. Which regions to invest? Which partners to invest in? Do I recruit more channel partners? Do I focus on the partners I currently have? How do I get the budget? How far can I stretch my human resources? And, these are just a few of the issues to consider!

When things get overly complicated, it helps to get back to the basics. Fundamental success in the channel requires that you put the “horse in front of the cart”. With this being the common sense approach, here are 10 things that you may want to consider to better leverage your channel.

1. If you do not really know your channel partners, then you will only be guessing, based on your experience. Start by listening more to your channel partners. Do whatever you can to truly build deeper relationships with them. They will always sell what is in demand by their customers, but they may favor you because they know and like you. This sort of channel credit is priceless.
2. You need to know the facts. When did the partner sign up? What they sold? What deals they are working? How is their growth? What did you invest so far in each partner? What were the results? With some basic numbers, you will get a better sense of the actions you should take with each partner. Yes, it is more work to personalize your efforts with each partner, but it will yield more net results than doing something generic with all partners.
3. Ease up on the heavy sales pitch to your channel partners. They are not the end-consumer of your product so they can really only buy what they can sell. Focus your efforts on supporting the partner to prospect their end-user community as much as you can.
4. Do your channel partners really know how to market, sell, present and deliver your products? This is one of those horse-before-the-cart situations. You just got to ensure that they are up to speed. Something as basic as a poor sales presentation is enough to kill your growth.
5. How well does your channel partner manage their business? If they are not doing a good enough job, then you may want to think twice about investing resources. How can you know? One way is to simply encourage them to take a business assessment test. They can take a FREE test at bestmanageditcompanies.com. If they are really good and have a high score they could even win a Best 50 Award. A well-run business is a business that you want to invest in!
6. Know where you stand with your channel partners, even if you feel that they like you. How much profit are you generating for their business? In the end, this is your net value to them. If you can figure out what percentage of their profits you represent, then you are ahead of the curve. For example, I know that a reseller pays me $375 per month for a 10-user license for an e-procurement tool. Each of their sales reps saves at least 2 hours per day looking for prices, availability and doing quotes. A reseller with 4 sales reps X 2 hours per day X $30 per hour X 20 days per month = $4,800. This justifies their investment of $375 per month. You need to justify your value to your partners either from a cost-savings or from a profitability perspective. If your partner makes $1,000 per month profit from selling your stuff and their total profit is $50,000, then you represent 2%. Use this number to build and make your case. The more you can grow this number, the more you will have their attention! There are other factors, but nothing spells attention like money.
7. Keep in touch with your channel partners. You want to consider the actual results of your company’s general communications that are sent to their entire database, as it may be falling on deaf ears. Today, there is no reason why you cannot keep in touch with your partners. Your mission is to find the best way and feed content that they really want. Try being in the channel news media! It’s not difficult once you know how to work it.
8. Do not waste time with partners and empty promises. If the partner understands that you are there to help them market and sell, but they continue to ignore you, then, turn the page and focus your energy on another partner who cares.
9. When do you stop recruiting new partners? Never! You have to keep your sales pipeline primed with new prospects, but remember to only bite off what you can chew. Your on-boarding process has to be effective. Yet another area where you need the horse before the cart. Remember, smart small companies grow up to be big companies. Getting in on the ground floor gets you well positioned for the future. You need to make next quarter’s quota, but you also need to make next year’s quota. The more seeds of opportunity that you plant, the more you will reap in the future!
10. Respect your channel partners! If you only go to them when you need them to buy or when the economy is bad, then it is probably too late. They are not there to feed you. You are there to feed them so they may feed you. There are tens of thousands of channel partners that are doing amazing things to help their customers leverage technology to grow their businesses. It’s important work that drives the economy. With the right attitude and support, you will be amazed how well they can perform for you!

I can go on with many more points (already packed a few extra point within the 10), but if you can use any of these 10 things to help your channel partners and yourself, then you are on your way to a better future.