How to Start Building a Channel Partner Program

What are channel partners?

Channel partners are independent businesses collaborating with a company to sell, market, or distribute its products or services. They act as an extension of the company’s sales team and help it reach new customers or markets that it may have yet to be able to get. Channel partners include resellers, distributors, dealers, agents, and other intermediaries. They typically have expertise in a particular market or industry and have established relationships with potential customers. In exchange for selling the company’s products or services, channel partners receive a commission as compensation.Effective channel partner programs can help companies expand their reach, increase sales, and build brand awareness.

What is a channel partner program?

A channel partner program uses data and analytics to inform its design, management, and optimization. It collects and analyzes data on partner activities, customer behavior, and program outcomes to make informed decisions about improving the program’s performance. This program typically tracks key performance indicators (KPIs), like sales revenue, customer acquisition, retention, partner performance, and return on investment (ROI). By tracking these KPIs, companies can identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement and use this information to optimize the program’s design, allocate resources effectively, and provide partners with the support they need to be successful.

What is the importance of channel partner programs?

Channel partner programs are essential because they help companies make informed decisions about investing their resources, improving their program’s performance, and building solid relationships with their partners. By using data and analytics to drive decision-making, companies can create a program that delivers measurable results and provides value to the company and its partners.

How to build a channel partner ecosystem?

Building a channel partner ecosystem requires creating a partner marketing team and partner marketing functionality. It is about engaging the partners, acquiring new customers, or nurturing them with your content. It is also about nurturing them with a partner ecosystem program and its benefits. When you acquire and help those partners to get the deals for you, you can call them channel sales teams. These are the two teams required to build a channel partner program.

Any channel partner program should first build a partner promise, as that’s what a partner program stands for! So what is the value proposition to technology resellers or other partners? Here are some examples:

1. Value proposition means what they will get in the first three or six months. For example, they are going to earn 10k dollars every year through the partnership program. That’s the number one benefit.

2. They will get training and documentation support.

3. They will get marketing support.

4. They might get funding for their marketing program.

All of this defines the value proposition and must be developed by a partner marketing program.

What are the steps to build a channel partner program?

Here’s what you can do to create a channel partner program:

1. Identify key metrics like sales revenue, partner acquisition, retention, and partner performance.

2. Set targets for each metric based on your business objectives and historical performance data.

3. Gather data on your program’s and partners’ performance using tools such as CRM, marketing automation, and partner portals.

4. Analyze your collected data to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.

5. Use the insights from data analysis to make decisions about program improvements, partner recruitment, and resource allocation.

6. Share performance data with your partners so that they can see how their activities are contributing to program outcomes.

7. Continuously evaluate your program’s performance, make data-driven decisions, and optimize your program to achieve your goals.

What companies are interested in channel partners?

Any company that relies on a channel sales strategy can benefit from a channel partner program. This includes technology, software, telecommunications, consumer goods, and healthcare companies. Specifically, companies that have complex products, long sales cycles, or multiple customer segments can benefit from a channel partner program. These companies often have an extensive network of channel partners responsible for selling their products or services to customers.

What type of partners and technology resellers are good for you?

You may ask yourself whether Freshworks, Cisco, or Zoho reseller is good for you, or should you go to the market via chartered accountants (CAs) or people selling Human Resources Management Service (HRMS) office. All this depends on the market that you want to capture. If you want to grab a small segment, they go with the sellers of the accounting firms. The type of partners or resellers you need will differ if you’re going to target the enterprise market.

Author Details

Shreyas Phirke

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