Help Channel Partners Rethink the Sales Process

It’s no secret that B2B buyer personas have evolved and decision-makers are relying less on traditional sales interactions when shopping for technology solutions. Sure, the traditional sales funnel made sense for the way prospects used to learn about products and services. But today’s buyers are leveraging independent online research and word-of-mouth recommendations more than ever, and expect truly tailored customer experiences from the businesses they work with. 

If you’re still educating Channel Partners about obsolete sales models that position customer acquisition as one-and-done interactions, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities. Instead, help Partners rethink the sales process not as a funnel, but as a circular flywheel that involves sales, marketing, and customer success efforts working cohesively to delight your joint customers. 

The flywheel model is a prime example of how taking a customer-centric approach and humanizing the sales process can help you and your Partners grow. And it begins with giving Partners what they need to provide prospects and customers with outstanding sales and customer experiences. 

Goodbye Funnel, Hello Flywheel!  

The flywheel model, originally adapted by HubSpot, focuses on keeping prospects and customers delighted before, during and after their engagement with your business. It’s based on the momentum you gain when you align your entire organization around delivering a remarkable customer experience. While the traditional sales funnel is great for closing new deals, it often ignores how customers can help you grow your bottom line. The fact is, customers can be a driving force that either promote and recommend your products or services, or potentially deter others from working with you. By creating momentum between sales, marketing, and customer service, you remain top of mind and your happy customers drive referrals and repeat business. 

Keep Your Partners’ (Fly)wheels Spinning

Unlike the funnel, the inbound methodology is circular. Rather than a defined top and bottom (or beginning and end), it includes three primary phases: attract, engage and delight. HubSpot will tell you, the most effective way to grow your business is by building meaningful, lasting relationships with prospects and customers. 

So, help Channel Partners by enabling them with the resources and education they need to do just that!

• Attract: Encourage Partners to leverage strategies like social selling to earn buyers’ attention and help them find solutions that align with their goals without bombarding them. Offer value-add multimedia content like videos, blogs, podcasts, webinars and eBooks that make it easy for prospects to learn about your business.
• Engage: Help Partners build lasting relationships with prospects and customers, not just close deals. Position Partners as trusted industry advisors by providing highly personalized content that speaks directly to your target’s pain points. 
• Delight: Empower Partners to provide customers with the ongoing support, education, and services they need to succeed throughout their journey. If you offer customers unmatched value from beginning to end, opportunities for cross-sell, upsell, renewals and referrals will follow!

Interested in learning more about helping Channel Partners leverage the flywheel methodology to drive more demand? Check out this short video and feel free to schedule time to chat with Heather here!