Today’s Channel Partners are more often than not born in the cloud, driving recurring revenue models, and they don’t typically refer to themselves as your “Partner.” In their minds, they are just one of many technology companies leveraging (your) IT solutions to drive success for their customers. It's all part of the shifting Channel.
Based on this, it’s hardly a surprise that Partner recruitment is more challenging than ever and often results in Vendors partnering with any solution provider that shows interest. Sounds familiar? If so, it might be time to think critically about laying the right foundation to attract the right partners.
Once you have the framework and know your Partner audience, develop nurturing campaigns, newsletters, Partner-facing blogs, and other communications that work to bring the right Partners to you. Then, continue creating communications in the same vein to keep them engaged long-term.
From a Partner’s perspective, onboarding is necessary but very time consuming and the mere thought of it can be a deterrent in the recruitment process. Your team is a wealth of information here. Tap them for brainstorming and use the information to chart a course for onboarding Partners in ways that work best for them.
Enablement takes many forms. In some cases, Vendors employ Virtual Sales Engineers to assist Partners with technical needs but these resources are typically reserved for the top-producing Partners, which is a problem for post-onboarding enablement. Marketing is another post-onboarding challenge especially with Partners who are swamped and don’t have time or resources to self-serve training and campaigns. In this case, marketing concierge services are a huge driver for successful enablement.
Laying the foundation for a strong partnership begins with recruitment and a big part of the success is dependent on cultivating onboarding strategies that align with ideal Partners. For more information about Partner recruitment strategies, we’re happy to help!