Looking for true Channel Enablement? Then, this blog post on partner relationship management will tell you where to start.
Step #1: Understanding your partners
First, try to understand who your partners are. Answer questions like
- Where are they located
- Which market do they target
- What products/services of yours do they sell best
Step #2: Who are their customers
Analyze their customer profile. At this stage, you need to answer questions like:
- What is the core Target Customer Segment: Draw up a detailed persona of each customer type in the target market. Document their their title, role, position in the decision making hierarchy, etc.
- Target Industry: Find out which industry verticals are targeted by your channel partners and their success rates with each of them.
- Buying Process: Document the typical sales process at the partner level. How much time does it take to convert a lead? What are the key milestones in the process?
Step #3: Use the information
The next step is to use the data you collected to enable your channel partners in multiple ways such as-
- Developing local marketing programs: You can customize your corporate marketing and sales campaigns to suit the local markets of your channel partners.
- Generating sales and marketing collateral specific to the target industries: Your channel partners may have been using unfocused, generic sales and marketing materials. Now that you have key data about your target industry, you can use this information to develop sales and marketing assets that address the specific issues of each core target industry vertical.
- Documented sales and marketing best practices: Once you have a clear view of the buyer’s journey and the key milestones in the sales process, you can use that information to chalk out a guided sales process for your channel partners. Use the information to streamline your marketing and sales processes to speed up the buyer’s journey and shorten the sales cycle. Develop marketing and sales best practices to be followed at each step of the sales cycle. Provide your channel partners with assets that are relevant to their prospect’s milestones in the sales cycle and see them warm up sooner to your channel partners.
Think these tips were helpful? Then you might want to check out our PRM Webinar, Fast-Tracking Demand in B-to-B Channels. Kathy Freeman Contreras, Research Director-SiriusDecisions discusses-
- The most effective means for delivering lead generating programs that achieve the highest adoption rates and ROI
- How you can drive better engagement and marketing performance with partners
- The 4 phases of the SiriusDecisions Fast-Tracking Channel Demand Model
- How you can prepare for a successful sales enablement project
Click here to watch the webinar recording now.
About Mindmatrix
Mindmatrix is the only single, fully integrated platform offering complete marketing and sales enablement for direct and indirect sales. Mindmatrix offers Partner Relationship Management (PRM) software, Channel Marketing Automation, Asset Management software, Sales Enablement software and Marketing Automation software for the complete enablement of your sales and marketing teams.
