Research from Investec earlier this year found that 78% of technology vendors are missing their channel sales targets. The survey also found that poor channel performance is a major factor in a company's ability to scale up.  

So what is going on with channel leadership and their teams? According to Junya Iwamoto, associate director at Investec, “Too many tech companies only view the channel as a means of distribution, and this is seriously damaging opportunities for revenue growth."  

The reality seems to be that leadership at tech companies are not seeing the vision for how channel partners can help them to rapidly scale their companies. Consequently, they are not investing in the skillsets of their channel management teams, and not exploiting best practices to maximize sales results through the partner channel.  

The same Investec research illustrated the dramatic difference in success between high and low channel performers. It showed that businesses that deem their channel programme to be ‘highly successful’ gross £50 million from their top five channel partners per year, compared to just £16 million for unsuccessful programmes.  

The core of the issue seems to be a question of mentality amongst channel leadership at tech companies. There appears to be two schools of thought in channel management. Firstly, “The school of hard knocks” believes that channel management is simply another sales job. You are either a born salesperson or not, and you must “sink or swim”.  

The second school of thought is “The professional”. They believe that channel management is a profession in its’ own right, requiring complex business, management and sales skills to help partners achieve the best for both themselves and your brand. Executives from this school of thought believe that their channel management teams need to be equipped with the right knowledge to do their jobs effectively. Sales skills are not enough, they also need to be up to date on best practices that reflect a changing channel environment.

A good example of the difference between the two schools, and how this impacts on the ground is the new purchase decision process for business solutions. Ten years ago, according to Gartner, over 90% of technology decisions were made by CIOs and IT departments. Today, the number has flipped where lines of business (LOBs) make 72% of decisions. This is predicted to grow to 90% in the next few years and presents a major challenge for both channel partners and channel managers whose knowlege and approach have not kept pace.  

Channel Managers from “The professional” school of thought continually educate themselves on new best practices so they can help their channel partners perform more effectively. According to research by Aberdeen Group much of this is driven by channel leadership at the best performing technology companies who insist their channel teams treat channel management as a profession in its own right.  

Aberdeen’s research indicates that “Best-in-Class firms” are: 

• 36% more adept at training channel partners around positioning / articulating the value proposition 
• 19% more evolved in teaching the channel to personalize sales conversations to needs of individual buyers 
• 40% better at understanding business challenges of customers and prospects  

Which school of thought do you belong to? Are your channel managers “36% more adept at training channel partners around positioning” than your competitors? How strong are they at managing channel conflict and building partner loyalty? Are they above or below average at joint business planning with the channel partners they manage?  

Please feel free to take advantage of a free channel team assessment with the Channel Institute to benchmark your team against average and top performing channel teams. Simply complete the form below and we will get in touch to schedule your free team assessment.  

Key Points:

• The assessment is conducted online so all team members must log in.
• There must be at least 5 team members logged in for the assessment to proceed (we will not reschedule). 
• The format is online polls on multiple channel topics, followed by a discussion of the results.
• We will provide you with a written report after the assessment, comparing your teams' performance versus benchmarks.
• There is no obligation for you to send your team on any of our training courses. 

Simply complete the form below and we will get in touch within 48 hours to schedule your free team assessment.

The Channel Institute is the only training body in the world that provides business training specifically for the channel profession through a syllabus validated by a vendor-independent Industry Advisory Council. Our Industry Advisory Council is comprised of the most senior leadership in the channel profession at many of the world's largest technology employers. These channel thought leaders ensure that our channel management, sales and channel marketing course content meets the highest global standards.  

To access all of our best practices, research and channel partner business plan templates please visit our certificate courses: 

Click Here for Courses.

Please register below and we will contact you to schedule your free team assessment.