Channel Partner Enablement

Successful channel partner enablement comes down to a combination of best practices and effective tools. Assuming that your company has recruited suitable channel partners in the first place, that are aligned with the company strategy, then the next two phases of partner onboarding and enablement are key to the success of your channel partner program.

The Channel Institute provides a wide range of free tools and resources to complement our certificate training courses in channel sales, channel marketing and channel management. Simply provide your details through the form below and you will be automatically sent a channel partner enablement template to help maximize results from your channel enablement process.

Tips for Successful Channel Partner Enablement:  

Enabling channel partners is obviously not the first step in the partner launch process. First you need to recruit the right type of partner, and that means understanding how to recruit channel partners as well as developing an ideal partner profile that fits your business strategy and business model. Once the right channel partners have been engaged, they then need to be "onboarded". This is usually a distinct stage in its own right which must be concluded effectively before the enablement process begins. The best way to help them do this is by providing program documentation, and a dedicated representative to speak with. Partner enablement is the key to understanding your partners business and how your products integrate into their offering. No matter whether you have recruited your partners to help open new verticals, geographies or to fulfill in smaller markets they all need to be properly enabled.

These activities are typically implemented by a Partner Enablement Manager. Their role is usually to create and manage the Partner Enablement program and work with all key stakeholders to ensure the success of the program, as well as promoting cross functionally to build partner competency and skills. The Partner Enablement Manager also enables the company's channel partners with the goals of driving channel revenue and allowing Account Executives and Partner Managers to focus on co-selling with the channel.

The overall goal of channel partner enablement is to drive sales results by using all of the content and resources you have today, making those resources available to channel partners, and gaining insight into the interaction and engagement with the end buyer.

Allow co-branding on your marketing assets, even encourage content creation. Provide color options so partners can represent their brand. Enable customizable text sections on emails or landing pages for partners to state their value. And remember, partners frequently fail to spend funds because they misunderstand guidelines and restrictions, or miss deadlines. A critical part of channel partner enablement is helping channel partners to clearly understand the co-funding process, and provide them with access to any tools that might make claiming funds easier.