Channel Management Maturity: How to Get There

The channel concept has existed since the Stone Age–when one person bartered with another. While technology has evolved rapidly over the past few thousand years, the state of their channel maturity still resembles antiquated methods that stifle growth for many companies.

Based on our engagement with thousands of channel partners worldwide and our evaluation of how vendors deploy channel management, we have developed a basic four-step framework for partner lifecycle management (or activities). We break down this lifecycle into four core areas: partner recruitment, partner engagement, partner enablement, and partner management.

As a part of the channel management maturity evaluation, it is essential to understand which phase a company is in regarding these four different areas of activities. This is a starting point with the idea that the channel will evolve and grow.

Phase 1: Laying the Foundation

This is the start-up phase of channel development. When you look at the activities at this level, it covers the following:

Partner Recruitment

The company has some basic partner recruitment capabilities in place by running tradeshows, webinars, and call-out campaigns. Recruitment is ad hoc, not focused on partner profiling or competency development, but more opportunistic.

Partner Engagement

The company knows how to provide a basic infrastructure. In many cases, the following are homegrown:

• Partner portal- Tends to be patched together using either open-source software, SharePoint or some other web development tools. However, the portal is monolithic, not localized, and cannot offer personalized content. With that said, at this stage, the basic content exchange capabilities are in place. Some companies in this phase deploy a basic partner relationship management automation level.
• Partner onboarding- Signing contracts, training partners on how to sell, and putting business plans together are the core steps in this phase, but most of these activities are done manually, and there are no systems in place to track the progress of partner engagement.
• Partner communication- A weekly or monthly newsletter goes out to partners, but communication is not broadly aligned with strategic initiatives and intent. Most content is highly tactical, not necessarily controlled or aligned with broader corporate initiatives. Very rarely do we see partner relationship management automation deployment at this stage.

Partner Enablement

The company provides a basic level of marketing and sales tools.

• Marketing and sales enablement- Price lists, product data sheets, and marketing templates are available for partners. However, content is not mobile-friendly and is difficult to search, tag, and find at this level.
• Partner training- A basic partner certification and training mechanism is in place, but there is no structured learning management system (LMS) to digitally train, track, and certify partners across multiple countries and languages.

Partner Management

The company has a loosely defined partner incentive structure in place, primarily using market development funds.

Incentives are available ad hoc, but no structured quarterly programs are in place, nor is there any competency alignment.

Phase 2: Refining the Structure to Scale

Companies entering this phase have a significant portion of their revenue (perhaps more than a few hundred million dollars) coming from the channel, and the channel is a strategic piece. Also, we see a more prevalent deployment of automation to streamline multiple areas and workflows globally.

Partner Recruitment

Partner recruitment is a strategic initiative–structured in a few countries but ad hoc in others. Some partner profiling analysis is done to understand what territories need pruning and where new partners must be added. Multi-quarter programs are rolled out.

Partner Engagement

The company has a structured approach towards partner engagement by partner type, verticals, competencies, sales velocity, etc.

• Partner portal- This becomes a strategic tool to provide segmented content to specific sets of partners and is used extensively.
• Partner onboarding- The entire partner onboarding process is automated, and progress can be tracked dynamically using partner relationship management automation tools. Complete partner relationship management (PRM) tools are deployed sporadically as well.
• Partner communication- At this stage, communication tends to be more structured, regular, and mature. Some level of communication personalization is achieved via partner profiles and the usage of partnership relationship management automation tools.

Partner Enablement

The company has built a set of structured tools that are deployed by countries in various languages.

• Marketing and sales enablement- Besides basic content, the company provides advanced, academy-level marketing and sales content. Integrated marketing tools and campaigns are available for partners to use. Many companies at this stage also use multi-partner demand-generation activities using some partner relationship management automation platform.
• Partner training- Both training and certification are quite organized at this level and aligned with partner profiles (e.g., competency matching.). Training also aligns with incentives and awards and may tie to strategic objectives.

Partner Management

The company has put together an advanced performance management process and is trying to implement it across multiple countries. Performance and incentive parameters are clearly defined and actively enforced.

• Deal registration and protection- One core performance management and enhancement tool is deal protection and registration. The company may provide some basic level of automation and alignment with the rest of the programs.
• Advanced incentives- Besides market development funds (MDF) and/or co-op funds, the company may also provide additional rewards, rebates, and incentives. However, these programs may not fully align with other programs and initiatives. Partner relationship management automation is used ad hoc to create, deploy, and manage incentive programs.

Phase 3: Optimizing the Channel to Excel

This is the most mature and advanced phase, where hundreds of millions, and maybe even billions of dollars, are flowing through the channel, and the entire existence of the company deeply depends on the channel's success.

Partner Recruitment

Partner recruitment is a strategic initiative and is highly organized. Partner profiling is done regularly to understand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats on a territory-by-territory basis. Regular partner recruitment activities are conducted to fill gaps, prune, and align with growth strategies.

Partner Engagement

The company fully streamlines its go-to-market activities behind competency-based profiling that aligns with end-user/customer segments. Allocation of resources is highly strategically tied to overall sales objectives and initiatives.

• Partner portal- Partner relationship management automation is deployed end to end to ensure structured, segmented, and sequential engagement with partner companies and resources. The partner portal is a highly strategic asset that streamlines partner engagement and communication. Multiple functions and departments use the portal as a strategic tool for product releases, updates, pricing, program changes, and enhancements.
• Partner onboarding- This is recognized as one of the most critical phases of engagement. Ramp-to-revenue is considered a highly important metric, and partner relationship management automation is used end-to-end to speed up onboarding, tracking, and managing new partners.
• Business planning- A structured business planning step is introduced and managed actively. Premier partners must submit detailed bi-annual business plans, which channel managers review quarterly. Partner relationship management automation tracks all business plans and their current status.
• Partner communication- Segment-based partner communication is critical in ensuring the right content is available to the right partner at the right time. Partners can personalize content access and delivery. Partner relationship management automation is used endlessly to keep partners informed and productive.

Partner Enablement

This step takes center stage in mature channel organization. Organizations that excel at partner productivity tend to have a highly structured and robust enablement program. Partner relationship management automation is critical in making a robust enablement program a true reality.

• Marketing and sales enablement- The entire marketing and sales enablement program is highly dependent on a robust partner relationship management automation platform with aligned programs and elements in place. Marketing activities are strategic and focused on extending the company's reach via a distributed channel network. Programs are initiative-based and fully aligned with a performance management and incentives program.
• Partner training- All partners have access to training at various levels of complexity. Partners who are starting up have access to basic certification programs, but the company also offers vertical and multiple competency-based training paths that are value-added to partners’ technical staff and differentiate from competitive partner ecosystems. The strength of the partner ecosystem is directly measured via training and certification modules of the partner relationship management automation platform.

Partner Management

The company has a quarter-by-quarter performance management system allows them to align channel management team members with partner targets and achievement status. Improvement plans are put in place to drive and increase productivity for partners who are not performing. Pruning is performed as necessary to streamline resource allocation and maximize focus. Partner relationship management automation is critical in tracking and managing partner performance globally.

• Lead management and distribution- The company uses a structured lead management and distribution process to hand over qualified leads to capable and performing partners. It also encourages partners to generate leads on their own by leveraging enablement tools from the partner relationship management automation platform.
• Deal registration and protection- Both deal registration and protection programs fully align with competency-based selling for high-performing partners. The partner relationship management automation platform is critical in ensuring deals are tracked, measured, and registered appropriately and the right approval routing is used to eliminate channel conflict and confusion.
• Advanced incentives- Besides market development funds (MDF) and/or co-op funds, the company may also provide additional rewards, rebates, and incentives. However, these programs may or may not fully align with lead generation, deal registration, and management.
• Sales rewards- Individual sales rep-level performance incentives are introduced and fully aligned with pipeline development and other relevant performance metrics.

Reaching Maturity

I realize this article may be daunting for some, but it describes a multi-phase path to maturity that is quite real for many. The key is not to get frustrated with your organization's current lack of maturity or become too content with a high level of maturity.

Channel is a powerful asset to any organization selling indirectly to buyers, but constant rethinking, alignment, and management are also critical to keep go-to-market strategies fresh and partners energized. However, change for the sake of change–and especially change that is not aligned with data–can lead to severe dissatisfaction with the partner base and cause performance to degrade overnight.

This is where partner relationship management automation can be especially valuable, providing full visibility, tracking, and execution with the ability to scale globally.

Originally published at https://www.zinfi.com on January 31, 2022.