8 Tips to Unlocking Success with a Partner Advisory Council

We are often asked by vendors about the value of a Partner Advisory Council (PAC). In this dynamic landscape of modern business, where collaboration is often touted as the key to success, we believe a well-run PAC can be a game-changer in shaping the partner relationship. In this article, we will explore the concept of … Continued

Why Partner Management Needs To Change

In the conventional partner-vendor engagement model, partnerships are measured and graded primarily based on revenue generated and certification level attained. This results in a tiered hierarchy, such as Gold, Silver, and Bronze. However, emerging technologies like Cloud and XaaS have shifted the dynamics of the partner-customer-vendor relationship. The largest partners may not always be the … Continued

5 Tips to Change Your Partner’s Perception

One of the interesting dynamics of our industry is how quickly new technologies (whether they are developed internally or through acquisition) can alter a company’s direction. For example, it can happen when a vendor transitions from perpetual to XaaS, or when a software vendor acquires a hardware company (or vice versa), or when a new … Continued

Channel Compensation Systems – You Get What You Reward

Recently we worked with two vendors to update their channel strategy to be more MSP focused. One of the biggest hurdles was to re-align the internal and external compensation systems to support the channel partners. The old adage “you get what you pay for” was certainly true, and without change, the new channel strategy was … Continued

Not Everybody Wants to Grow

It may be abhorrent to many vendors, but not all solution providers/MSPs want to grow their business. It may be that they’ve achieved a level of organic growth and profitability they’re happy with, or it may be that the additional investment required may be too great, or it may be a business culture that prefers stability. … Continued

Creating An Environment For Great Virtual Delivery

Over the last few months, we’ve written about the need for companies to transition to a new way of doing business. And like many other companies, we’ve had to pivot to delivering our training virtually, rather than face-to-face. But when we set out to adapt our courses, we didn’t just want to run boring webinars… … Continued

Is Your Partner Program Working For You?

If you are a vendor, you probably have a partner program to manage your partners. What’s interesting though is how many vendors talk about how much the industry and partners have changed over the last few years, and yet they continue to manage those partners using an outdated program design created 20 years ago. What … Continued

Segment Partners on Potential, Not Level

One of the most challenging decisions for any business executive is to determine what investment will generate the greatest return.  There are plenty of options of what to invest in, but there is seldom certainty in which one will be the best use of your precious funds.  The same is true for investment planning and program design … Continued

Building Alliances That Actually Work

When vendors talk to us about channels, they typically mean resellers, MSPs, distributors, integrators, consultants, and occasionally agents. But every once in a while, a vendor asks us about building an Alliance channel, or making their existing Alliances work. What makes Alliance partners more difficult than a traditional channel, is that they typically don’t make … Continued

Channel and Sales Skills Workshops

This year we introduced Three NEW Channel Skills Courses around Channel Management, Presentation Skills and Negotiation. These two-day public workshops have been a great success and are proving valuable to those new to the channel and more experienced channel members. They all have limited numbers with a maximum of 8-10 people, providing an intimate learning … Continued