Build the skills to manage partners and grow sales through the channel
Success in channel management requires an understanding of two businesses: your own and your partner’s. Partners choose where to invest their time, people and money, so gaining their support starts with understanding what makes a relationship worthwhile for them.
Our Channel Management Foundations workshops develop the essential skills to select, recruit, onboard and manage partners, helping your team turn partner relationships into sales growth. We tailor the content and delivery around your team’s experience, business priorities, group size, available time and budget.
Program Outcomes
Depending on your priorities and the agreed scope, our workshops help participants develop the skills to:
- Use partners and distributors effectively to reach customers and grow sales.
- Align partner engagement with the way different partner businesses make money and set priorities.
- Identify and recruit partners with the capabilities, commitment and customer reach to succeed with your solutions.
- Develop a partner proposition that gives prospective partners a clear business reason to invest.
- Plan onboarding and enablement activities that help partners generate sales opportunities.
- Sell to partners, sell with them in customer opportunities and enable them to sell your solutions independently to grow revenue through the channel.
- Create practical partner plans and conduct reviews that lead to agreed actions and measurable progress.
- Manage channel conflict constructively to protect partner commitment and support sales growth.
Who should attend?
Channel account managers, partner managers and distribution account managers who are new to their roles or want a more structured approach to managing partners.
Our workshops also suit experienced direct salespeople moving into channel roles, and sales or marketing people whose work depends on partner engagement.
Topics we can cover
- Channel fundamentals – understand the roles of vendors, distributors, resellers and MSPs to build an effective approach to reaching customers through the channel.
- Partner business models – understand how partners make money so you can connect your solutions with their commercial priorities and earn their support.
- Channel coverage – balance partner numbers, capabilities and depth of engagement to reach your target customers and focus resources where they can drive growth.
- Partner selection and recruitment – identify and select partners with the capabilities, commitment and customer fit to give your partnership the greatest chance of success.
- The partner proposition – present a clear business opportunity that gives partners a reason to invest in selling your solutions.
- Onboarding and enablement – equip partners with the knowledge, skills and support to identify opportunities, win customers and grow sales of your solutions.
- Selling to, with and through partners – gain partner commitment to your solutions, work together to uncover and win customer opportunities, and help partners sell independently to grow channel revenue.
- Partner planning and reviews – plan meetings and reviews with clear objectives, relevant questions and agreed actions that drive partner activity.
- Channel conflict – set clear expectations and resolve competing interests to maintain partner confidence and keep opportunities moving.
Designed around your team
We work with you to agree the outcomes that matter most, then design the workshop around your team and the time and budget available. The scope, depth and exercises reflect participants’ experience and your channel challenges.
We agree the duration and group size with you, selecting the topics and level of detail to suit the outcomes you want to achieve. Participants work with examples and tools based on your partners, solutions and market, so they can apply what they learn in their own roles.
Workshops can be delivered face-to-face or remotely through Microsoft Teams or Zoom. We adapt the sessions and exercises to suit the delivery format.
Already managing partners and looking to strengthen your commercial influence? Explore Advanced Channel Management.
Contact us today for more information!
