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Amanda Hawkins

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Tech Channel Video Cast: Challenges of MDF & Awareness Marketing

06.20.16

Help partners fill the pipeline.

This week, host Diane Krakora, CEO of PartnerPath and recurring guest Peter Thomas, CEO of Averetek, further discuss the importance of top of funnel (TOFU) marketing. Some vendors are hesitant to give partners MDF funds for this type of awareness building. Why is that? And how can these concerns be addressed?

Topics: videocast, Channel Best Practices

6 Steps to Launch a Lasting Partnership

06.08.16

By Diane Krakora, CEO

As a company focused on perfecting partnering between organizations, we’ve been reflecting on our recent partnership with Averetek. In a new partnership, sometimes everything falls into place quickly and other times you must be diligent with checklists, meetings and emails to get everything in order. In fact, we believe there are six key steps to launching a lasting partnership. We've made smooth, steady progress in our new venture with Averetek, and here's a self-check in the mirror to see how it's going.

Topics: Channel Best Practices

Tech Channel Video Cast: Partner Marketing Needs TOFU

06.03.16

Teach partners the importance of marketing.

This week, hosts Charlene O'Hanlon, channel industry editor & writer, and Diane Krakora, CEO of PartnerPath, were joined by Peter Thomas, CEO of Averetek. Building upon the discussion in a recent webinar on "Marketing Musts," they talk about to, with and through partner marketing and the importance of helping partners understand all the stages of the customer lifecycle. 

Topics: videocast, Channel Best Practices

Take it to the next level, Focus on Individualized Enablement

06.01.16

Partner initiatives are replacing big programs.

10 Trends for a 2020 Vision – Uncover #8

If you haven't had a chance to read the full report yet, take a look at how individualized enablement will become a key priority for the future of the channel. The following is an excerpt from our 2016 State of Partnering report: 10 Trends for a 2020 Vision, using survey responses from over 100 vendors, 200 solution providers and years of industry data. Download the complete report here.

Not all partners need all the elements offered in partner programs

We’ve said this a few times: not all partners are the same. And as the market continues to evolve toward cloud solutions, additional different partners will emerge. In just the last ten years we’ve seen the decline of VARs, Catalogs and DMRs and the emergence of MSPs, cloud brokers, telcos and even digital marketing agencies as channels to end-customers. Increasingly, a larger variety of partners will surface, driven by different customer requirements.

Topics: Channel Best Practices

Tech Channel Video Cast: What SHOULD the PAM role be?

05.27.16

Fully support this lifeline to your partners.

This week, hosts Charlene O'Hanlon, channel industry editor & writer, and Diane Krakora, CEO of PartnerPath, continue the discussion of the role of the Partner Account Manager (PAM). How has this role evolved? How should it change and be given credit for the valuable role it is? Do you have the right people in these positions?

Topics: videocast, Channel Best Practices

Partner Marketing: Less is Most Definitely Not More

05.25.16

We’ve all heard the statistics of the changing buyer’s journey. The traditional funnel-based marketing model is dying, being replaced by a cyclical model that emphasizes continual engagement with the customer well beyond the sale. These changes are no less important in their effect on partner marketing.

Topics: Channel Best Practices

Tech Channel Video Cast: Do PAMs Have the Worst Job?

05.23.16

Partner Account Managers are on the frontlines with partners.

This week, hosts Charlene O'Hanlon, channel industry editor & writer, and Diane Krakora, CEO of PartnerPath, discuss the role of the Partner Account Manager (PAM). Stuck between marketing and sales, and between the vendor and the partner, is it the worst job in the channel?

Topics: videocast, Channel Best Practices

How Close Should Your Partner Relationship Be?

05.18.16

One of the most persistent issues in the vendor/channel community is the level of relationship between the two. Specifically, how deep should vendors and their channel partners be in each other’s business? If a vendor is too hands-off, its channel partners might accuse it of not helping—or caring—enough to make them successful. If the vendor is too hands-on, its channel partners might accuse it of trying to steal their customers and sabotage their success.

Topics: Channel Best Practices, Industry Perspective

Tech Channel Video Cast: The Fluidity of the Channel

05.16.16

Will perpetual channel issues ever be solved?

This week, hosts Charlene O'Hanlon, channel industry editor & writer, and Diane Krakora, CEO of PartnerPath, reflect on some of the problems mentioned in a recent PartnerPath roundtable hosted at HP. But the real question is, why haven't all these problems been solved yet?

Topics: videocast, Channel Best Practices

Tech Channel Video Cast: Moves for Channel Analysts

05.06.16

What's next for channel analysts?

This week, hosts Charlene O'Hanlon, channel industry editor & writer, and Diane Krakora, CEO of PartnerPath, discuss the recent professional moves for channel analysts. Do their departures mean anything bigger for channel coverage at large?

Topics: videocast, Channel Best Practices