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A Partner Portal is Not a Silver Bullet

What is Comp Neutrality and why does it matter?

04.04.24

Deciding how to tackle sales compensation is no easy task.

A participant in our recent partnering executive roundtable asked the group: “Are you in favor of or opposed to creating compensation neutrality for your direct field team?” Without missing a beat (and to my surprise), almost half of the roundtable participants said they were against ‘comp’ neutrality. How could anyone be against something with the word “neutral” in it? If you’re not familiar with the term, compensation neutrality means a salesperson gets paid, or their sales quota is retired, at the same rate if the product is sold by a partner or themselves. How compensation is defined for your direct sales force can help or hinder your partnering efforts and there’s no clear consensus on the right answer.

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Topics: Partnering Tips, Industry Perspective

The New Buzz Words: Partner Contribution

03.06.24

How a shift in perspective is affecting vendors and solution providers.

The promise, hope and resolutions of a new year are starting to fade. The global economic situation is dubious with some businesses recovering from recession woes while others try to scrape by. One thing remains true: companies both large and small are looking anywhere and everywhere for more leads and deals in the pipeline. We are all looking for partners to contribute more to the sales processes but not in the methods of yesterday. “Partner contribution” is what vendors are starting to value in partner ecosystem management but what exactly is partner contribution and how do you measure it? How will it affect partners and vendor partner teams?

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Topics: Industry Perspective

Four Partnering Trends Taking Off in 2024

02.23.24

Don’t just see the future, put it to work in your partner program.

In our annual webinar on channel predictions featuring Jay McBain, Chief Analyst – Channels, Partnerships & Ecosystems at Canalys, we discussed four trends impacting how we engage, empower and evolve partner ecosystems. Consider how these trends may impact or improve your partner program.

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Topics: Industry Perspective

3 Takeaways from Impartner Multiply

02.08.24

Make holistic partner program changes while optimizing operations.

Traveling in from both sides of the pond, the PartnerPath team ventured to Miami for the Impartner Customer Conference,  Multiply, this week. As Partner of the Year, we know a lot about Impartner, but there’s always a surprise or three at these conferences. Here are three takeaways that stood out to me and had me staring out to sea contemplating how we can better engage partners.

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Topics: News and Programs, Industry Perspective

Starting Off On the Right Foot

09.06.23

Three takeaways from my discussion with a solution provider.

Webinars are not just a great chance for us to provide our audience with great content, but they can be a chance for me to catch up with channel friends. Recently, I had an insightful conversation with Dominic Grillo, President of Atrion Communications (now part of Aurora) about how his organization decides to bring on a new vendor and the rough patches of getting started. He brought 30 years of experience to our chat and I found much of the conversation helpful for vendors looking to successfully launch a new solution provider. Three things really stood out:

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Topics: Partnering Tips, Industry Perspective

Math, Physics & Chemistry

07.26.23

Get busy crafting compelling answers to these partner questions.

By now you all know I love data. I love that facts and figures give us insights and trends to change what we’re doing to be better. But you might not know I’m also a math and science geek. An original STEM girl. And that’s why when Anu Bulusu, my guest on April’s webinar, combined data and math and the importance of the partner experience, I knew I found a kindred spirit. She’s a straight-shooting smarty pants founder of not one, but two, very successful multi-regional solution providers.

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Topics: Partnering Tips, Industry Perspective

Get to the Points

07.06.23

A points-based partner program is daunting but the benefits are worth it.

 If you are looking to engage a wide variety of partner types (consultants, agencies, systems integrators, software vendors, cloud solution providers, managed service providers), consider shifting from a legacy levels-based program (silver, gold, platinum) to a partner program that recognizes and rewards partners for their activities throughout the customer success lifecycle. But how does it work and why is it worth the effort? I’m so glad you asked.

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Topics: Partnering Tips, Industry Perspective

Ecosystem Liftoff: It’s Time to Get On Board

03.23.23

No longer a trend, partner ecosystems are the new reality.

Maybe I’m jaded because I’ve been writing about partner ecosystems for so many years. In fact, we’ve mentioned it as a “forward-looking trend” for the last five years in our end-of-year channel predictions webinar. It’s not forward-looking anymore. In fact, we're in year two or year three of the new reality where the people, programs and systems are in place to engage and support large partner ecosystems. Am I insulting your intelligence to keep mentioning the increase in partner types populating partner programs? The increase in the sheer number of potential partners? Here are some facts to support the new reality of partner ecosystems and a few, dare I say forward-looking, ways to adapt to the new reality.

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Topics: Industry Perspective

Are you missing the boat on Partner Experience?

02.08.23

Set goals and expectations to make partners happier (and more productive)

Do you ever think about how influential partners are to your customers? I mean, really think about it? Solution providers (partners) have a lot of power in the vendor/customer/partner relationship. It’s rare for business leaders to have a line item in their budget for a specific product. Instead, they have an initiative with a goal and a desired outcome. They want help from people who know their unique business and who will produce results through technical solutions. Those people are your partners. Make every effort to ensure your partners have a good experience with you and your customers will benefit.

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Topics: Industry Perspective

Three Turns Ahead

01.11.23

Crafting a Plan for Partnering Success

Any good snow skier knows to look three turns ahead to navigate moguls with speed and agility. If your focus is on the current bump, by the time you navigate that turn, you’re tossed back on your heels and in a scramble to set up for the next turn. If you look three turns ahead, you’ve created a visual path and are now executing that plan. Take this analogy into 2023 – a large and potentially long mogul field.

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Topics: Industry Perspective

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