If a partner and a vendor aim to have a successful marriage, their relationship must go way beyond good margins and solid products. In fact, their relationship is critical to the performance success of the organization and the supply chain. According to channel management group research, between 40 and 90 per cent of high-technology sales are sourced through a channel partner, dealer, or value-added reseller. With so much weight riding on managing distribution channels, vendors need solid programmes grounded in mutual trust and reinforced by business relationships that generate loyalty and brand alignment.
In the past, a partner would primarily help sell /market /distribute either products or technologies. But now, partners go way beyond to provide not only the technology but also solutions. For instance, Cisco provides technology support to its partners to hone their expertise and develop a complete portfolio of services around the technology. Additionally, Cisco uses its Partner Access onLine (PAL) programme to help give channel account managers a 360-degree view of partner specializations and certification history. This includes information about any unresolved problems, customer audits or issues with the vendor and allows channel account managers to evaluate how a particular partner rates compared with its peers. These growth opportunities that are provided to partners in key verticals help them specialize and create a niche in any vertical.
Cisco’s Partner programmes themselves have come a long way in the past decade. Today, training and certification is tightly woven into the overall plan for channel partners because this enables them to enhance their skill-sets and “scale up” in the value chain. Moreover, since our go-to-market strategy in India is a 100 per cent through channel partners, we have brought in the same standards that have been maintained worldwide. As a corollary to this, Cisco also runs its Value Incentive Programme for all its partners, where a partner can garner anything between 10–20 per cent on a customer sale made by him and this is a function of the level of the partner specialization. This can be clubbed with its Opportunity Incentive Programme (OIP), where the company rewards a partner for every new customer lead he generates.
Both vendors and partners aspire to run profitable and sustainable businesses that increase revenue and satisfy customers. To meet their common goals, vendors invest heavily in sustainable and evolving management solutions that help grow business and ensure partner loyalty. Partners, on the other hand, also invest in training programmes that are offered to them because they yield a high RoI (these programmes help them cater not only to the SMBs, but also to the high-end markets). Another example that highlights the symbiotic relationship between vendors and partners is that vendors want to know end-customer perceptions in order to improve product development, distribution channel management strategy and other elements of their programmes while channel partners are looking for feedback into improving their business model and service offerings hence providing a common goal.
One way to achieve this is to combine a co-creation process designed to retain best partners and a best practices model designed to provide emerging partners with the tools they need. Through this approach, vendors can address the needs of their best partners, potential best partners, and small- to medium-sized partners by helping all channel partner management segments find growth, success and satisfaction. When they do, vendors maximize their influence and results with channel partners and create a shared destiny aligned around common business goals that drive sales.
Global growth and competitive business practices are seeing vendors investing in their partners today so that they can be successful tomorrow. The vendor–partner relationship over time has evolved into a one where partners are set to become valued solutions providers and trusted advisors instead of just a means to an end.
The Secret to a Successful Marriage
