Have we out-kicked the coverage when it comes to Channel and Alliance Partnerships? 

puntIn American football, this analogy references the idea of the punter having such a good kick, that he out-kicked his special team’s coverage.  The tremendous kick has the cover team out of position at no fault of their own.  As a result, the kick returner is able to capitalize and runs the kick back for a game swinging touchdown!  It is hard to find a more disappointing and pivotal play in sports than a punt return for touchdown against your team!

In channel marketing & sales, we are starting to out kick the coverage. There is no doubt, channel marketing automation tools and channel sales tools are more advanced and effective than ever.  However, is that a bad thing?   Should we tell the punter to not kick it so far?

Of course not!  Bombs away!   But, we do need to rethink our coverage team and plan.  Your channel and alliance managers need to adjust to the terrific “kick” and provide even deeper coverage.  The booming kick isn’t a reason to scratch the play…  its reason to sprint harder, faster, further.  Just like the booming technology is reason to increase your relationship efforts and understanding with your channel partners.  Too many think the marketing automation and sales tools are reason to let up.  Wrong!  In fact, more than ever we need to “up” our coverage.  
Channel Account Managers (players) shouldn’t take the play off and Channel Chiefs (Head Coaches) need to remember how vital good players are to winning.  A good kicker is a huge asset but don’t stop coaching and properly incentivizing your cover team.

Take note and make some half-time adjustments that put your channel reps back in position to execute.

As always, please send me a note with your thoughts and your experience.

Move the Channel,

Travis

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Get in Shape for the New Year:   Give your Channel a Metabolism Tune-Up

header-photo1The term metabolism simply means change or transformation. It relates to various processes within the body that convert food and other substances into energy and other metabolic byproducts used by the body. It is a necessary function that enables our body to maintain its working parts, repair damage, rid itself of toxins, and much more.

Just like our body our Channel needs to maintain its working parts, repair damage, rid itself of toxins, and much more.   Although we can’t control everything in the channel, here are 5 things that we can do to help us hone your channel’s “metabolism”

 

Improve “Cardiovascular Fitness”

What does a cardio workout look like in the channel? For starters, it’s all about consistency, and there’s no better way to improve consistency than by communicating frequently throughout your distribution channel and setting up regular channel rep meetings and joint customer calls.   These activities are the equivalent of  your weekly dose of your personal fitness cardio workouts.  Keep in mind: Consistency doesn’t mean you just go through the motions with minimal effort. Sure, a short walk every day is good for your health, but it won’t really do much for your overall fitness. To generate the kind of results you’re looking for, you need to work up a sweat. Your “workouts” should feel like you’re training for a marathon. So, go hard and make sure you’re getting the most out of your communications. Set concrete goals for your meetings and monitor the progress you make with your partners.

 

Build Lean “Muscle”

If you want to build lean, toned muscles, you have to hit the weights. Don’t worry, most of us don’t work out hard or intensely enough to get bulky.   While cardio workouts can be good for your heart, it’s the heavy lifting that builds muscle. More muscle in the channel means more impact and engagement from you partners.   Heavy lifting sounds hard…  But don’t worry. You can build muscle without making drastic changes to your everyday business routines. Here are some Heavy ideas that don’t require constant attention and with the right vendor can be planned, marketed, and executed without adding resources:

Eat Smaller and Frequently 

The feast of a big deal is cause for celebration, but you should also be rewarding your channel for smaller, bite-sized accomplishments. This is why your channel incentive program should include Steps-To-The-Sale (STTS) incentives for each successful deal registration, product training, account introduction, etc.

Drink 10-16 glasses of water daily

Just as our body needs to be replenished with water every day, so our competitive edge requires fresh ideas and perspectives to keep its engine running. There are tons of great resources out there that can help you build your knowledge of channel developments and best practices. Try reading and some of these resources like Move the Channel and Channel Maven. Join communities and discussion groups in LinkedIn and make sure your strategies are keeping pace with the changing demands of the channel. FB_FitnessGroup

Get seven hours of sleep

Pounding the pavement and working hard in the field is how you often find success in the channel, but make sure you and your team take time to recharge your batteries.  Do this by attending channel conferences and other industry-related events can be a great way to absorb new ideas and become a thought leader in the field. I know these conferences can be tiresome and action packed, so make sure b/t the important meetings and networking to get some sleep and enjoy an amenity or two.

It’s the New Year.  Let’s make 2015 the best year yet!

Move the Channel,

Travis

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4 things your distribution channel partners will expect in 2015

Goldfish Jump Out Of Bowl 2 - expectationsAs you can tell from my last few posts, it is a busy time for 2015 channel strategy and planning.   My clients often ask me, “what do our distribution partners expect from us in 2015?”.

Let’s talk about what your Channel will expect from you in 2015.

1.)    Simplicity — Your Channel Partners don’t want a partner program that needs a map & key to navigate.   They want a program that clearly states what is expected from them and what resources will be available to help them deliver solutions to the market.  Design an engagement and reward portal that tracks their goals and gives them easy access to the handful of the most important components and tools available.

Here is great guide to make sure you aren’t over complicating things:

Enter your name and email address to download Move the Channel Guide and RIMES Chart

Name: Email:

2.)    Clear Expectations — Yes, Channel Partners need to know your expectations so they can build those expectations into their company goals for 2015. By integrating benefits like soft benefits into your channel incentive program you can deliver a personal touch that leads to deeper, stronger relationships with your partners.

3.)    More Efficient Communication — Notice I did not say “MORE” communication. This year you should try to be more deliberate and concise with your message and how you deliver it. The channel has more “noise” than ever before, and how you communicate with your partners will help determine your success this year.  This goes for both your communication to your channel partner and your marketing THROUGH the channel to the End Buyer.

4.)    Be A Part Of Something Great — Your channel partners don’t want to be chess piece in your overall company strategy—they want to feel as important as the first chair in a world-class symphony. Share with them in a meeting what the goals will be for the entire channel ecosystem, and why their role is so critical to the channel’s overall success. There is a reason why Martin Luther King said “I have a Dream”, and not “I have a Plan”.   This is where most organizations tend to fall short. The companies that are able to do this well tend to have the best and most loyal channels.600-029042

As always, send me an email or give me a ring with some of your ideas and questions. I couldn’t be more excited about moving the channel in 2015!

Move the Channel,
Travis

Email Me

Channel R.I.M.E.S: Relationships, IT Integration, Management, Enablement & Education, Selling

 

Move the Channel Cover

Enter your name and email address to download Move the Channel Guide and RIMES Chart

Name: Email:

 

What makes Move the Channel’s Marketing Guide 1.0 the first of its kind?  Well as most of you know, this project started over a year ago as simple discussion in our LinkedIn Group.  It grew from there to an all-out pouring of ideas from across the Move the Channel community.

The next thing that is unique about this eBook, is how it’s organized.  While organizing all the ideas and best practices different categories became clear.  These categories are what we call RIMES –and are the pillars of any successful channel marketing program.

  • Relationships
  • Information Technology (As in the technology they have access to and use to better support them)
  • Management – as in Channel Management
  • Enablement and Education
  • Selling

So anyway it’s here.  You can download it right here at move the channel.com

Channel Conduit: Culture eats strategy for Breakfast

Culture BreakfastOver the last couple of weeks we have spent time discussing and debating the importance of developing a strategy and sharing the playbook with your channel partners. In this same vein, it’s also imperative for your organization to focus its sights internally in order to evaluate the special dynamics of its culture. Is your company culture a differentiator for you in the market? If so, it could be one of your biggest assets when it comes to creating a loyal partner network and Champions of your brand.

Just as many companies fail to include their partners in their channel strategies, so do they also neglect to share their organization’s principles & values with their channel.   Invite your channel partners’ executive management to a usually internal team building event or a remote brainstorming sessions.  Make sure to spend time not just on X’s & O’s but philosophy and various viewpoints.  ROE (Return on Experience) is often achieved when you host your top performing channel partners to a group incentive trip to a desirable destination.

While your competition can adjust their strategy, pricing, and partner programs to look like yours, what they cannot so easily emulate is the unique culture of your organization. If your company has a winning culture, it is critical for you promote it, export it, and include your channel partners in the process. All else being equal, the right company culture can often make the difference between a reseller of product and a true champion of your brand.  

Please shoot me a note with ideas and questions.  I always enjoy the channel community’s feedback and thoughts!

Move the Channel,
Travis

4 things your distribution channel partners will expect in 2014

2014 Channel ExpectationsI am fresh back from a terrific family vacation in Southern California. I have a huge wonderful family in Pasadena and many friends from our years living in Dana Point. In addition to my many client visits throughout the year, I try to bring the family once a year to hang with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and the many cousins. This trip was filled with non-stop activities like the Rose Bowl, the Rose Parade, Disneyland, LEGOLAND, the BCS National Championship Game, and even surf lessons for my 6-year-old.  Oh my! It’s definitely been a blast, but let’s just say I’m ready to get back to my “normal” schedule again. Now, down to business!

Let’s talk about what your Channel will expect from you in 2014.

1.)    Simplicity — Your Channel Partners don’t want a partner program that looks like a Smith or Griswold family vacation (reference above or National Lampoon’s Vacation). They want a program that clearly states what is expected from them and what resources will be available to help them deliver solution to the market.  Design an engagement and reward portal that gives them easy access to the handful of the most important components and tools available.

Here is great guide to make sure you aren’t over complicating things:

Enter your name and email address to download Move the Channel Guide and RIMES Chart

Name: Email:

2.)    Clear Expectations — Yes, they Channel Partners need to know what your expectations are so they can build those expectations into their company goals for 2014. By integrating benefits like soft benefits into your channel incentive program you can deliver a personal touch that leads to deeper, stronger relationships with your partners.

3.)    More Efficient Communication — Notice I did not say “MORE” communication. This year you should try to be more deliberate and concise with your message and how you deliver it. The channel has more “noise” than ever before, and how you communicate with your partners will help determine your success this year.

4.)    Be A Part Of Something Great — Your channel partners don’t want to be chess piece in your overall company strategy—they want to feel as important as the first chair in a world-class symphony. Share with them in a meeting what the goals will be for the entire channel ecosystem, and why their role is so critical to the channel’s overall success. There is a reason why Martin Luther King said “I have a Dream”, and not “I have a Plan”.   This is where most organizations tend to fall short. The companies that are able to do this well tend to have the best and most loyal channels.
It sure is great to be back. As always, send me an email or give me a ring with some of your ideas and questions. I couldn’t be more excited about moving the channel in 2014!

Hope you are enjoying Martin Luther King Day!

Move the Channel,
Travis

A great reminder to the Channel from Mrs. Disney: “He did see it, that’s why it’s here.”

walt-disney-florida-mapwalt-disney-with-map-of-florida-olp-travel---news-viewsolp-zzuys1w3On October 1, 1971, five years after the great Walt Disney passed away; Disney World had its grand opening. During the dedication ceremony, someone turned to Mrs. Walt Disney and said, “Isn’t it a shame that Walt didn’t live to see this?” Mrs. Disney replied, “He did see it, that’s why it’s here.”

Walt Disney World sits on forty-three square miles—nearly twice the size of Manhattan—of some of the most valuable property in the state of Florida. Originally, it took seven years to plan, and more than four years to build. Such an enormous undertaking, I think you’ll agree, could never come to fruition without a great mind having a clear vision.

When a channel professional lacks vision we lose in two ways. One is not having a vision at all, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” I think we can all agree this is true for every aspect of business and life. Many times I have seen good companies with good products try and go-to-market through a new channel. But they don’t have a plan; they haven’t refined their vision beyond the basic premise of selling and distributing their products to a larger universe. They don’t know what to expect from their partners, nor do they fully realize what their channel program could become. It seems like 100% of the time these new channel efforts fail. WDW Opening Day 01

For the more mature channel we can fall short in a different way. Often times we as manufacturers or distributors will fail to cast or properly communicate our goals to our partner. If we don’t explicitly show them the mutually beneficial vision of the partnership and the larger channel ecosystem, we risk leaving partners behind or worse: they switch to a competitor that has more effectively communicated a strategic vision.

How do we know Walt Disney effectively communicated his vision to his partners? It’s a fact that he spent seven years planning and communicating his dream of Disney World to those people who could turn it into a reality. And that’s exactly what they did. Five years after he passed away, his partners continued to carry on the relentless pursuit of Walt’s amazing vision. Today, Walt Disney World is one of the most recognizable icons in the world.
Have you shared your goals and vision with your channel partner? Do they understand how they are an important component of that vision, and why it is exciting for them to share it with you?

Channel Conduit of the Week: Bring The Meal To Them!

  • Small gestures that make big impacts on channel behavior
  • Commonsense reminders that make the difference b/t you and your competition
  • Elements that should be considered in a Channel Incentive Programs

In-n-Out TruckWant to give your partners something they’ll always appreciate, and never expect? Try sending a food truck right to their office. I’m serious. The great thing about this type of reward is that it benefits the entire company. While the company principal and sales people are usually the sole targets of incentive programs, with a food truck you can treat the whole partner company to a fun and delicious 90-minute food experience. Why not say “Thanks” to the technical and customer service folks that play a huge role in representing your company and products?

What’s more, you’re not just limited to tacos these days. The mobile foodie explosion now offers internationally inspired street cuisine. These vehicles of sustenance offer everything from burgers and hot dogs to foie gras and caviar.

Food trucks are more than just an attraction – while their primary function is to prepare and serve food, they are also great props and uniquely entertaining.

We recently coordinated such a partner event. At lunchtime, the mobile kitchens of The Varsity, offering their famous chili, slaw dogs, fries, onion rings, and fried peach pies visited attendees. The experience was punctuated by lively cooks offering their trademark “What’ll ya have?” It was a fun way to present lunch and an unforgettable experience for our attendees who had hit some key growth goals. If you are fortunate enough to live in In-n-Out country, you can even order an IN-N-OUT Truck to show up! Talk about making an impression!

Channel Incentive Programs: Are You Implementing Soft Benefits?

Hotel and airline rewards programs undoubtedly have their issues. For one, their currency is so diluted these days that it takes over a year to earn a single reward. With that being said, there are certain things that they are doing well. For starters, they do a terrific job of offering “soft benefits” to their customers. These are the little extra bonuses that keep us talking and always keep us coming back.

fisrt class

These soft benefits come in the form of First-Class upgrades, complementary luggage allowances, priority boarding privileges, free access to their VIP lounge, or maybe even a chance to fly the plane! Okay, so they aren’t exactly letting us fly the plane…yet, but you get my point.

I mean think about it–what keeps you engaged with your preferred airline carrier or hotel chain of choice? Great prices, sure, but what else? It’s the soft benefits! We are always encouraging our clients to

incorporate these soft benefits into their channel incentive programs, and the strategy is continuing to pay gigantic dividends.

So what are some examples of these benefits as they pertain to channel incentives? Let’s take a look at a few that can have a huge perceived value to your potential program participants:

  • Platinum Customer Service
  • Invitation to a Leadership Roundtable
  • Participation in Beta product builds & testing
  • Partner locator privileges
  • Hotline to the CEO or CTO
  • Penthouse Upgrade at a Partner Conference
  • Dinner with the CEO
  • Priority-status for low availability Rewards like a Rolling Stones concert in London!

fine diningBy integrating soft benefits into your channel incentive program you can distinguish your business from the competition and deliver a personal touch that leads to deeper, stronger relationships with your partners. Not all soft benefits are published or explicit, but even these can still act as qualifiers for which partner deserves the reward. One way to ensure this is to create Partner Tiers (Platinum, Gold, Silver) for your program, which can help you easily determine which partners qualify for which soft benefits. Regardless of the method, it’s important to have a system in place that selects the partners who especially deserve the high-value rewards. By establishing this system as a prime component of your channel incentive program, you will be able to acknowledge these exceptional partners with minimum hassle.

 

Here is a good tool or checklist to compare your current soft benefits:

Enter your name and email address to download Move the Channel Guide and RIMES Chart

Name: Email:

RIMES Chart – Origin Story

Since last week’s release of Move The Channel’s Channel Marketing & Sales Guide 1.0, I’ve been inundated with emails and phone calls asking me, “Travis, what is RIMES and how did you come up with it?”

RIMES PicSo here’s the short story: In collaboration with the Move The Channel community (LinkedIn Group and www.movethechannel.com), we discussed what the most important components of a successful channel marketing campaign might be. While organizing all of the ideas and best practices, different categories started to become clear, and we determined that in fact the most effective way to present each would be together, as a five-pronged holistic methodology which we’d refer to as “RIMES.” We deemed these to be the 5 major “pillars” of any successful channel marketing program, and our goal was to highlight each as it relates to the greater whole. For those who don’t know, RIMES stands for:

  •  Relationships
  •   Information Technology (As in the channel professionals have access to and can use to better support their goals)
  •   Marketing & Communications (although sometimes we also refer to this pillar as “Management” – as in Channel Management)
  •  Enablement and Education
  •   Selling   – pushing product/solutions THROUGH the channel

In addition to RIMES being the pillars of a channel marking program, it is also the foundation of this living, breathing eBook, which we have called 1.0. It has been designed and structured from an outside-in perspective, so that in future versions we may start to drill down and examine all of the various sub-categories. Each pillar is a potential gold mine of information and insight regarding channel best practices, and it will be our job at Move The Channel to harvest these nuggets one step at a time. So in this way, you might even think of 1.0 as the origins of a future Channel Wiki…

Please send me your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions on where to go during the next stage of Move the Channel’s Marketing Guide.

 

2.0 awaits . . .

LinkedIn Group collaborates to deliver a very unique Channel Marketing Guides& RIMES Chart.

It wasn’t easy to organize hundreds of ideas from a network of thousands of people from all over the world. But we did it. Move The Channel’s unique Channel Marketing & Sales 1.0 eBook is now available for you to download exclusively on movetheChannel.com.

MTC 1.0 CoverWhat makes 1.0 the first of its kind? As most of you know, this project started over a year ago as a simple discussion in the Move The Channel LinkedIn group. It grew from there to an all-out deluge of ideas from all across the Move The Channel community.

As we began organizing all of the different ideas and channel best practices that were coming our way, distinct categories started to become clear.  These categories are what we now refer to as “RIMES” — Relationships, IT, Marketing & Communications, Enablement, and Sales — and they are what we at Move The Channel consider to be the pillars of any successful channel marketing campaign.

Our goal is to begin to create a line of literature that can be referenced as a valuable tool in the planning and implementation of any channel marketing program. We hope you find this guide to be useful and informative. You can download it right here at movethechannel.com

Enter your name and email address to download Move the Channel Guide and RIMES Chart

Name: Email:

Please provide feedback so we can continue to enhance the Guide & Chart. MoveTheChannel 1.0 is the first step in an ongoing line of literature about channel marketing and sales. Our plan with 1.0 is to throw a net around a wide range of industries and promote the basic tools that have been proven to generate success across multiple access points within the channel. Enjoy!
Move the Channel,
Travis
travis@movethechannel.com

Channel Conduit of the Week: When Should We Recognize Each Of Our Channel Partners? Early & Often!

Channel Conduit #10 of the Week

  • Small gestures that make big impacts on channel behavior
  • Commonsense reminders that make the difference b/t you and your competition
  • Elements that should be considered in a Channel Incentive Programs

When Should We Recognize Each Of Our Channel Partners?  Early & Often!


recognitionEven though studies have shown that consistent praise and recognition are important keys to building loyalty and motivating your partners, I still sometimes get the question, “but if we give too much recognition, won’t it become watered down and dilute the meaning?” To be fair, I used to ask this question myself from time to time. However, I know more now than I once did, and so today when I hear this question, I quickly come back by asking “how often do you tell your loved ones that you love them? “  Here, their answers usually range from “often” to “every day.”   You’ll notice that none of them say twice a year!

Obviously, I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek, and I know it’s easier said than done to give praise and recognition consistently when we are talking about hundreds or even thousands of partners.  But while the handwritten note, personal email, or individual phone call are all great quarterly or semi-annual methods of recognition, the leading channel incentive platforms (I am most familiar with http://www.hmiaward.com/) have begun to incorporate additional features that make it quick and easy to offer consistent ad hoc praise and thanks to your valuable channel partners.  These include gifting modules and team communication features.  With that being said, if you think your competitors are offering gestures of gratitude to their partners, do you really want to be the one that seems unappreciative? What other ideas do you have for consistent channel partner recognition?

What the Tough Mudder Taught Me about Channel Partnerships


Everest

On Saturday my team (Team AB) completed the Tough Mudder event in Mansfield, OH.  The Tough Mudder is probably the toughest event on the planet.   Don’t ask me to compare it to running a Marathon because it’s just different.   Marathons are individual competitions and a Tough Mudder is all about camaraderie.  Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. With the most innovative courses, 700,000 inspiring participants worldwide to date, and more than $5 million raised for the Wounded Warrior Project, Tough Mudder is the premier adventure challenge series in the world.   At the end of the course you are handed a beer and crowned with an orange sweatband.

Final SurgeWhy would anyone willingly subject themselves to something like this?  Well, personally I’m generally up for a challenge that pushes me to my limits.  The fact that this event has raised over $5 million for such a wonderful cause like the Wounded Warrior Project helps, too.  But the main inspiration was my good friend and fraternity brother Adam Black (AB) who continues to battle cancer.  Hence the team I ran with was called Team AB.

On the course I realized how important each of my teammates was to the collective unit.  Each person brought different qualities that enabled us to not just finish the challenge but destroy the course altogether.   Some might have been tempted to push ahead and finish before the group, but instead we all ran across the finish line with locked arms.

Our goal was clear: Team AB would complete the course together.

The channel could benefit a lot from this type of attitude.  If each partner, all the way through the channel, showed that level of commitment to the collective unit/solution, it would be an unstoppable force in the market.  I imagine the most successful channel partnerships have experienced some Tough Mudder-level adversity at one point or another.  Maybe sticking with each other through tough economic times or a strategic redirection is the Tough Mudder of channel adversity.

As a Tough Mudder, I pledged to:

  • Understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge
  • Put my teamwork and camaraderie before my course time
  • Not whine – kids whine
  • Help my fellow Mudders complete the course
  • Overcome all fears

Can a channel program learn something from the Tough Mudder Pledge?  What would be your Channel Program Pledge?

post mudder

Channel Conduit of the Week: Trading Places

Channel Conduit of the Week

  • Small gestures that make big impacts on channel behavior
  • Commonsense reminders that make the difference b/t you and your competition
  • Elements that should be considered in a Channel Incentive Programs

Channel Conduit 5

If empathy is the key to good partnerships and sales, then try trading places.  As channel marketing & sales pros, it’s important that we are always trying to put ourselves in our channel partner’s shoes.  This helps us get out of the vendor vacuum and design channel programs that help our partners become more successful. 

Let’s take that concept and flip it on its head for a moment: Why not have your partner stand in your shoes for a lunch or dinner meeting?  Too often we ask, “What else can we be doing to help you grow your business?” Don’t get me wrong, we should be asking this question–and often!  But we might be amazed if we also asked:

 “If you were me…”

  •        …Which opportunities in the market would you attack?
  •          …What would you use your channel program to be a differentiator and get the mindshare of the channel? 
  •          …What gap in the market would you be well positioned to bridge? 

Not only will they be honored you asked, but more importantly, you will also learn unexpected valuable lessons. 

 

Channel Conduit of the Week: Drop By For Big Events

Channel Conduit of the Week

  • Small gestures that make big impacts on channel behavior
  • Commonsense reminders that make the difference b/t you and your competition
  • Elements that should be considered in a Channel Incentive Programs

Channel Conduit 3

Drop By For Big Events

“Big Events?  I make sure to stop by eveCelebration 2ry year to my annual Partner-Palooza conference, especially when we hold it in Vegas”

No, I’m not talking about your mega annual partner meetings and conference.  In fact I’m not talking about events held by you at all.   I’m talking about the events that are BIG to your channel partner.  These are events that are critical to your channel partners business and in turn important to you.  Most likely, your most successful channel partners are executing marketing strategies that include events that bring many of their end users together to foster new relationships and longer customer retention.  Some events that you might consider dropping in on include:

  • End-User Conferences
  • Customer Appreciation Events
  • End User Advisory Round Tables
  • President’s Club Incentive Travel
  • Company Board Meetings (Or even better sit on the board)
  • The Summer Picnic Event
  • 10 Year Anniversary Celebration
  • The Founder’s Retirement Party

Sure not all of these events are appropriate, but one or some of them should be.  This type of gesture is so rare that it will go a long way in building trust and loyalty at the partner’s executive and sales levels.  The on problem with this type of rare gesture is your partner might not even know you would be interested in receiving an invite to one of these events.

How to get invited to the BIG Event

One way to make it known is to include this as a soft benefit in your channel incentive program.  One of rewards for hitting a certain partner tier might be “Dinner with our CEO”.  This is what we call a “Soft Benefit”.  By integrating soft benefits into your Channel Incentive Program you differentiate from your competition and deliver a personal touch that leads to deep relationships with your partners.  Not all soft benefits are published but act as a qualifier for gestures like the “Drop by for the Big Event” incentive.  You only have so many high profile people at your company and only so many days in the year.  So you want to have system in place that selects the partners that deserve these valued soft benefits.  By making it part of your channel incentive program you identify the right partners.   This gives your channel marketing manager or regional channel managers the opportunity to review your partner’s BIG event calendar and start to schedule with the appropriate person at your organization.  The channel manager then can say, “If appropriate, our Channel Chief or VP of Global Channel Marketing mentioned she would be honored to come and help celebrate your company’s 10 Year Anniversary Party!”

Do you have a success when you wisely did a “drop in for a Big event”?  Are you implementing “Soft Benefits” into your channel incentive programs?

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