Channel Managers: Good, Bad & Ugly

are inaccessible

take you to dinner for no other reason than to get in face time.

constantly hand you off to other people

say, “That’s not my job.”

have a direct sales quota, too

are not empowered to do their jobs

spend more time in internal meetings than with partners

anticipate next steps

make it easy for partners to do business with their company

are committed to the partner’s success

let us know about new services coming up

delegate but don’t abdicate responsibility

are customer-focused, especially when there’s a problem

have the ability/empowerment to get things done internally

“Commitment, responsiveness, acting like it’s your business as much as their business, knowing that deal makes the difference in paying their mortgage and putting food on the table for their kids,” said Hiller.

“What we all forget in today’s digital world is people buy from people,” said Farley, noting that good channel managers actively engage with their partners, understand their business and help them figure out how to grow their business.

“When things go wrong  as they will — nothing in life is perfect –  [channel managers need] to understand the master agent’s resources and carrier resources to help the partner shine in front of their customers. It’s how you act when something goes wrong,” said Anderson.

“Be there throughout the whole process and trying to take the pain out of the order and doing as much as I can to make it as painless as possible,” said Mahaney.

“A great channel manager will have internal relationships and know where to go to get things done quick. They always have to be thinking about the next order. Partners will give us the first order, but we have to deliver on the presales and quote side to get the next order,” said Kessler

quote and hope, wasting channel manager’s time

want quotes/assistance at the last minute

think they know more about the company’s products than the channel manager

hit and run, requesting information from the channel manager and disappearing

know the supplier’s sweet spots and strengths how to position its products well

bring in the channel manager early in the customer engagement so they can prepare

trust that the channel managers know what they are doing and what their company can do

stand side by side with the supplier

understand the opportunity and bring the right information to the table

invest in a long-term partnership with the supplier