Q2 Channel Futures Partner Market Outlook: Tech Advisors Lean Into Cross-Selling

Partners are turning to cross-selling and upselling existing customers on new technologies as part of their plans to expand their go-to-market strategies, according to a new survey by Channel Futures.

The Q2 Partner Market Outlook, which queried 36 technology advisors (agents) about the changing nature of their business, shows the high priority partners are putting on deepening their client accounts. When asked what go-to-market enhancements they have made or plan to make, 44% of tech advisors said they are cross-selling or upselling with existing customers. That was by far the most common strategy, followed by expanding the sales team (25%).

It’s not a shocking fact that partners prioritize cross-selling. Some of the partners that have merged with one another have explicitly stated that they see an opportunity to bring adjacent technologies to their legacy customer bases. Leaders of technology services distributors (TSDs) have touted the opportunity for advisors to sell multivendor deals, and they themselves have reported increased cross-selling. Telarus, for example, reported a 25% increase in deal size in 2021.

At the same time, partners say they could use help from their suppliers in identifying new customers. Forty-four percent of technology advisors said lead generation is the most important thing their vendors can provide them in terms of go-to-market support. One channel consultant said lead gen is proving to be an area where vendors can differentiate themselves from their peers. But another consultant said some vendors are expressing frustrating that partners expect them to find customers for them.

At any rate, only 14% of partners reported that vendor/TSD lead gen comprises part of their latest go-to-market enhancements.

Channel Futures asked partners 19 different questions around topics like hiring, technology sales, TSDs and generative AI. Scroll through the nine images above to see some of the most significant findings.

Also, check out the Q1 survey results if you missed them.