Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 28 | Page 53

EXPERT SPEAK to take? Where is the industry going? What are the gaps? These are the types of questions you need to ask yourself now ahead of the new year. To plan ahead you need to first understand where you are now. Start this process by thinking about where your company is today on its journey with partners. You need to take stock of where you are; what has worked and what hasn’t and how you can improve on that. This is essential if you are going to not only revamp your programme, but even if you just want to carry on as business as usual. The next step is to look at where your company wants to be in the next two to three years and what the partner programme needs to do in order to make that happen. This is because any planning – and the programme as a whole – isn’t a short-term thing. When it comes to an effective and ia m s, S But we also need to understand that this is a give and take relationship. The vendor needs to be able to bring innovation to the partners, too; this needs to be a harmonious exercise between both of you. At the end of the day, there are three main reasons why partners will enter into a programme with you: For example, you could offer partners a generous discounting structure, a simple deal registration programme and a collaborative sales and support model that rewards the company’s channel partners and helps them build a long-lasting practice for the next era in networking. Ÿ Good product Ÿ Easy to do business with Ÿ Understanding of how they can make money Looking to the road ahead INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS You need to build a strong programme to establish where you are going in the long term. What direction the company wants Issue 28 en ior Di t C s a hip s r recto rtne r of Worldwide Pa efficient channel programme you need to understand what you can offer your partners, as well as take stock of what has worked in the past and what changes you are going to make for the next year. Creating a global channel programme is no easy feat, but it’s massively rewarding when it works. Just with any other aspect of business, make sure you have things in place to continuously monitor and improve upon the programme. And with this in mind you can ensure your 2020 channel programme runs smoothly. ˜ 53