Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 34 | Page 58

CHANNEL INSIDER

Glyn Yates is Principle Consultant , GTM International . In this monthly column for Intelligent Tech Channels , he shares his expertise and views on the channel and partner community .
DISCLAIMER : I have walked many roads and worn many hats and , although my experience and expertise can be valuable , my outlook on the world at large is my own and does not necessarily represent that of ITC .

When is the end-user not the customer . . . when you are a vendor – crazy , right ?

As a vendor , you will have worked

many years with a clear vision , strong development and deep pockets / backing , and if you find yourself towards the top right hand corner in the Garter MQ , then well done . It will not have been easy or cheap to get there , so celebrate and leverage while the going is good and you are in demand . End-users will demand , as a minimum , to investigate your proposition , and partners will clamour to be among your channel and have your logo on their website as a sign of credibility to their target audience . Life is good and you should ‘ make hay while the sun shines ’. However , don ’ t take it for granted , as the next disruptor is in stealth or incubation as we speak ( think of how ServiceNow , Nutanix , Arista , Okta changed their respective markets , to name a few ).
But there are exponentially more vendors not in the top 10 Gartner , Forrester , IDC analyst reports than are in the top 10 . Should they just give up ? Of course not – markets can support many players , but it does mean they have to be a little smarter and laser-focused on the right strategy .
The ‘ home ’ market may be established and mature with robust revenues , many references and an enabled , proactive channel reflecting the ‘ home ’ strategy within that market .
When considering expansion into new markets , none of the above factors apply , so while expansion from national to international to theatre to global is a natural progression , it is important to understand the need for segregation of goto-market strategies .
When entering new markets , the initial focus can tend towards customer acquisition . You may have been active enough to have initial logos before seriously setting up a local base , but to drive strong customer acquisition requires either a focused dedicated direct sales effort or a focused dedicated channel sales effort . The former is very expensive so , understandably , channel establishment and development is a great way to scale sales penetration , but that does present a double edge sword – an effective channel will lead to success , but will take some time to enable . I don ’ t need to voice the outcomes of an ineffective channel .
When you are not one of the Gartner MQ highflyers , then getting the channel interested is not easy , but it is easy to see why .
Channel partners and channel partner salespeople have targets – there is no surprise there . They
Glyn Yates , Principle Consultant , GTM International
Markets can support many players , but it does mean they have to be a little smarter and laser-focused on the right strategy ,
have a selection of vendors within their current portfolio , they have customers and they have prospects . Their role is to achieve their targets from the customers and prospects – again , not rocket science . AND they want to do this with the path of least resistance and that means the easiest vendors to sell , or to demonstrate a real
differentiator , backed by lots of resource that can support them . The old adage of ‘ What ’ s in it for me ’ is as relevant now as it ever was when discussing a new vendor . All vendors state they are aligned with the customers , but some think the customers are the end-users , where in expansion models the customers are actually the partners , as they will be doing your bidding . Without effective partners , there will be no end-users . It is important to keep things simple and easy – make the positioning simple , make the partner programme simpler , make the price list simpler and make selling it even simpler still . So , if you are not a market leader or ground-breaking disruptor , then it is vital to have a core proposition but segregated go-to-market . Above all else , ensure that everything you do to support a market entry truly supports the partners as they are your voice , they are your engine and they are your success factory . •
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