The most crucial aspect of channel marketing is in identifying new channels through which to sell and support your services and products.
Partners must have the right positioning and market exposure in order to drive up sales in a real and meaningful way and thereby to increase profits.
Combining forces with channel partners can be extremely powerful. It ensures that you are continually marketed your solutions and it strengthens your position against your competitors.
However it is also vital that those partners are selling you correctly. Many organisations give marketing funds to a partner marketing pot without ever really knowing what it was spent on and what, if any, the results and ROI was.
In order to retain control, you must have 100% visibility as to what your channel partners are doing and understand how they are generating and nurturing leads.
By following the below steps, you can ensure maximum ROI from your channel partners:
1 – Audit
The first step is to assess and select the best partners to work with you. To do this, a review of their historical activity needs to take place as well as the results they have achieved to date.
An audit also needs to be completed on the available sales channels; the sales team who are responsible for ‘selling’ you, and their web offering. A ‘Mystery Shopper’ solution is perfect for this, where your partner is called and asked a series of questions to determine how well you are represented by that partner.
The results are collated and recommendations made around the following:
Sales response audit:
- How was contact made and how was it received?
- How was the response conducted, how long did it take and was it tailored to your needs?
- How well did the sales contact articulate your proposition? Was support material sent/ suggested?
- How well did the sales person qualify you? How knowledgeable were they? How well did they ‘close’ the discussion and potential sale?
Website audit and analysis:
- How well is your company represented to the market by your partner website? Ease of use? Search engine optimisation?
- What is your presence on your partner website? How prominent are you?
- How easy is it to interact with you through blogs, twitter etc?
- Do your case studies feature?
- How is the user engaged – through a contact page/ telephone number?
- How are you positioned against your competitors?
This strategic review provides total visibility of the value your partners are delivering across marketing and sales. This is combined with competitor analysis and recommendations on how to deliver best practice across your channel network to optimise results.
From this initial audit, you can draw up a league table and determine a list of priority partners you would like to work with. This list can be split into two; partners for immediate opportunities, and growth partners where potential has been identified but there are some gaps that need work to ensure they are ‘ready’ to market (often termed ‘partner readiness’)
2 – Segment and select
It is essential to have a good idea of your partners’ capability to deliver. Set clear criteria to benchmark partner capabilities (skills) and proof points (i.e. a proven track record of selling similar solutions from start to finish). Define the criteria and sign up new partners who believe in your product and services. This is now all about attitude or ‘will’, rather than ‘skill’, but it is of equal importance when selecting the right partners.
3 – Set objectives
Clear objectives must be set with the partner at the start of a marketing programme and at all stages of the sales and marketing funnel; from awareness stage through to when this converts to a lead, and the value of leads to the pipeline generated. It is crucial to agree in advance the definition of a ‘lead’. In the simplest sense, you could agree that a ‘marketing qualified lead’ is where a prospect meets two of the BANT criteria (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline).
Typically this would be Authority (as you have pre-qualified the decision makers on your database), and Need (where the prospect has demonstrated a pain or issue which your solution can solve). At this stage, sales need to accept the lead for sales exploration and follow-up to build the business case for Budget and a project (Timeline) if not already identified.
Prior to commencing any activity, measure the current market share and penetration at company and contact levels – then index them to enable future benchmarks and growth analysis.
4 – Track
Tracking must be done from the earliest point of engagement in order to determine a clear ROI. For this you must have a clear system detailing lead and opportunity values ensuring 100% visibility. A simple system such as the AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Awareness) clearly shows the movement through the buying lifecycle. This tracking must be continued throughout your partnership.
5 – Review
Review your partners on a regular basis. Recognise the value of the leads they produce and measure any leakage, understanding why it happened. Find out:
- What was the pipeline they created last year?
- What activities supported this?
- What were the key lead sources?
- What metrics are they currently using to measure ROI?
A regular review can help identify any training needs. It will also ensure that all parties are kept on their toes!
6 – Engage, educate and motivate your channels
Get your channels up to speed and ensure that accurate information is given – this will ensure maximum effectiveness. Keep them motivated and engaged throughout the programme – working together will result in greater success. Listen to feedback from your partners, what they need and what their customers need. Make sure you stand out from your competitors by positioning yourself as the/ a market leader.
7 – Measure ROI
The buying lifecycle does not end when your campaign ends. ROI should be measured not only at the end of the campaign, but 3 months out and 6 months out in order to monitor the overall yield and success of the partner programme and highlight any areas that need focus.
8 – Ongoing nurturing and activity
It’s key to get your partners thinking medium and long-term. In order to ensure maximum ROI from your channel marketing programme, these partners should be continually nurtured. The more time you put into this partnership, the more rewards will be reaped.
In conclusion, recognise your channel partners as a key asset – so long as they are looked after properly. Spend time on these programmes to maintain control and visibility of how you are being ‘sold’ in the market. Measure and track at every stage and in turn, this will lead to clear and exciting return on investment, and your partners will be inspired by the results too to ensure a win-win for all.
For more information, please go to www.mcdonaldbutler.com or contact Charlotte Holden on 020 8875 2000.