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best vendor choices, then work with those vendors to put forth the best solution for the customer. Worries about channel conflict and rep’s stealing deals have mostly diminished, put aside with the advent of rules of engagement, partner portals and deal registration. The channel has grown since I joined in the late 1990s. Now some vendors gain half of their new revenue from channel partners. A large percentage of enterprise logos added to service providers’ customer rolls are coming from the channel. Co-selling only enables that trend to continue. Certainly, it is costly to compensate the partner and the sales rep, but the cost of not getting the deal is higher. If the partner doesn’t know how to repre- sent the vendor’s offering properly, the deal will close on price or it will go to another vendor or it may be sold wrong resulting in a pissed off customer. As the service offerings get more complex – again, cyber-security and its many elements – co-selling will allow vendors to get more deals. And partners may gravitate to vendors that offer co-selling in order to provide more solutions for their customers. o Peter Radizeski is president of RAD-INFO INC., a telecom strategy and marketing consulting agency. He is a sales trainer, writer, consultant and speaker. He is avail- able to speak at your events on channel, marketing, strategy or sales. 67 Fall 2021 | CHANNEL V ISION