ChannelVision May-June 2017

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In co-selling your brand and team
are represented to the customer. You
are paired with the partner on this op-
portunity. Channel managers often
don’t get to interact with the end user
(customer). There isn’t a chance for the
vendor to directly pitch the customer.
Co-selling averts that. It also puts the
competition at a disadvantage.
Co-selling also provides the bonus
of not just the company represented
but the extra layer of the partner and
the value that she brings to the table.
This can be installation, design, exper-
tise or some other component. It can
be more compelling to the customer.
The final element is “compensation.”
For partners, compensation is an impor-
tant revenue stream for the business.
Some programs offer one-time upfront
payment. Other programs have a SPIFF
coupled with monthly recurring commis-
sion based on the billing revenue. A few
programs are just straight commission
on the billing revenue for the term of the
original contract. Partners look at a variety
of factors in the partner compensation
model: how much, how long, quota, ramp,
evergreen and the gotchas. The gotchas
are those onerous clauses in the contract
(such as “terminate for convenience”) or
channel conflict without deal registration.
We live in a pretty transparent world,
where commission rates are not as
secretive as people would like to think.
Keep that in mind when making a deal
with one partner over another. It won’t
stay secret for long.
The last tip is to listen to your part-
ners. There are advisory groups and oth-
er avenues to interface with partners, but
actively listening to them is significant.
Most often they will talk about the friction
in the relationship. Where are the bugs in
the system? What are customers saying
about your service or your company or
your support? How much friction is there
in doing business with you? In what areas
can doing business with you get easier?
Here are several places that may have
snags: quoting, deal registration, channel
conflict, site surveys, getting all
of the paperwork for a sale, collecting
commissions, partner training and getting
paid. Those factors don’t include the
customer facing items such as installa-
tion, billing, CPE and customer care.
Compensation, co-selling, channel
manager training and lead generation
are just four tips that could improve
your channel program in the wake of
the competition in the industry. Nothing
beats having an exclusive service that
customers want, but that isn’t the case.
So try to be as easy to do business
with as possible. Don’t make it hard to
give you sales. Make the partner want
to do business with you. o
Peter Radizeski, President of RAD-
INFO INC, started as a
VAR, then became an
agent. Now he writes
about the channel and
the telecom space while
consulting to service pro-
viders and occasionally
still selling some circuits.
With Innovative, you get:
• Residual income on coax deals
• Proactive updates on coax installs
• Assistance in closing deals
• Customized comp plans
• And much more
This is your
coax cable
business today.
This is your coax cable
business with Innovative
Business Solutions.
Stop referring your coax orders. Contact
Innovative Business Solutions today.
Ph: (720) 407-2230
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:
May - June, 2017 | ChannelVision 67