ChannelVision Sept-Oct 2017

added costs to modify the CRM and any ongoing support costs. 5. Loss of Brand Control: Your success depends to a large degree on the perception of your brand. Using a CRM tool as a partner portal can cause serious risk to that brand because the branding capabilities within CRMs look like a CRM and partners will be able to tell this right away. A PRM tool offers highly customized branding to match the look and feel of your other digital properties. PRM systems also provide co-branded marketing campaigns to ensure your messaging and branding remain consistent and of high quality. 6. Limited Functionality: Repur- posed CRM tools lack many of the part- ner-focused features an out-of-the-box SaaS-based PRM solution includes. For example, they might be missing market development fund (MDF) management, cooperative marketing campaigns, busi- ness analytics or partner locator capa- bilities. As a result, companies need to turn to third-party companies to add – and stitch – these features together, creating the potential for single sign-on challenges, data integration issues and a poor customer experience. 7. Lack of Features for the Fu- ture: CRM companies aren’t focused on the indirect channel, so they aren’t as concerned about building additional features for channel improvement. Solutions built from the ground up for the channel – and tested with multiple companies – will provide regular new features focused on providing custom- ers with the competitive edge they need in their businesses. 8. Loss of Focus for Your IT Team: IT teams may believe that they already know and understand your cur- rent CRM tool, and as a result, assume it will be simple to use as a PRM tool. Not true. CRM solutions are not ready to go out of the box, so your IT team will likely be pulled from other busi- ness-critical services to help their sales and marketing colleagues as they at- tempt to discover, design, build and maintain a customized solution PRM. 9. Lack of Channel Expertise: While CRM vendors and even your IT department might be experts in web development, SaaS architecture and setting up a website using an open source tool, there’s a lot more to a part- ner portal than just website features. CRM vendors that have traditionally spe- cialized in direct sales solutions might not be familiar with the best practices of an effective channel program that will help accelerate indirect sales. As a result, the features they offer, even in a modified PRM solution, might not pro- vide the benefits you need to succeed. Your partner portal should be the front door to your indirect business. Un- fortunately, using a CRM instead of a solution optimized for the partner doesn’t work, nor does it provide the much needed visibility into a partner net- works’ pipelines. Pick the right tool for the job. Use your CRM for the direct sales team, and then deploy a tool specifically built to meet the needs of the channel and your channel partners – and then watch your channel revenue grow. o Dave R. Taylor is chief marketing officer at Impartner. To get a full picture of Ritter’s network, go to www.ritterbusiness.com/reach or give us a call at 888.336.4249. Fiber reach in and around Arkansas with connectivity to major carrier hotels. Connections large and small across the Mid-South. Our fiber connectivity spans across • Texas • Oklahoma • Missouri • Illinois • Indiana • Kentucky • Tennessee • Alabama • Georgia • Arkansas • Louisiana Ritter Wholesale offers resilient, secure, dependable network connectivity on our state-of-the-art fiber backbone. With flexible term options, multiple configurations and bandwidth speeds, we’re your last mile. CHICAGO DALLAS ATLANTA LITTLE ROCK 69 September - October, 2017 | Channel Vision