By Susana Cabrera
As we near the midpoint of the year, a common refrain echoes through meeting rooms, email inboxes and instant messaging channels: “How is it already the end of Q2?”
This sentiment applies across industries. It’s shared by any professional who has looked up from the weekly chaos of action items, checklists and KPIs and felt that time – and the opportunity to seize upon it – has passed exceedingly quickly. While some may pair this question with the relief of goals achieved, others likely feel the acute pressure of expectations yet to be met. “How is it already _____, and we still haven’t hit this metric?”
If you find yourself in the latter category, don’t fret. It’s already hard enough to expect everything to go according to plan with channel initiatives, let alone in a world of constantly shifting regulatory and economic headwinds. Getting yourself – and your team – back on track doesn’t need to be a scramble. A strategic review of your goals paired with tactical updates to your channel efforts can help turn the missed opportunities of H1 into the expectations you exceed in H2.
This kind of course correction doesn’t require a full reset – it requires clarity. It comes down to three strategic levers: reevaluating your existing framework, turning partners into brand advocates and aligning your goals through a product-led lens.
Step 1: Reevaluate Your Channel Foundation
Before making any tactical shifts or changes to partner engagement, start with a high-level assessment of your current channel foundation. You should ask yourself and your team questions such as:
· Is this model the most effective for our business?
· Is it advancing opportunities in a manner and timeframe that works for us and our partners?
· Are teams aligned and communicating across functions, or are silos and misalignment creating friction that slows our progress?
· What kind of feedback are we receiving from our partners and customers, and does it warrant significant change?
If you’re not honest with yourself about the health and effectiveness of your existing channel framework, you won’t be able to make the changes required to truly optimize your efforts. Left unchecked, even small points of friction can erode momentum and ultimately stall channel growth. Removing that friction clears the path for purposeful, aligned execution and gives your channel the clarity it needs to move forward with impact.
Step 2: Activate Your Partners into Brand Advocates
In business, as in life, there’s a meaningful difference between someone who supports you and someone who actively champions your success. In the channel, a similar difference exists between someone who’s just a “partner” and someone who’s truly an “advocate” for your brand.
A “partner” may be aligned with your team on goals and expectations, but the relationship often remains transactional. It offers some degree of mutual benefit but with limited momentum. In my experience, this kind of partnership is passable but not exceptional—and it certainly won’t drive the above-and-beyond channel success you’re likely pursuing.
An “advocate” elevates a partnership from transaction to transformation. With the right training, resources and shared purpose, advocates move beyond just representing your brand, extending it to a wider audience. They create opportunities for your mutual benefit because they believe in the value behind what they’re delivering to customers. When partners feel aligned, heard and equipped with the right materials, they don’t just sell your solution – they champion your success.
Step 3: Recenter on a Product-Led Approach
The product is the foundation of every channel engagement. The basis of any partnership, any channel activity and any sales motion is rooted in what this product can offer to make a potential buyer’s life easier, better or more exciting.
To advocate with confidence, partners must speak to your product’s value with the same level of clarity and detail as your internal teams. Whether working with systems integrators, solution partners or resellers, it’s critical that your internal teams and channel leads collaborate to ensure that partners are fully aligned and equipped to represent your product with confidence.
This means that they’ll need to be provided with more than just information about how channel sales will benefit their bottom line. They must be trained on your product, able to demonstrate its value and kept informed of any updates or new releases. On the other side of the equation, partner feedback is more than just helpful – it’s a strategic asset. Partners bring in field insights that can help uncover blind spots, shape product direction and strengthen competitive positioning.
Ultimately, a product-led approach streamlines your entire GTM motion. It clarifies value, aligns efforts and ensures that every partner touchpoint reinforces why your solution wins. When a prospect can understand the value they’ll receive, and see how it’ll drive the intended results, they’re more apt to become a customer.
Recharging Your Channel for H2 and Beyond
Before we know it, we’ll be saying how we can’t believe it’s almost the new year. Six months later, we’ll think about how fast H1 passed, and the cycle will continue as we march forward towards our business goals.
Amid this passage of time, it’s okay to acknowledge when certain benchmarks have been missed. These moments of pause are opportunities to adapt, evolve and reignite momentum. They provide the chance to ensure that your channel is not just reacting to change but shaping what comes next for your organization.
Susana Cabrera is global head of channel and alliances for Parsec Automation.
