“The biggest sources of opportunity are collaboration and partnership. And today, with digital communication, there is more of that everywhere. We need to expose ourselves to that as a matter of doing business.” – Mark Parker (CEO, Nike, Inc.)
Mr. Parker hit the nail on its head with this quote, and there are few better examples to prove the veracity of his words than partner networks. A well-managed partner network often translates to a boost in lead generation, improved sales and market penetration, additional capabilities and more. Considering this, it’s no surprise that so many organizations look to leverage such networks to take their business to the next level.
When it comes to measuring partner network performance, Return on Channel Investment (ROCI) is the metric that stands above all others. This is the figure that high-level executives most concern themselves with, and there’s one reliable way to improve it: automation.
With that in mind, these are some ways in which automation can be implemented in the partner network management process:
Through-Channel Marketing Automation (TCMA)
TCMA allows you to create, manage and distribute assets that are to be used by your partners in marketing your offering. These assets could be anything from syndicated emails and branding templates to social media content and campaigns. This centralization enables you to retain a certain level of control over your partners’ marketing efforts for your product while still giving them the freedom to customize it to an extent. That way, they may effectively appeal to their local customer base without straying too far from brand guidelines1. TCMA also enables you to incentivize your channel partners to utilize more of your marketing assets in their sales pitch.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
EDI is the practice of electronically transferring business documents in a standard format between your systems and those of your business partners.2 There are several advantages to this over paper-based exchanges. Here are just a few:3
-
EDI is the practice of electronically transferring business documents in a standard format between your systems and those of your business partners.2 There are several advantages to this over paper-based exchanges. Here are just a few:3
-
Transaction cost savings of at least 35% due to elimination of the need for paper, printing, filing, storage, distribution, etc
-
EDI can expedite business cycles by 61% and order-to-cash cycle time by over 20%
-
It improves visibility by making real-time transaction data available across systems
Contract Automation
Contracts are a necessity in any business partnership; automating their generation saves the hours it would otherwise take to manually draft these often lengthy documents.4 This, in turn, frees your resources to direct their focus toward more pressing tasks. Contracts can even be signed with digital signatures that are secure, authenticated and legally binding; your partners across the world can have them signed and ready within a matter of minutes.5
Automate the Partner Training and Onboarding Process
To realize maximum ROCI, getting your partners up to speed at the earliest is imperative; after all, time is money. Implementing automation expedites and simplifies onboarding by eliminating the need for lengthy internal communication processes.6 Automation solutions also enable you to quickly push out appropriate training material to partners as per their needs at any given time.
It’s clear to see that automation has a big role to play in partner network management . While implementing it in the above-mentioned forms may incur an up-front cost, it’s a one-time investment that will pay off in due time.
References:
http://www.fielo.com/blog/post/why-you-should-be-talking-about-through-channel-marketing
https://www.edibasics.com/benefits-of-edi/
https://www.edibasics.com/what-is-edi/
https://www.business.com/articles/how-contract-automation-is-changing-business-world/
https://www.logicbay.com/blog/10-quick-tips-about-partner-relationship-management
https://www.ivanti.com/blog/benefits-service-automation-employee-onboarding
