MarketStar Blog | Partner (2)

The poet John Donne famously wrote, “No man is an island.” Donne was talking about the human condition, but he could have been talking about sales and marketing. No organization can successfully deliver goods and services in isolation; every business requires strategic partners with whom it works as a team to close new sales and handle customer fulfillment. That’s why “the channel” was created and why effective channel management has to be a strategic aspect of any successful organization.

Our global teams mirror the organization and support of their U.S. counterparts, but with localized day-to-day management based on in-country culture and laws. Sales as a Service on a global level means a single management platform, a single point of contact, and worldwide consistency in your global center of excellence.

MarketStar sales centers in EMEA are located in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, Egypt, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. Our EMEA employees drive client sales through inbound and outbound chats, lead qualification, partner enablement, and partner account management. This post is written by our Dublin thought leader: Anthony E. Byrne.

When the best partners have countless companies vying for their attention, how do you stand out from the rest and build a mutually beneficial relationship? The answer lies in well-executed partner marketing programs and tactics, which happen at the intersection of sales enablement, to-partner marketing, and through-partner marketing.

Software-defined data centers (SDDCs) continue to become an attractive option for organizations looking to maximize versatility with their data environments. According to a report from Allied Market Research, the market for SDDCs will grow to an impressive $139 billion by 2022. Organizations that get on board with this trend will be well-positioned for this expansion.

To succeed in channel sales, it’s essential to emphasize thought leadership as a way to enable existing partners and attract new ones. According to Forbes, thought leadership takes marketing to a new level. It increases the visibility of your organization by accelerating marketing efforts to accomplish goals and generate new leads.

Guest Blogger David O'Brien, with Partner Perspectives shares insight gained from living in the partner world (while operating a reseller business). He understands, firsthand, what works and what doesn't work with vendors and the relationship investment made to succeed with channel partners. MarketStar and Partner Perspectives have joined forces to create a Channel readiness program that provides Channel assessment, planning, implementation, and framework guidance to position vendor channel partners for maximum performance.

The world around us is constantly changing. Gartner predicts by 2021, 28% of all IT spending will be for cloud-based infrastructure, middleware, application and business process services. As the economy changes, so do the preferences and purchasing habits of users. This in and of itself creates a change in the delivery model to those same customers. Partners, too, are in the throes of transformation - thanks largely to the bold digital world that we're now living in. 

Attracting partners to your channel is art blended with science. While channel teams can leverage tools and technology to facilitate the process, it ultimately depends on their ability to identify ideal partner segments, discover the best candidates, and create relationships that stand the test of time. Despite the fact that recruiting partners for your channel may take some finessing, there are some tricks to the process.

Whether you’re ready to go to market or looking to extend your current capabilities, adding partner resellers can shorten and improve the process. Partners offer low upfront costs and bring established customer relationships to your organization.

Creating symbiotic relationships, where both parties benefit, is the first step in guaranteeing sustainable partnerships. While many channel managers are experienced in managing their current partners, acquiring new ones is a different story.

Implementing and maintaining a partner program requires a bit more effort than blind luck. In today’s channel sales environment, attracting qualified prospects—and putting in the work to retain them—isn’t as simple as it once was. With a myriad of options available, partners now have more power than ever to select vendors that appeal to their needs.