Author: Cam Wayland
Recently we were engaged by vendor client to help them work through how they would achieve the growth targets they were given, and of course willingly and gratefully accepted. Therefore I thought it was worth taking a broader channel wide view of what drives growth, not only in resellers but across the entire channel ecosystem of vendor, distributor and resellers.

An ICT reseller cannot achieve strong growth in isolation, but needs the support of an aligned channel ecosystem, as well as good business skills, dedication, determination, focus etc as well as a great product portfolio from leading vendors.

Reviewing our recent consulting assignments I offer the following observations for our top tips that will drive channel growth. The first regardless if you are a vendor, distributor or reseller the number one tip is alignment.   Read More

The start of a new year.

A time when we set goals for ourselves (if you still remember the New Years Resolutions you made late in the night), and also a time when we set goals for our business and our partners.

But goals are funny things. They definitely motivate, but only for a while. But as Geoffrey James points out in this article, if you really want to be successful at sales (or indeed anything else) you must learn to be motivated by the process.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/salesmachine/why-sales-goals-and-diets-dont-work/11650?promo=808&tag=nl.e808

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Author: Cam Wayland
We often get asked to audit channel programs and incentives, in order to diagnose why channel facing staff or partners are behaving in a certain manner. In many cases, the answer comes down to the way the reward system has been structured. Partners (like staff) will always look for the easiest way to achieve target, but how they go about it may not have been what the program developer intended.

When designing a channel engagement strategy, program or promotion, the two big questions are:

1. What are you rewarding (and why)?
2. What are the unintended consequences of the reward system?

Many companies pride themselves on their "Work Hard, Play Hard" attitude. But as I look around, all I seem to see is the "hard work" bit. The economic downturn has resulted in many companies and individuals having to work a lot harder just to achieve the same profits as last year. And for some companies, being first to arrive to work and last to leave is worn as a badge of honour.

But maybe the answer to improved productivity isn't simply putting in more hours. In this article, Margaret Heffernan suggests that the key to greater productivity is not to work harder, but rather to change the way we work.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/business-strategy/how-to-be-productive-stop-working/378?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

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Author: Cam Wayland
As channel consultants we are often asked to research and review the performance of a channel program, or group of partners, to help a vendor get greater insight into what is happening. What we often find is that the vendor’s perception of what is going on in the channel (versus the partner’s perception) are poles apart.

What causes this discrepancy? Why would a vendor not know what is going on with their partners or their market? The answer is usually related to the fact that their channel measurement systems are evaluating entirely different metrics to determine performance.   Read More