Why Partner Management Needs To Change

In the conventional partner-vendor engagement model, partnerships are measured and graded primarily based on revenue generated and certification level attained. This results in a tiered hierarchy, such as Gold, Silver, and Bronze. However, emerging technologies like Cloud and XaaS have shifted the dynamics of the partner-customer-vendor relationship. The largest partners may not always be the … Continued

Subscription Selling Is More Than A Monthly Bill

The move by many businesses across many different industries to engage with their customers on a subscription or recurring revenue basis, rather than perpetual, has had a profound effect on the overall customer sales engagement model, not just the billing model of monthly subscriptions. In this article we look at the differences between the traditional … Continued

5 Tips to Change Your Partner’s Perception

One of the interesting dynamics of our industry is how quickly new technologies (whether they are developed internally or through acquisition) can alter a company’s direction. For example, it can happen when a vendor transitions from perpetual to XaaS, or when a software vendor acquires a hardware company (or vice versa), or when a new … Continued

10 Tips for Vendor Account Execs to Leverage Partners

Over the last 6 months, our single most requested workshop has been training Enterprise Account Executives to better leverage partners to win business and grow revenue. From our experience, vendor account executives (ie. salespeople who engage directly with end users) can be one of the best, or worst, resources a vendor can provide for their … Continued

6 Tips for Managing Small-Medium Partners

We were asked recently by a client to create a channel management training program specifically focused on how to engage with and manage a territory of partners that were selling to Small Medium Businesses (SMB). Most of these partners were SMBs themselves so we use the term Small Medium Partner (SMP) as they have different … Continued

The Lost Art of the Elevator Pitch

As channel consultants, we get to work with an incredible array of different companies and technologies. And with the breakneck speed of new product releases, it’s a real challenge trying to stay on top of it all. What continues to amaze us however, is how few companies can explain what they do in a concise … Continued

5 Compelling Reasons to Revisit Your Brand Strategy

In talking to people at the recent CompTIA event, there was an overwhelming sense that we are living amidst the biggest changes in the way we work and view the world, probably since the second world war. Technology is again at the vanguard of this change but only in response to an invisible attack from … Continued

Insights from the ANZ Channel Community

At the last CompTIA Community Meeting, we asked the attendees to give us their observations from 2020, and their predictions for 2021. These nine charts summarise the feedback across five aspects: Revenue growth Staffing numbers Working from home Technology Business challenges 1. Revenue Growth Overall, the impact on revenue in 2020 was mixed with 44% … Continued

Reassessing Sales Incentives for MRR

We’ve recently worked with a number of companies who needed help redesigning their sales incentive programs to drive sales of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) through XaaS, Cloud and Managed Services, rather than traditional CapEx IT. While there may not be a single perfect incentive model for all organisations, there are certainly some valuable lessons you … Continued

Do We Really Need To Meet Customers?

In Australia and New Zealand, restrictions have eased over the ability to meet with customers and partners in person. And as the vaccines are rolled out, it’s only a matter of time before we return to some semblance of the way meetings used to be. But just because we can meet in person, does that … Continued