Maximising Channel Sales Potential: A Balanced Approach
In a recent client engagement, I was asked to review the channel sales structure of a small/medium sized distributor as they had taken on a new vendor and had the opportunity to hire additional resources to drive recurring revenue growth.
However more sales resources do not necessarily lead to more success. In any channel GTM success hinges on a carefully structured balance of complementary roles and responsibilities. Let’s explore how you might optimise or restructure your existing channel sales team to maximise its full potential.
Understanding the Key Channel Sales Roles
To effectively leverage an indirect sales model, a well-defined team structure is essential. Firstly, here is a high level breakdown of key channel sales roles and their responsibilities. Excluded are the non-sales roles such as marketing, technical, support and operations, which need to be included into the overall channel business GTM.
- Channel Sales Manager: This strategic leader oversees the entire channel sales function. They set the vision, define policies, set the targets, and manage the team. Their focus is on driving overall channel performance and ensuring alignment with the broader business goals. Acting as a mentor to the partner facing team is also a significant and particularly important responsibility.
- Channel Account Manager (CAM): CAMs are the frontline soldiers, responsible for recruiting, enabling, and managing a portfolio of partners. They build strong relationships, drive sales, explain the partner program benefits and requirements to ensure partner satisfaction. Having product and channel knowledge is not enough in today’s environment. Top CAMs also have strong business skills to be able to engage with partner executives to align joint priorities and business plans to get suitable buy in.
- Business Development Manager (BDM): These specialist “hunters” focus on finding and pursuing high-value opportunities. They collaborate closely with the CAMs partners to understand what their key partners’ value adds, and market focus is to drive joint business growth. Often the “go to” person at the vendor or distributor for a deal registration application to bring in the required resources to be able to qualify, quote and close the opportunity faster.
- Partner Success Manager/Enablement Manager (PSM): This role is critical for driving partner alignment, engagement and of course product usage for MSPs or sell through for solution providers. They focus firstly on onboarding the partner (so the CAM does not need to spend all of their time on a single partner), act as an initial “concierge” to help with the partner gaining access to portals, resource libraries, introductions to key channel support staff such as marketing and technical as well as providing ongoing training, and any additional resources to help partners succeed. If focused on MSPs or partners with a growing annuity customer base, their focus is on increasing recurring revenue and reducing churn.
- Inside Sales/Territory representative (ISR): These oft underrated channel individuals support the field CAMs, BDMs, and Partner Success Managers by managing the day to day tasks of a larger number of smaller partners across a territory. As they oversee the smaller partners who may not be as familiar due to lower sales volumes with the vendor or distributor products or processes, they are essential to keep the CAMs and BDMs productive. The ISR helps with routine partner management and engagement tasks, provide up to date product information, and identify any potential partner generated leads to be passed back to the BDM or CAM for further follow up.
Making it All Work
- Clear Roles and Responsibilities: Ensure that each role has a well-defined set of responsibilities to avoid unnecessary overlap and confusion, both internally and externally by the partner. Clearly define the hand off points and associated processes.
- Span of Resourcing Capabilities: Every vendor or distributor will have unique needs in terms of time and resources per partner depending on the size of the partner, deal size and complexity of the solution. There is no “one size fits all” rule for how many partners a CAM, BDM or ISR can effectively cover in a week or a month. Take the time to measure their coverage and productivity per partner within their territory to work out if changes are needed.
- Effective Communication: Foster open and transparent communication between all the channel sales team members to ensure alignment and collaboration. Each one of the above channel sales roles is important to the overall channel “health.”
- Empowerment: Empower your team members to make decisions and take ownership of their roles. A thorough understanding of the partner program rules and requirements by all team members is essential, however.
- Data-Driven Approach: Use data and analytics to track performance, find trends, and make informed decisions about which partners within the territory need more or reduced focus and the associated resourcing.
Summary
Whatever the channel GTM and resourcing model is in place today, it is unlikely that in a years’ time it will still be 100% fit for purpose. As the number of partners managed grows, or the complexity of the solutions offered changes from perpetual to annuity or solution complexity increases, the balance of CAMs, BDMs, PSMs and ISRs will need to be reviewed. This could be geographic based, market based, program tier based or a combination of all.
Best practice is to annually challenge all assumptions of the status quo within the annual planning process framework via a team offsite with an independent facilitator such as Strategy & Change. Plans and forecast models are only as good as the inputs, so take the time to ensure the inputs will lead to a suitable resourcing model that will continue a smooth partner engagement experience that provides the results as predicted.
