What are the World’s Channel Chiefs Talking About Right Now

Impartner kicks off a new virtual discussion series featuring best practices, channel experiences given the impact of COVID-19, insights and strategies, personal care, and more. Earlier this month we launched Channel Chief & Chill, an informal drop-in discussion that takes place every week, and registration is available to channel leaders in North America and Europe from top corporations across several industries. Think of it as an open space to connect, share key trends, and have coffee with your peers. As these impactful conversations and relevant topics have emerged in these virtual meetings, we have heard vibrant discussions, built new relationships and networking opportunities, and witnessed a truly collaborative community.

These are a few examples of the timely topics that were highlighted in recent weeks:

Showcase Your Partners
With the current situation, face-to-face meetings have become non-existent, website traffic has increased and transactions are being made online more than ever before. To help ease marketing and sales efforts, your partners need to feel seen and you need to provide partners with true real estate on your website. Feature your Partner Locator front and center on your homepage. Instead of just listing your partners on your website, create an interactive marketplace where potential clients will know exactly who to turn to for the next steps and resources. Create a user-friendly system where users can fine-tune their search filters and categories, easily contact trusted partners, and utilize an interactive map to find the perfect partner for their business. If you don’t already have these solutions reach out—Impartner does!

Pivot and Prosper
It has long been known that 20% of the partners are most likely bringing in 80% of your channel revenue. Now is the time to give your next 20% of partners some love. Identify the next grouping of partners using analytics, support this new tier of potential top partners with the right toolset, and set them up for success by placing them on a partner journey. Help this new group of partners so that they can be revenue ready, faster than before, by splitting up your time to provide more of your attention to this new group of potential top tier partners. As you automate processes like onboarding, training, and segmentation, use the right partner management software and provide the right toolset so that this new group of partners can be placed in a position of success within your program faster than ever. Having the correct tools, such as PRM, is key to gaining the proper insight into these metrics. In the last few months we have seen a 34% increase in partner portal logins among our customers’ PRM platforms. If you have been thinking about implementing or upgrading a PRM, now is the time.

Humanize Your Business
We have become the largest workforce to ever work from home in history and often forget that we are constantly communicating with other humans virtually and that our virtual presence matters. In our interactions with our partners, we need to maintain a personal, human relationship. Automation in the channel should allow you to focus on the human connection aspect of a partnership. If you went to lunch with partners before COVID-19, continue to have lunch with them through virtual meetings, coffee talks or happy hours. Stay connected, get creative, and utilize tools like Event Calendar to leverage these connections. Many people are struggling with new emotions, your meaningful actions during this difficult time will create a stronger, beneficial, and more personal relationship for the future.

Ready to join other experts in your community and share your thoughts and insights on real-time topics? Grab a cup of coffee, hit unmute, and join us for our next Channel Chief & Chill discussion. Without networking events and onsite meetings, it is difficult to connect with your peers and find out what they are doing to be successful during these uncharted times. We are here to help, join us Wednesdays at 9 am (MST) for North America and Fridays at 9 am (GMT+1) for Europe. You can sign up for your respective region’s meeting by visiting impartner.com/channel-chief-and-chill.