The new reality is that channel professionals can no longer categorize channel partners according to discrete business model types. As a vendor organization, it is your responsibility to feed the right nourishment to the myriad of partners operating within your channel ecosystem.
But, how do you actually go about embracing the ecosystem era opportunity? Applying the right strategies and solutions is key to your business success to move you and your partners forward to optimize growth.
Here are a few quick strategies and solutions that provide channel ecosystem nourishment.
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Ensuring your foundations.
Although it might sound obvious, it’s important to prepare the right environment with a robust multi-vendor to multi-partner model to enable best nourishment and success with your ecosystem. Disjointed programs and systems lead to partner frustration, dissatisfaction and disengagement if left unaddressed for too long. Try to simplify these silos with dynamic experiences around the user persona (without the need for multiple systems) while integrating existing or future applications into a single hub. You will have a far better chance of success with a collaborative solution - with one user interface - opposed to point solutions for each type of user, or custom building expensive and hard-to-maintain solutions.
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Streamlining and optimizing.
The growth of partner ecosystems is reliant on attaining partner-to-partner collaboration, secure data exchange and new engagement models to enhance the partner experience. Exploring and implementing solutions that manage concerted capabilities, activities and expansive date should be part of your growth plan. Invest in solutions that manage concerted capabilities, activities, and expansive channel data to engage and support the partner journey should be part of your growth plan.
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Personalization.
Look to speak to all user personas throughout your ecosystem at the right cadence points across the right onboarding certification, CRM deal registration, on-point deal winning content etc.
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Aligned Incentives.
Ecosystems work around collaborative rather than linear solution selling so use your incentives to support this. It’s critical to incentivize across the collective parts of the deal. Influencers, referrals, MSPs, ISVs partners etc. all collaborate to deliver value in deals across the partner journey, so align your incentives to the relevant points.
In a nutshell, you need to ensure your channel ecosystem is managed and orchestrated across a working infrastructure and hub that is: intuitive, seamless, secure and communicates easily. For more help and detail on how to do this take a look at: Nourish Your Channel Ecosystem: How to apply fresh strategies and solutions for healthier partnership growth.
