Growing Revenues in a Tough Economy

Your partner community is your extended salesforce. Why do so many companies treat them as an after thought? Especially in today’s economy?

Now is the time for companies to focus on their channel execution  more than ever! With less direct sales people on staff, and no new hiring on the horizon, targeted recruitement, enablement & go to market planning with your partners will result in expanded revenues in new accounts  & in new markets. And is not attainable by a direct sales model alone.

Companies that rebuild or optimize their partner programs with a focus on mutual accountability & driving joint revenues is the key.   Too often we find that partner programs only amount to listings on corporate websites or as powerpoint fodder.

Ask your VP of Sales how the partner program is doing. Either he will be honest & say it is a waste of time, or he will say it is doing great. If he states the latter, ask him to show you where on his sales forecast the deals that are partner driven or from a partner forecast. Chances are very few.

That is a sad statement given that the partner sales force of  System Integrators, ISV’s and OEMs far outnumber his own sales force. It should be that partner sales forecasts make up a far greater percentage of a company forecast.  In today’s economy, that could make the difference between survival or closing the doors.

The order taking days are over folks. Time for a wake up call in how we all sell & your partner community is just sitting there waiting for you to execute a fresh new sales approach with them.

A partner program that delivers is about focusing on what leads to breakout performance for you in the channel & in the markets you sell into. It’s all about selling smart utilizing all sales channels. It’s all about generating revenues!

Sales Management Style – What Works Best?

In the classic movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin plays the role of a tough sales manager from “Downtown” who is sent out by corporate to a local sales office to motivate a sales team falling behind quota.  He hurls insults & vulgarities at the sales team, and challenges them to close business or they will be fired permanently. The question is: Does this style of management really work, or is a more collaborative approach better served?

We tested both approaches with sales reps at several clients & found that early on, the intimidation factor actually did increase “paper activity” in the forecasts. However at the end of six months, over half the team treated with  the tough approach had left the companies with no additional revenue contribution.

On the other hand, the sales teams that we worked with in a more collaborative approach, using the techniques from our game planning service, rebuilt their pipelines & eventually started closing significantly more business.

The lesson is, by being collaborative with the sales team & mutually uncovering reasons why deals are not closing, you can increase team productivity &  save in the huge costs of having to recruit & retrain new sales reps.

This latter approach may not work in every situation, but is worth trying if members of the sales team have had a history of success with prior companies. Make them allies instead of enemies. Save your tough approach & “walk in the woods” approach for individual one on one meetings with reps, thus avoiding costly mass defections.

Palladin Consulting can help. Contact us to find out how.

http://www.palladinenterprises.com/Sales_Marketing_Channels.html to see the Glengarry Glen Ross Video.

Sales and Channels Execution

Direct Sales: Hiring direct sales can be risky. It takes time to train and build a book of business. It is important to develop a sales rep profile. The profile is important, moving too far away from it will produce poor results. An empty apartment is better than a bad tenant.

When hiring executive sales management, be sure you understand how they fit into your expected profile & company culture, because more than likely,  they will bring in their own team of sales people who behave similarly.  By nature, sales people tend to yell the loudest. Are they Theory X take no prisoners type guys, or do they have a more collaborative style. An interview does not always show these traits & is important to understand what you are in for before you bring in a new sales team. If not, your entire organization may suffer.

Other than references, one simple way to find out more about an important hire is to bring them out for a round of golf. You would be surprised what you can learn about someone’s style in a 6 hour pressure packed round of golf!

Make sure that the sales compensation plans are aligned with company business plans. Make sure that territories are clearly defined to avoid channel conflict with other reps and selling partners. Define the sales process and assign resources based on process steps. This will encourage information sharing and opportunity qualification. All this information should be contained in a collaborative sales tracking & forecasting system that all company stake holders have access to.

Geographical Expansion: Europeans like to buy from Europeans. A successful sales group in the US may not succeed in Europe.  Look for talent that has been successful selling similar products in the foreign territory.  It is important that they have contacts and the ability to bring in good people. Look for expansion through American multi-national companies to get local references.

 Partnering: Choosing partners can be very difficult. Analysts can be very effective at suggesting potential partners and making introductions.  Ask your customers what service providers they use. Look at your competitions, who do they partner with? Partnership include, selling partners that sell with you, OEM partners who embed your solution in their offerings and technology partners which extend your solution. To gain revenue through partners you must understand how they sell and get paid. Are they vertically aligned and is your vertical alignment similar. Are you speaking with the right people, you can spend a lot of cycles chasing a marketing relationship. Follow the money, sell with your partner. Check your contacts with analysts or other influencers to see if you are speaking with the right people.

Be sure the compensation plans for your direct sales teams are in line with your channel objectives. Compensation drives behavior. Do not create compensation plans that are destructive to your channel objectives. Find a compelling reason to partner. Make sure that your joint value helps them win deals. Make sure they understand how the partnership makes them more competitive.  Never get stuck in a program.

There is a lot to do, and if you can do it quickly you will beat your competition. Who is your coach? Palladin can help. Our partners have lived this problem at many companies in different roles. We can help you through the process rolling up our sleeves, working with you, sharing contacts and giving you the benefits of our experience. Why can we help, because that what we do? Go to our Website, then please give us a call.