Systematic Channel Partner Recruitment - An Introduction

Channel partners, or companies that work with you to market and sell your products and services, are an integral part of marketing campaigns for the technology sector.  However, building out your channel programme can be a big challenge. How can you identify an initial list of potential resellers, system integrators, value-added resellers, or independent software vendors? How can you determine which ones are potentially suitable for you? How do you eventually short list your potential partners to have a deeper discussion with?  This white paper will outline the strategy for recruiting the right channel partners for your company, so that you can effectively leverage the best partners and maximize performance and revenues.1    The Importance of Channel PartnersA channel partner is a company that a manufacturer or producer partners with to market and sell the products or services that the producer provides.  Channel partners can take many forms, depending on the product or service being marketed, but overall they have become an important part of marketing, particularly in the technology arena.  To put it simply, channel partners market and sell your product to end users for you, allowing you to focus more time and resource on product development and support.In 2005, channel partners produced over 65% of gross revenues for the largest IT companies.  Large IT vendors such as Microsoft, HP, and Cisco invest billions of dollars into channel marketing programs each year.  Mid-tier companies have also introduced channel partner programs and sales models.Why are channel partners such an important part of these vendors’ marketing strategies?  Companies use the expertise that partners can provide to increase profits and to expand market presence.  Partners can interact directly with customers and provide them with customized solutions.Channel partners have been shown to be a critical piece in the marketing strategy of many technology companies.  However, these partnerships were not put in place overnight.  A recruitment process was established by each company to bring in the partners that will be a best fit with the company and maximize the return on investment. A channel partner recruitment process has two primary phases:•    Identify potential channel partners – In this phase, potential channel partners are identified.  Some initial information gathering takes place to qualify potential partners.  At the end of this phase, you’ll have a list of potential channel partners that can be engaged in the next phase.•    Recruiting channel partners – In this phase, each of the potential channel partners is engaged to gather information about how well these potential partners match your qualifications.  At the end of this phase, you’ll have narrowed your list of potential channel partners down to those that best match your needs and be able to bring those companies on board.Before you begin identifying potential channel partners, you should first have a clear idea of the qualifications you are looking for in a channel partner.  Second, you cannot begin your recruitment process until you have a clear understanding of what your expectations are for your partners and what lead generation resources you will have to support your partners.  You can’t start talking with partners unless it is perfectly clear what you want them to do for you, and what you will do for them.  If you already use channel partners, you may have a partner program that you can use directly, otherwise you need to develop a partner program so that you can let potential partners know what resources you will have available.