POWERING PARTNER PERFORMANCE THROUGH CHANNEL …bloomlearningtechnologies.co.nz/file/whitepapers/Docebo-Channel... · MAINTAINING PARTNER CHANNEL ENGAGEMENT Organizations can’t

Train for Gain: How to get the most from your partner networks

POWERING PARTNER PERFORMANCE THROUGH

CHANNEL TRAINING

Copyright © 2016 Docebo - All rights reserved. To contact Docebo, please visit: www.docebo.com

https://www.docebo.com/


1 The Power of Partner Channels

2 Challenges

Protecting the Brand Maintaining Partner Channel Engagement ManagingGrowingNetworksEfficiently PreventingPartnerConflicts Evaluating Partner Success

3 Best Practices for Partner Channel Success

4 Learning Tech Solutions

5 The Right LMS for Channel Partner Enablement

6 Sources

TABLE OF CONTENTS

POWERING PARTNER PERFORMANCE THROUGH CHANNEL TRAINING 2



THE POWER OF PARTNER CHANNELSPartnerchannelsofferorganizationsawaytoincreasethereachofaproductorservicewithoutinvestingheavilyinthesaleseffort.Insteadofbuildinganewsalesteam,withalltheaddedcostthatbrings,organizationscanpartnerwithlike-mindedcompaniestoselltheirproductorservice.

Awebsitedesignsoftwarecompanymightofferintegrationswithasocialmediatoolandcreateapartnerchanneltobenefitbothofthem,forexample.Eachoftheirclientsmightneedsolutionsthatcouldbeofferedbyoneofthechannelpartners.Becausetheydon’tcompeteonthesolutionstheyoffer,itmakessensetothepartner.

Despitethepotential,manyorganizationsaren’tleveragingthefullpowerofpartnerchannelsbecauseofthearrayofchallengesthatcomewiththepractice.

NEARLY 80% OF COMPANIES USE PARTNER CHANNELS TO GENERATE INCOME

65% OF CMOS FEEL UNPREPARED TO DEAL WITH CHANNEL GROWTH

80%

65%

Source: http://www.slideshare.net


CHAPTER 1



Partner Channel members face their own roadblocks as well, but only the parent organizationcansolvetheseproblems.

PROBLEMS FACED BY PARTNERS

ONBOARDING QUESTIONS

21%

PORTAL AND ONLINE ACCESS

12%

CREDENTIALS AND CERTIFICATIONS

21%

CHANNELPROGRAMS

25%

PROGRAM PAYMENT STATUS AND ISSUES

21%

Source: What are the biggest challenges and struggles channel partners encounter when working with their vendor




PROTECTING THE BRANDPartner channels need the right knowledge, materials, skills and processes to begoodbrandambassadors.Thiscanbedifficultbecauseoftheaddedchal-lengespartnerchannelscanbring.Channelpartnerscanbespreadamongsthundredsoforganizationsacrosstheglobe.Channeltrainingandcommunica-tionsneedstobeabletobridgeculturalandlanguagedivides.Partnerchan-nels need product knowledge, as well as customer service and sales training to ensureagoodcustomerexperience.Badcustomerexperienceswithchannelmemberswillmainlyreflectpoorlyontheparentorganization.

MAINTAINING PARTNER CHANNEL ENGAGEMENTOrganizationscan’tsimplydeliverone-timetrainingandexpectthepartner-shiptomovesmoothly.Channelpartnersneedmarketingmaterial,producttrainingandincentivestobemotivatedtomovepartnerproducts.Withouttheright knowledge and incentives, channel partners will mention your product if itcomesupbuttheywon’ttaketheextraefforttomakeasale.

MANAGING GROWING NETWORKS EFFICIENTLY Managingpartnerchannelsacrosstheglobecanbeadifficultandexpensivetask.Businessesneedtostayontopofchannelpartnergrowth,leadgene-rationandregistration,trainingandmanyotheraspectsoftherelationship.Withouttherightsystemsinplace,apartnershipisdoomed.

PREVENTING PARTNER CONFLICTS Withmultiplepartnerchannelssellingthesameproducts,conflictsareine-vitablewithouttherightproceduresinplace.Organizationsneedtopreventconflictsandunnecessarycompetitionamongstchannelpartners.Theyalsoneedclearplansforwhenproblemsslipthroughthepreventivenet.Channelpartnersandparentorganizationsalesteamscouldbeaffectedbychannelconflicts.Theclientiscaughtinthemiddle,riskingabadcustomerexperience.

EVALUATING PARTNER SUCCESSJust like any aspect of sales, partner channels need to be continually evalua-tedtoensuresuccess.Organizationsneedrobustdatadeliveredinauseableformattofindweaknesseswithinthesales,marketing,orcustomersupportchains.Partnerchannelsaren’tjustsellingaproduct,theyareactingasbrandambassadorsfortheparentorganization.Lownumbersareasymptomofalargerproblem:Withouttherightdata,poorcustomerexperiencescouldbeaffectingtheparentbrandwithouttheirknowledge.

CHALLENGES


CHAPTER 2



STRONG ONBOARDING FOR EARLY ENGAGEMENTA healthy onboarding process can get new hires up to their best potential quicklyandefficiently.Thesameprincipalappliestopartnerchannels.Astrongchannelpartneronboardingeffortwillallowpartnerstocreateuniquevaluepropositionsfortheircustomersandprovideasolidreturnoninvestment.This early engagement will also help create a strong relationship and help re-tainandacquirenewpartners.Partnerchannelonboardingprogramsshouldmirrortheparentorganization’sonboarding,whilekeepinginmindregionalandculturaldifferences.

LET THE EXPERTS HELPCompanieshaveinternalexpertsthathaveworkedhardtolearneverydetailoftheproductsandservicestheyareselling.Allowingpartnerchannelstousethis knowledge can help ensure brand cohesiveness and keep engagement up.Givechannelpartnerstheopportunitytoconnectwithproductmana-gers or product marketing departments to ensure they are learning from the expertswhoknowtheproduct’svaluepropositions.Don’tjustlimitthishelptoproductknowledge.Customersuccessandsalesexpertscanalsobetappedfortheirskillsandknowledge.

TAILOR TRAINING TOWARDS THE MARKETTraining material should be tailored towards the channel partners market culture,languageanddialect.Considertheinfrastructurewherechannelpar-tnersarelocatedaswell.Accesstotrainingmaybelimitedbyinternetbandwi-dthandcomputeraccess.Ensuringtrainingmaterialcanbeutilizedbymobiledeviceswillincreasetheusability.Smart phones and tablets are much cheaper than traditional desktop and laptopcomputers.Ensuringmobileusabilitywillincreasethelikelihoodtrainingcanbeconsumedinlesstechnologicallyadvancedmarkets.

INTEGRATIONS FOR BETTER RELATIONSMakesureallpartnersharedsystemscancommunicateeasilyandexchangereliabledataforevaluation.Singlesign-on(SSO)isamust-haveforagreatadministratoranduserexperience.Themoredifficulttherelationshipisforpartnerchannels,themorelikelytheyaretoignorethepartnership.

BEST PRACTICES FOR PARTNER CHANNEL SUCCESS


CHAPTER 3



INCENTIVIZE AND REWARD SUCCESSPartner channels should be motivated and rewarded as early as possible to keepengagementup.Don’tjustincentivizesales.Beginanengagingrelation-ship,startingwiththeonboardingprocess.Rewardingtrainingcompletionandcertificationswillensurepartnerchannelswillbeproperlytrainedfromthebeginningoftherelationship.

PREPARE FOR (AND PREVENT) CHANNEL CONFLICTSDevelopapartnerdealregistrationsystemanddefinerulesofengagementearlyinthepartnershiptoreducethechanceofconflicts.Partnermanage-mentsoftwarecanaidtheseefforts.Reinforcetheruleswithcertificationsandtrainingofferedthroughanlearningmanagementsystem(LMS).

MONITOR SALES AND TRAINING RESULTS TOGETHERPartnerchannels,likeanyaspectofbusiness,needtobeanalyzedconstantly.The right tools can allow partner channels to be watched remotely and mana-gedwithlittletonohands-onmanagement.Ifapartnerchannelisundersel-ling, sales data can be compared to training data to look for potential weak-nesses.




AnLMScansolvemanyoftheproblemsfacedbychannelpartnerships.Ifyourpartner training program can strike the delicate balance needed to educate your partners on your product and service while retaining your company’s branding and culture,youcanmorecloselyaligntheexperienceofyoursalespartnerstothatofyouremployeesandbuildastrongernetworkbuiltoncommongoalsandobjectives.

WHITE LABELING Use white labeling on all communication, marketing and training material to reinforcebrandcohesion.ChooseanLMSthatofferscustomizationfeaturesandgiveeachpartnertheirownportalthattheycanconfiguretosuittheirneeds.

LEARNING FROM VARIETYAn LMS can deliver knowledge in a variety of ways to ensure every learner is supported.Backupinstructor-ledclassroomtrainingwithonlineandmobilelearningmaterialsthatcanbeaccessedatthepointofneed.Formaltrainingalonehasalowretentionratewhennotpairedwithon-the-jobtraining,somakesurepartnerchannelsgetsomehands-onexperiencesaswell.

SOCIAL TOOLS UNLOCK KNOWLEDGESocialtoolscanbeutilizedtounlockexpertknowledgewithintheparentorganizationforchannelpartners.ChannelpartnerscanusemessageboardswithinanLMStoposequestionsforindustryexperts.Peerscanalsoanswerquestionsandratetheseanswerstoensureonlythebestinformationisused.

INCENTIVIZE AND GAMIFY FOR GROWTHGamificationandrewardscanbeapowerfultooltoencouragepartnerchan-nelengagement.Alearningmanagementsystemwithgamificationandau-tomaticrewardrulescansimplifythetaskofincentivizingpartnerchannels.Channel administrators can setup automatic rewards based on performance anduseanLMStomonitorprogressanddistributerewards.

LEARNING TECH SOLUTIONS


CHAPTER 4



AUTOMATE TRAINING Automaticenrollmentrulesandcertificatescanreducethetimenecessarytoensurepropertraining.AnLMScandelivertrainingmaterialtochannelpart-ners.Enrollmentrulescanbeconfiguredtoensuretherightmembersreceivethetrainingtheyneed.Certificatescanensurepartnersareproperlytrainedbeforetheybeginrepresentingtheparentbrand.

COMMUNICATION FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTIONLMSsocialtoolscanbeapowerfulresourceforconflictpreventionandresolu-tion.RequiredcourseswithintheLMScanbeusedtoenforcerulesofenga-gement.Partnerdealregistrationsystemscanbeexplainedwithacoursewithrequiredcertificationtoensuretheyknowtherules.

MONITOR, EVALUATE AND REVISE A robust learning management system can deliver analytical data that is mission criticaltothechannel’ssuccess.Salesdataisonlypartoftheequation.Salesdatacanonlyshowhowapartnerchannelisperforming.Itdoesn’tshowtheweaknesses within the partnership, but you can tie training data to sales data topaintaclearerpictureofyourrelationship.AgoodLMSwillprovidethisdataacrossalltrainingmodalities,notjustformalonlinelearningenvironments.




When choosing a learning management system for partner channel enablement, considerthesefivekeychallenges.AnLMSdoesn’tjusthavetobeameansforde-liveringtraining.Itcanbeapowerfultoolforsimplifyingcomplexbusinessrelation-ships.

MOTIVATE AND ENGAGEBegin an engaging relationship with a strong onboarding process within the LMS.Usegamificationandautomaticrewardstoolstocreateahands-offin-centivizingpracticetokeepchannelpartnersengagedandmotivated.Withtheright incentives, channel partners will do more than simply mention a parent product,theywillsellittoboosttheirprofitsandcommissions.

REINFORCE BRAND AWARENESS WITH TRAININGKeep channel partners aware of product updates and brand culture with a varietyoflearningmaterialsdeliveredinmultipleways.AhealthyLMSwillpresentopportunitiesforsocialandexperientiallearningtobackupformalinstructor-ledtraining.WhitelabelingacrosstheLMScanalsostrengthencul-tureandbrandawarenessaswell.

SIMPLIFY CHANNEL MANAGEMENT WITH AUTOMATIONSAn LMS should have integrations and automation tools that reduce the time investmentwithchannelpartners.Automaticenrollmentrules,certificationsand rewards can ensure channel partner members have the right training be-foretheypotentiallymisrepresenttheparentbrand.Lesstimespentmanagingthepartnerchannelincreasesthelikelihoodofprofitability.TheLMSshouldalsoeasilyscalewithyourpartnerchannelnetwork.

COUNTER AND CONTROL CONFLICTSTraining within an LMS can reinforce rules of engagement for channel part-ners.Therighttraining,backedupwithon-the-jobexperiencescanreducethelikelihood of potential customers being contacted by competing channel part-ners.KeepingcommunicationschannelsopeniskeyforahealthypartnershipandaLMScanprovidethosetools.

ANALYZE FOR RESULTSTraining reporting data is paramount in determining weaknesses within a partnerchannel.Salesbychannelpartnersisonlypartoftheequation.Tyingsales data with training data can provide a better understanding of return on channelinvestment(ROCI)andshowweaknesseswithinthetraining.

THE RIGHT LMS FOR CHANNEL PARTNER ENABLEMENT


CHAPTER 5



SOURCES1.Four Keys to Success: Channel Enablement

2.What is Channel Enablement?

3.BestPracticesinEnablingResellerChannelPartners-(SubscriptionOnly)

4.10 Channel Partner Problems

5.Docebo-TrainingGlobally

6.Is Your Brand’s Marketing Aligned with Your Channel Partners?

7.DealingwithPartnerChannelConflicts

8.State of Channel Partners

9.What Incentives do Partners Want?


CHAPTER 6


https://www.pulselearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/ChannelEnablement_Whitepaper_PulseLearning.pdf

https://www.cgsinc.com/en/resources/channel-enablement-what-it-is-and-why-your-business-cant-ignore-it

https://www.gartner.com/login/loginInitAction.do?method=initialize&TARGET=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gartner.com%2Fdocument%2F3288617%3Fref%3DsolrAll%26refval%3D168176816%26qid%3D46b1e16aee1c8a6b0102e26baf343881

http://www.omghub.com/salesdevelopmentblog/tabid/5809/bid/106621/Top-10-Problems-with-Channel-Sales-Don-t-be-Held-Hostage.aspx

https://www.docebo.com/2016/03/29/effective-training-employee-training/

http://www.channelpartnersonline.com/blogs/peertopeer/2014/05/is-your-brand-s-marketing-aligned-with-your-chann.aspx

https://www.gartner.com/login/loginInitAction.do?method=initialize&TARGET=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gartner.com%2Fdocument%2Fcode%2F263382%3Fref%3Dgrbody%26refval%3D2896818

http://www.slideshare.net/G3Com/2016-state-of-channel-marketing?ref=http://a15949.actonservice.com/acton/forms/userSubmit.jsp

http://channelinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp_What_Do_Partners_Really_Want_in_Incentive_Programs-Final-060116.pdf

http://channelinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp_What_Do_Partners_Really_Want_in_Incentive_Programs-Final-060116.pdf

THE LMS YOUR PARTNERS WILL LOVE TO USE

Don’tleaveyourpartnerswithouttherighttoolstorepresentyourbrand.Docebo supports social and mobile learning to ensure your partners are armed with the right training content, whenever they need it, with a full suite of integrations and automation tools to reduce your time investment while fostering stronger rela-tionships.Meanwhile,Docebo’s advanced reporting tools can help you prove and improvethereturnonchannelinvestment.

See the Docebo learning management system in action!

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POWERING PARTNER PERFORMANCE THROUGH CHANNEL …bloomlearningtechnologies.co.nz/file/whitepapers/Docebo-Channel... · MAINTAINING PARTNER CHANNEL ENGAGEMENT Organizations can’t