In order to both share my perspective and (perhaps more importantly) to elicit constructive feedback and new ways of thinking, I am writing a series of posts giving my perspective on the best practices of Channel Management. These are things that I have learned and have implemented with success in my career. Comments, feedback, disagreements, and additional insights are welcome, if not encouraged.
This is the fourth in a series.
Partner Business Planning, Part 2
In Part One of this post on Partner Business Planning, I defined some terms and discussed overarching goals and the importance of deep understanding between vendor and partner and the alignment that comes with it.
Here, in Part Two, I'll take a deeper dive...
Explicitly documenting expectations for things such as product integrations, product/marketing/sales/technical support, pricing, communication methods, and reporting is extremely important. A clear definition of success and the KPIs to measure it are also must-haves. Your company should leverage your access to data across the partner ecosystem by sharing success benchmarks and best practices. This helps in setting realistic KPIs and informing effective campaign strategies.
Developing a partner-specific Profit and Loss (P&L) statement, using historical data from other partners helps manage expectations, especially regarding the time to achieve profitability. If you choose to use a two-tier model, it's important to determine if distributors are conducting effective business planning with lower-level "volume" partners and what support you can provide to enhance this process.
The initial kick-off meeting for planning should involve key personnel from both the partner (executives, heads of marketing, business development, technical support, customer support) and your company (Partner Account Manager, Partner Marketing Manager, Head of Partner Marketing, Partner Tech Support) to review products, launch plans, partnership plans, and marketing plans.
Joint Marketing Planning (JMP) is a critical output of the overall business plan, serving as a detailed blueprint for collaborative marketing efforts designed to achieve specific objectives within a set timeframe. This begins with establishing a long-term vision (5-30 years) and a medium-term mission ( ~ 5 years), followed by S.M.A.R.T. goals and KPIs. From these, a joint strategy can be developed, outlining how the goals will be achieved together. This, in turn, translates into specific tactics and actionable campaigns. The JMP itself typically includes...
- the go-to-market strategy,
- sales forecasts,
- expected ROI, and
- a comprehensive launch plan
- press releases,
- trade shows,
- events,
- webinars, and
- content co-branding.
Central to effective joint marketing is a compelling Joint Value Proposition (JVP). A strong JVP clearly explains how the combined offering...
- solves customer problems or improves their situation (relevancy),
- delivers specific, quantified benefits (quantified value), and
- tells the ideal customer why they should choose this offering over competitors (unique differentiation).
The JVP must:
- be easy to understand,
- communicate concrete results,
- highlight differentiation without hype or jargon, and
- be digestible within about five seconds.
Complementing the marketing efforts, a Joint Sales Plan is essential for translating strategy into revenue. This plan should agree upon quarterly goals and incorporate joint account planning, the development of joint presentations and proposals, and a system for ongoing sales pipeline reporting. It's also crucial to formalize an opportunity qualification process and establish a best-practice sales process. You can support this by providing partners with benchmark sales data from across your entire partner network, such as typical win rates and funnel progression rates, to help set realistic targets and refine sales approaches.
Once the joint business plan is in place, effective management and accountability are key to its success. It is important for your company to trust your partners and to avoid micromanagement. Partners are separate entities and should be allowed the autonomy to do their job. Regular review meetings are critical to assess whether both parties met the plan's goals, if the goals were realistic, and if all intended actions were accomplished. These reviews should also identify obstacles to success and how they can be addressed in future iterations of the plan. This should lead to revisions and the agreement of next steps, goals, campaigns, and the schedule for subsequent reviews. Mutual accountability is vital; an escalation and resolution process should be established during the initial planning phase. The integrity of the entire partner program relies on both your company and your partners delivering on commitments. Partners who consistently fail to deliver should not be allowed to progress within the program, and funding or resources allocated to them may need to be minimized.
Successful channel partnerships are built on a foundation of thorough and collaborative joint business planning. Recognize that your partner is a separate business with its own objectives. Before planning, your must invest time in understanding your partners' firmographics, financials, and relationship dynamics. Sharing benchmark data and best practices empowers partners and sets realistic expectations. Crafting a compelling joint value proposition is critical for market differentiation. Success must be clearly defined with associated KPIs. The joint business plan should be treated as a "live" document, continuously adapted and adjusted to changing market conditions and learnings.
Finally, holding both your company and your partner accountable for your respective deliverables ensures the long-term health and productivity of the partnership. This comprehensive approach to partner business planning transforms the vendor-partner relationship into a strategic alliance geared for sustained growth and market leadership.
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