The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 1

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel

Today’s fast-changing marketplace has presented technology vendors with many new opportunities to both transform their existing partner ecosystem into a competitive asset and successfully capitalize on new business alliances, business models and customer opportunities.

As a result, vendors are embracing a multi-tiered channel development strategy and uncovering the value of the small and middle-market

Channel Development &Management Solutions

strategic thinking relationshipbuilding

- 1

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 2

ContentsImportance of the SMB Market ........................................................................................................................................................Page 3

Identifying & Recruiting the Right SMB Partners .............................................................................................................................Page 4

Qualifying New Partner Candidates ................................................................................................................................................Page 5

Changing Dynamics ..........................................................................................................................................................................Page 6

Building the Fast Track .......................................................................................................................................................................Page 7

The ‘Welcome’ discussion: ................................................................................................................................................................Page 8

Enablement: Accelerating Partner Training ...................................................................................................................................Page 9

Fast-Tracking Marketing & Sales Success ........................................................................................................................................Page 10

Partner Program Administration, Reporting & Metrics .......................................................................................................................Page 11

What Differentiates CGS? .................................................................................................................................................................Page 12

- 2

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 3

Cases in Point

You will learn how to:

Identify and recruit a high performance ecosystem of small and middle market partners

Get your SMB partners on a fast track to driving and accelerating sales

Create a framework that provides visibility into partner productivity and performance through the use of actionable metrics

The Importance of the SMB Market

As revenue and margins slow or stagnate within the enterprise client market, the SMB market represents many vendors’ best opportunity for new growth and competitive advantage. A strong installed base of small business customers greatly limits the threat of traditional competitors when a powerful enterprise jumps into a new industry. Purchasing over $250 billion in technology products and services annually, small and middle-market customers understand that technology is critical to remaining competitive and operating efficiently. But to connect with this critical market in a cost efficient manner, vendors need partners who make SMB their primary focus.

Think of this white paper as an essential playbook -- with checklists, questions and processes that have been tested and proven with channel marketing and sales leaders at many of the world’s leading technology vendors.

This exclusive playbook provides a view into the changes taking place within the SMB channel; offers a mix of strategic and tactical recommendations rolled into a scalable program; and will help you identify partners who will make the required commitments to engage and quickly become enabled to sell your products and services.

Identifying & Recruiting

During Facebook’s Q1 2014 earnings call, Sheryl Sandberg revealed that she is personally interested in conquering the SMB market for Facebook’s online advertising platform. More precisely, she called SMBs the “holy grail” of advertising. Facebook purportedly serves 25 million engaged SMBs.

Microsoft recently appointed a new CEO: Satya Nadella, a technologist with a background in SMB software. Nadella is the primary driver of Microsoft’s shift toward the cloud. Microsoft has a massive SMB installed base.

- 3

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 4 - 4

the Right SMB Partners

Rethinking the Recruitment ProcessOver the past 4-5 years, many vendors have looked to third party organizations to launch their mid-market partner recruitment campaigns and follow a typical low-visibility process:

• Vendors provide the number of new partners required to cover each geographic area as well as high-level descriptions of the desired partners.

• The third-party provider implements the recruiting program with a focus on achieving those recruiting targets, but often has no way to know or measure if they have recruited the right partners—partners who truly align with the vendors’ short and long-term business objectives and will commit to engaging with and selling the vendors’ products and services.

In this scenario, the success of a recruitment campaign has been measured only by the number of new partners recruited and not by the effectiveness of the partners.

In this playbook, we take a high-visibility, outcome-driven approach.

We recruited over 5,000 new SMB partners but after 1 year,

only 15% are selling our products.

• Company size• Primary industry focus• Years in business• Geographic coverage• Number of current customers• Number of sales, technical & marketing personnel• Specific vertical market expertise• Primary & secondary revenue sources• Type of solutions & services provided• Current partner agreements w/ vendors • Specific technical certifications• Size of companies sold to: very small - very large

The following checklist of factors can be used when defining recruitment criteria:

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 5

Qualifying New Partner Candidates

After identifying what an ideal SMB partner looks like, vendors need to “qualify” each new candidate before moving forward:

• Do the prospective partners really fit our profile? In the channel, success is tied to who you hire. Vendors are often recruiting hundreds if not thousands of partners at a time. The only way to truly vet a potential partner is to ask a list of very specific questions, based on the recruitment parameters and criteria that were developed.

• Will the partners make the required commitments? Partners must be asked about their intentions to commit to specific vendor programs such as participation in training courses, becoming a subject matter expert on how to sell and support your specific products and services, and willingness to become certified.

Through this qualification process, you will have made the first step toward showcasing the investment you are willing to make in the success of your partners while gaining visibility into their current customer base.

Do the prospective partners really fit our profile?

Will the partners make the required commitments?

- 5

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 6

Changing Dynamics

A fast track to accelerating partner sales The industry lacks a blueprint for creating a consistent strategy for SMBs.

Vendors are realizing that to tap into the power of the small and middle market, they must do more than rely on the general strength of their brand.

Small and middle-market partners typically do not commit their resources to one vendor unless they can achieve substantial benefits, business growth and a higher level of support.

“What differentiates your partner program from the

rest of the vendors?”

“Why should I invest my resources to sell your products and services versus vendor X?”

Today, partners expect a higher level of interaction and support from vendors

A key strategic question: To Outsource or NOT?

Sales and marketing executives recognize the importance of the small and middle market but don’t typically have the resource and time to allocate to it. As a result, many vendors are turning to outside sources to cost effectively implement and manage the partner engagement, enablement, sales activation and support functions.

When considering whether your program should be handled internally, consider whether your team can provide smaller partners with the required assistance and touch points needed to quickly become sales and technically enabled through a single comprehensive program.

How can we become a Proactive Channel Organization?

Rather than “reactive” inbound response tools, channel marketing efforts must become “proactive” and focus on pre-sales partner enablement and sales development. The key is in cultivating relationships that address the needs of this unique partner ecosystem.

- 6

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 7

Building the Fast Track

The Go-to-Market Plan Recruiting a new qualified ecosystem of small and middle-market partners is the first step toward success. The very critical next step is to kick off a go-to-market program that quickly engages, enables, nurtures and assists partners to sell.

In this section, we will help you forecast your success as you walk through the most critical plan deliverables and track progress along the way. At the end, you’ll have all of the data points needed to build a comprehensive dashboard and deep visibility into partner performance.

Engagement: Welcome and AwarenessUpon onboarding, your highest priority is to quickly engage

the new partners and establish a valued and positive relationship. Within 24 hours of being approved and authorized, a dedicated Partner Resource Manager should welcome new partners into your program.

Using the partner profile data captured during the recruitment phase, the Partner Resource Manager should develop call strategies and initiate discussions centered on the partners’ market focus, current solutions/issues with current vendors, how they go to market and strike up an open dialogue around what they will need to begin the initial steps toward becoming enabled on your platform.

- 7

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 8

Guide to the’Welcome’ discussion:

• Benefits summary: Provide partner with a review of key benefits of your partner program, products and services.

• Guided tour: Walk the partner through your partner portal; identify key technical resources, including sales and marketing tools; and assist partner with passwords and IDs to access partner portal.

• Partner business model: Review and document partner’s business model, how they go to market and add value, solution description and services provided.

• Product alignment: Gain an understanding and document which of your product(s) the partner has interest in selling.

• Issues, concerns, priorities: Document important issues/concerns/priorities relayed by each partner.

• Partner needs: Establish and document what the partner needs to become “enabled” on your platform.

• Partner commitment: Obtain commitment from the partner to train their sales and technical staff on your platform.

Track Your Progress

The partner engagement phase quickly establishes a positive relationship with new partners and drives commitment. After the initial call, the Partner Resource Manager should start tracking results:

Number of partners contacted and engaged in the welcome phase discussion

Dates contacted with partner names.

Number of partners contacted but unavailable to participate in “welcome” phase discussion.

Dates contacted, partner names and call-back schedules.

- 8

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 9

Enablement: Accelerating Partner Training

Working closely with your new partners, start to identify programs that apply to their specific training requirements.

Make training a priority - from certification and prep materials to online courses - and assist your partners in registering for the courses. It is essential that the new partners immediately commit to enroll in training courses and that the Partner Resource Manager maintains the enrollment and attendance status of each partner.

Track Your Progress:Report on the following:

Partners enrolled in training courses with details on dates.

Partners not yet enrolled in training courses; including call-back schedules.

Partners who have completed required training courses; include description of courses and applicable certifications achieved.

Partners actively porting/developing solutions.

Partners scheduled to port/develop solutions; include dates.

Partners who have not provided a schedule to port & develop solutions, include call-back schedules.

Partners requiring additional support; define action items.

Partners who have completed porting/developing their solution.

Training Enrollment

Solution Status

Sales Activation: Market Readiness & Go-to-Market ToolsSmall and middle-market partners typically have limited resources available to develop collateral that highlights the benefits of your products and services to new prospects.

To provide the compelling content and messages that partners need to achieve higher quality interactions with their customers and prospects, they will need help developing marketing, sales readiness and go-to market plans.

- 9

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 10

Guide to Fast-Tracking Marketing & Sales Success

Guide to capturing and keeping partner mindshare:

Use a personal approach: Partners rebel against “boiler plate” emails, so communications should be frequent, direct and full of meaningful information. Keep everyone in the loop: Create an effective feedback loop through frequent communications to understand the success your solution providers are having—or not having.

Don’t stop there: Once your partners have launched their sales campaigns, it’s time to focus on partner satisfaction surveys and ongoing sales and technical support.

Ongoing Partner Support

Communicate! Communicate!! Communicate!!! Even after the on-boarding, training and solutions development stages, your Partner Resource Manager must maintain a high-touch strategy to ensure solution providers remain fully engaged and active in marketing and selling your products and services.

• Partners who have developed marketing plans.

• Partners scheduled to develop a marketing plan; include schedule.

• Partners not yet committed to developing a marketing plan; include callback schedules.

• Partners who have developed sales collateral and solution profiles.

• Partners scheduled to develop sales collateral and solution profiles; include call-back schedule.

• Partners who have not yet established a schedule for development of sales collateral and solution profiles; includes reasons and call-back schedule.

• Partners who have launched their marketing plan; include dates.

• Number of qualified prospects, meetings, and start tracking qualification stages on a weekly basis.

• Number of wins; include reasons for winning.

• Number of losses; include reasons for losing and any names of competitive products.

• Pipeline/forecast for 1, 3, 5 months. Limit to prospects with minimum 85% probability to close.

Track Your Progress:Report on the following:

- 10

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 11

Partner Program Administration, Reporting & Metrics

Today, visibility is the word on every channel leader’s mind, but it’s also top of mind for your SMB solution providers.

Vendors are not the only ones striving to obtain as much information as possible about what is working or not working in their partner programs. When you launch new partner initiatives and programs, weekly reports provide real insight into key performance indicators (KPIs).

The reports (right) are designed to meet vendor information needs, and if necessary, enable quick decisions on the improvement of more effective go-to-market channel strategies and programs.

Combined, these KPIs close the loop on developing the ultimate playbook for unleashing the revenue potential of the SMB channel.

Key Vendor Metrics

Number of daily, weekly, monthly recruitment calls to prospective partners

• Number of partners engaged in discussion• Number of partners indicating interest - Call back schedules by partner• Number of partners too busy to discuss - Call back schedules by partner• Number of partners not interested - Reasons not interested • Basic profile description of partners recruited: - Partner size - No. of full time sales, tech., marketing personnel - Partner’s industry - Partner’s solution description - Partner’s services provided - Vendor’s products and services that will be sold - Size of companies targeted: v. small, small. med., large enterprise - Sales/technical certifications - Geography supported

Key Vendor & Partner Metrics

Other reports provide analysis and deeper insight into various areas of the program, including:

• Reasons why new partner program initiatives are performing well or underperforming.

• Recommendations for improving the program.• Detailed feedback obtained from partners.• Competitive analysis data obtained from new partners.

- 11

The Ultimate Playbook: Unleashing the Revenue Potential of the SMB Channel 12

To Learn More About CGS’s Channel Management Solutions: Contact us at: channels@cgsinc.com or Visit us at: http://www.cgsinc.com/en/channel-partner-enablement

200 Vesey St - Brookfield Place - New York, NY 10281-1017 212-408-3833 channels@cgsinc.com cgsinc.com

Channel Development &Management Solutions

What Differentiates CGS from other Channel Development Solutions?

Our portfolio of innovative channel development and management services are “proven” with some of the world’s largest technology vendors.

CGS’s channel development and management services offer the opportunity to truly “differentiate” partner programs from the competition with features that address the needs and desires of today’s SMB partners and drive incremental sales.

Our executive staff has over 30 years of indirect channel sales and channel business development experience on a worldwide basis. You will be working with seasoned experienced channel executives that have encountered the same challenges you face, especially in today’s economy.

CGS will assist you in gaining a superior position in your market as the vendor of choice with the best partner program, delivering a complete end-to-end channel development program cost effectively.

Global Reach – with over 5,000 employees and facilities located in 20 countries serving North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America, we can support your partners in 18 languages.