Making Resolutions

No. 1: Resolve to adopt a pro-channel compensation model that pays your direct sales reps and field reps a higher commission for sales that go through channel partners. This is simple economics. Selling through partners brings a lower cost of sales and more satisfied customers. Of course, you can always choose to let the sales reps try to do it all and line their own pockets at the expense of the general welfare of the company.

No. 2: Resolve to reward all executives on channel satisfaction. The only way to ensure solution providers can cut through all the corporate roadblocks they regularly run into trying to solve real-world customer problems is to make sure that everyone in the company is measured on channel satisfaction. Before you can measure customer satisfaction, you need to be able to measure channel satisfaction. One leads to the other.

No. 3: Resolve to adopt a corporate structure that makes the channel chief one of the top executives reporting to the CEO. Along with this structure must come a budget that allows that channel chief to communicate the company's message to partners. Most marketing executives don't know diddly about the channel and simply ignore these trusted advisors to businesses of all sizes. Let's all remember that these partners actually make the buying decisions, so if you don't get to partners, you don't get to their customers.

No. 4: Resolve to treat your channel partners just as you would your own direct sales force. This includes forming a partner advisory council that the CEO meets with regularly, listening closely to their feedback and then actually acting on their advice.

No. 5: Resolve to communicate regularly with your channel partners. How can you expect your channel partners to deliver the right messages on product, strategy and solutions unless you communicate with them?

CEOs that adopt these New Year's resolutions are guaranteed a healthy, wealthy and happy new year. Those that don't will find themselves out of shape, failing to meet sales targets and quite possibly looking for a new job.

It's your choice.

Here's to making the right choices and a record-breaking 2005. Contact me at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.