Evaluate your channel

Where is your

Channel Management?

Lack of resellers

Overloading processesWrong partners

Inadequate T&Cs

Channel Marketing sucksToo many resellers

The Channel Compass

A methodology to identify, vizualise, and communicate the key directions for your channel management

pragmatic and straight forwardtested successfully at many IT companieseasy to rundeveloped by Lemon Operations as open source

RecommendationsAll teams that touch the channel to be represented (Sales, Marketing, Support, Admin)

3 hours face to face meeting

Material to be sent upfront to attendees for them to come prepared

Master Principle

Best IT Channel Management always relies on

Ability (capacity, capability)Relationship (cooperation, alignment)ofChannel partnersYourself

The Channel Compass

How do we Driveour Channel?

How do we assess our channel partners?

Rating5 (close to arrow) = meet/exceeds expectation1 (close to center) = put the business at risk

Great Channel Management Weak Channel Management

Us

Fill in the tables1. Present all the tables to the

attendees to save confusion among the topics

2. Get back to the first table and start reading the questions. The list is not exhaustive.

3. Write the positive facts in the «Strong» column. Bullet points, no phrase. Keep it short and focused.

4. Write the facts to be improved in the «Weak» column.

5. Put an overall rating for this topic on the speed meter. 1 for weak, 5 for strong.

6. Get to the next table

Our Cooperation1

23

4

5Weak Strong

Key Questions Strong Weak

Do we treat our resellers/distributors as an extension of our own Company?Do we trust them?Do we have regular dialogue on the business perspectives, upfront the business plan?Do we easily share market and customer data with our channel partners?

Our Alignment1

23

4

5Weak Strong

Key Questions Strong Weak

Are the channel account managers and channel marketing well aligned?Are marketing strategies well aligned with the channel strategies and vice versa?Are there regular meetings between channel and marketing management to align strategies?

Our Capability1

23

4

5Weak Strong

Key Questions Strong Weak

Are the channel account managers skilled to coach their channel (sales + marketing)?Are our marketing managers skilled to coach their partners? Do we have the right tools in place to measure our channel performance (sales, marketing, ROI)?

Our Capacity1

23

4

5Weak Strong

Key Questions Strong Weak

Do we have enough resources to follow up our current channel partners?Do we have enough resources to expand our channel?Do we have enough resources to follow up the marketing activities of the channel?Do we have resources to work on future channel strategies?

Our Channel Partners

Channel Cooperation 1

23

4

5Weak Strong

Key Questions Strong Weak

Do channel partners demonstrate a good mindset on our products, strategies?Do channel partners proactively propose business strategies for our products?Do channel partners share their market/customer data with us?

Channel Alignment 1

23

4

5Weak Strong

Key Questions Strong Weak

Do channel partners focus on the right business priorities?Are the channel marketing programs aligned with MDF guidelines?Are channel partners selling in the right way?Are they using the right messages?

Channel Capability 1

23

4

5Weak Strong

Key Questions Strong Weak

Do resellers understand our market and demonstrate enough expertise?Do partners drive efficient marketing activities with strong ROI?Do partners have good process to deliver on their sales/ marketing?How efficiently resellers deliver on service to customers?

Channel Capacity1

23

4

5Weak Strong

Key Questions Strong Weak

Do we have too little/many resellers to address the market?Is our channel equipped to cope with the growth/decline of our business?Do our channel partners have enough resources (sales/mkt/services) to cover market needs?Do we have credit issues with our partners?

The Outcome

Our Channel CompassChannel

Capability

Channel Alignment

Channel Capacity

Channel Cooperation

Our Cooperation

Our Capability

Our Capacity

Our Alignment

Our Channel

Us

Options

By Division

By Country/Geography

By Channel Type

Compare to previous period to evaluate progress

Action Plan

Involve our partners in our next biz plan definition

Recruit new resellers

Train our team on channel management

URGENT: CALL LEMON OPERATIONS!

BenefitsA key foundation to build best-in-class channel

Great eye opener

Align channel management teams

Focus on top and right priorities

Easy and time efficient

Free