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Convey Channel Helps You Define Your Channel Program.\\xa0

Let\\u2019s face it.\\xa0 Most of you don\\u2019t really want or need every partner out there to try and sell your services. You could try that strategy, but you end up with endless quotes, frustrated partners and very few deals. To have an effective channel program, you have to define who you want to do business with, both on the partner and customer side.\\xa0 Vendors who participate in Convey Channel have numerous opportunities to use their content catalog to define their program, focus partners on the type of accounts that are in your sweet spot, and what partner benefits are part of your channel program.

Over the years, we\\u2019ve seen a number of vendors and master agents make the mistake of being all things to all partners.\\xa0 Unless you are a huge national master agent with lots of resources or a vendor who has an extremely wide range of services, this strategy creates a recipe for disaster.\\xa0 Partners tend to focus their sales efforts and build a customer base that matches their product expertise and sales skills.\\xa0 The partner that likes to sell complex network deals to healthcare chains is likely not the same person that would be stimulated by pursuing a small business for hosted voice or failover service.

Convey has built its content and marketing network to help both the master agent and the vendor to define who they are and the type of partner they want to work with.

Start by creating an ideal partner profile and communicate your partner strategy through your Convey Channel content catalog.\\xa0 That statement may seem scary to vendors and master agents because certainly it seems less risky to try and work with every partner, right?\\xa0 But the reality is that 20% of partners are most likely to be those that are active with you and produce 80% of the referrals and your channel revenue. I\\u2019ve seen master agents be very successful by focusing on managed services providers as agents or vendors succeeding by attracting the partner who likes to sell complex cloud deals.\\xa0

A content catalog gives you many opportunities to let partners know who you are and how you define your partner program.\\xa0 As an example, you can create a page inside your catalog entitled \\u201cPartner Program\\u201d. \\xa0 Add text & graphics to let partners know if they are right for you or create a short informational video to communicate the message.\\xa0 Use a banner to direct viewers to that page or a content post that define your program.

Then consider creating an \\u201celite partner program\\u201d and inviting partners to join it.\\xa0 Ask partners to \\u201csign up\\u201d for your elite partner program in order to receive special help and support.\\xa0 You can add a form to any page inside your Convey catalog asking the partner to let you know they are interested.\\xa0 Once the form is filled out, you can designate any person in your channel organization to get notified so they can follow up.\\xa0 If you have one of Convey\\u2019s partner portals, partners can apply to become members by linking them straight from your catalog on master agent portals to the member application inside your own portal.\\xa0 You can even automate accepting that partner into your program or screen the application first before you approve that partner.

Next use the content catalog to educate partners on the type of customer that you would like them to pursue.\\xa0 Unless you want an endless flow of referrals jamming up your quote desk, taking up your channel managers time and not resulting in transactions, you have to help focus your partners\\u2019 efforts.\\xa0 Use your content catalog give partners an education on your target markets, the kind of account you want to work with and the individuals inside that account that are the right decision makers. \\xa0

Here is what works best.\\xa0 Add case studies on sales successes in your best vertical market