Halloween Special 2 - The Nightmare on Channel Street: Disappearing Commissions

Published: Oct. 25, 2019, 8 p.m.

Full Transcript

Convey Micro-Cast Series

This is Carolyn Bradfield and you\u2019re listening to the Convey Micro-Cast audio series. \xa0

This week is our Halloween Micro-Cast series and yesterday we gave Freddy Krueger a shout out by entitling our first episode, the Nightmare on Channel Street.\xa0 We identified nightmares in the channel that keep you up at night, ruin your channel program and destroy revenue.\xa0 Today we\u2019re going to focus how you wake up from the nightmare, run away from the monsters chasing you to not only survive on Channel Street, but to thrive.

Let\u2019s focus on the problem of the disappearing commissions.\xa0 We\u2019ve seen the rapid pace of mergers and acquisitions in the channel, many of those deals financed through debt, saddling the company with large debt-service and interest payments.\xa0 Take Windstream as a prime example.\xa0 They snapped up smaller companies like Earthlink and went into debt to do it.\xa0 You know the rest of the story; this year Windstream had to file bankruptcy in order to survive and protect itself.

Now, enter the bankruptcy court, and that channel program lost a level of control over how partners got paid.\xa0 Commissions became at risk, especially to those partners that stopped selling new Windstream accounts years ago.\xa0 So how do master agents and partners protect themselves from this nightmare on channel street?\xa0 Here are some ideas.

First, diversify your provider portfolio.

The first rule of business is not to put all of your eggs in one basket.\xa0 Companies that have a top-heavy revenue stream tied up in only a few customers are those at most risk.\xa0 Although you have your favorite providers, putting most of your revenue in one place elevates your risk.\xa0 Beyond that, you may be missing new services, new strategies and new opportunities other providers might represent to you and to your customers.

Next, upsell existing customers with additional services.

If you\u2019ve sold big network deals, you are likely making good commissions from those relationships.\xa0 However, those companies have evolving technology needs that you can fill.\xa0 If you affiliate with a master agent that is part of a master agent association like the Technology Solutions Exchange or the Alliance Partners, those master agents very likely own Convey Partner Portals.\xa0 Inside their portal is a world of other cloud and technology services you can offer your customers to upsell to your customer base and continue to diversify your source of commissionable revenue, reducing your risk.

And third, stay abreast of channel developments.

Most of the struggles that vendors are facing in the channel are often reported on in the variety of channel publications and websites.\xa0 Make sure to access those sites and read the tea leaves so that you are not surprised.\xa0 If you know what might be coming with suppliers you work with, you can make more intelligent decisions about where to place your business so that it is in less jeopardy.


The nightmare of being blindsided by changes in your provider\u2019s business is one that can be avoided.\xa0 Plan now to diversify the providers that you place business on, diversify your portfolio by upselling customers with new services, and stay informed about developments with the suppliers that you are working with.\xa0 \xa0

This is Carolyn Bradfield and you\u2019ve been listening to our micro-cast in the Convey Channel Partner special Halloween series.