When new opportunities beckon, many companies are tempted to jump in too early, and try to boost new product sales by building a massive channel partner network rather than examining whether the channel is equipped to deliver on expectations. Very often, in fact, a more discriminating approach yields better results. In a previous post, we discussed the necessity for channel-driven companies to balance their hopes for new products with an understanding of the economic and margin goals, the growth opportunity, the partner value proposition and their ability to ensure partner differentiation as the product matures.

In the next stage of launch preparation, the focus needs to be on how to equip the channel for long-term success. There are five key checkpoints for this phase.

* How will you help partners to develop? - Developing a channel partner network takes time, and few organizations are equipped or ready to wait out the time for their network to mature. More frequently, we see major changes rather than incremental adjustments to a long-term plan. As a result, many vendors suffer significant partner attrition. New partners may join with fanfare and enthusiasm, but without proper nurturing and strategic development, over time they become disgruntled and abandon the program because they feel that they are valued for fulfillment only, while the organization has no skin in the game to help the partners develop. In fact several successful ecosystems exist today, where a strategic channel partner development approach that focuses on a smaller number of partners, helping them create business plans to develop their competencies over a multi-quarter cycle really pays off. Once a partner has made investments across the sales, marketing and technical training functions, they are highly unlikely to abandon that investment by switching to another vendor simply because the cost of switching is too high. Therefore, partner development not only engenders loyalty, but also much higher long-term return than over-distribution through an underdeveloped organization. Though challenging, focus pays well, when done well.

* Direct or channel sales? - Once you have the entire foundational framework for your channel partner network in place, you will need to decide what you sell via the channel partner network and what you sell direct. In the early days it’s usually simple to fix on one. However, as an organization grows and introduces higher value and more complex products, at times it makes sense to sell direct. The moment this happens, partners start looking at their vendors with skeptical eyes. So, you need to be very clear about how you are going to deal with this scenario when or if you do decide to sell directly to certain products or certain segments - like the federal government or major enterprise. If you do go directly, you will need to determine how you will segregate deals from a partner - and who, ultimately, wins? We have seen repeatedly that the deal registration programs that allow a partner to close rather than an internal sales team always end up with a higher partner satisfaction rate. This is a discussion that needs to happen sooner than later, and when it comes to the channel the better way is always early conflict and early resolution. Don’t wait for things to blow up - address this upfront and head on when you are launching a new product or solution.

* How do you reward high performing partners - Most companies offer some sort of partner reward program, financial or incentive-based, like President’s Club or Partner Council Membership, or a combination thereof. However,