Channel Edge

Our channel is shifting faster than ever before and it’s up to all of us to ensure we keep a finger on the pulse of what partners, alliances, and influencers are focused on going into 2022.

Our SVP, Global Channel Chief, Steven Kellam, SVP of TMT Practice, Claudio Ayub and 360insights new SVP of Marketing, Heather K. Margolis join together in a Channel Edge special episode to review the key themes of the Channel Focus North America 2021 event.

Watch this episode to understand the emerging themes that will help shape the landscape of the channel in 2022, such as:

• Engaging Influencers
• The emergence and dominance of the 'Marketplace'
• Partner assisted sales, marketing, and attribution

Channel Partners need to get better at marketing and demand generation. Regardless of the specific role designed for them to fulfill, partners need to take ownership and then execute on these critical tasks. But, how do you make that happen in today's frenzied channel environments? How do you amplify partner skills and accelerate the marketing and demand gen process? Some may suggest incentives, rewards, MDF, and maybe all of them combined. Channel Incentives are a powerful part of the marketing and demand generation process and the right mix of tools should be leveraged at the right time, to the right people in the right ways. Please join me and Marc Monday, VP Global Strategic Partnerships at Sage, as we discuss building both a marketing assessment and a marketing engagement program. The good news is that Marc has done this with thousands of partners, and we break it down into 5 steps (and some are not easy). However, that is what creates a competitive advantage when done well.

While channel incentive automation and partner engagement are critical factors in achieving partner success, one of the less discussed keys for many channel partners is access to capital. Channel partners are facing many new challenges in the COVID world, from digital marketing to sales enablement, so the last thing they need is lack of capital to manage their businesses. Please join me while I talk to Kiley Kunkler, Vendor Origination Lead at Wells Fargo, and discuss how the right bank can make a big difference in helping vendors grow channel sales and deepen partner relationships.

So how do you build your channel? How do you scale channel programs? What role do incentive and MDF play? How do you prioritize? How do you successfully grow and manage your channel business as your revenue, partner community and internal headcount expand? In short, what works when you have to take channel from zero to sixty really, really fast? Seems practical and strategic at the same time and that is not always easy.

Please join us as we discuss this topic with Darren Bibby, former Vice President Partner Strategy and Programs at DocuSign. Darren share not only his philosophy for success, but he also lays out the  5 key steps that made it happen for DocuSign..

Admittedly, the first time I heard the term "Ecosystem Orchestration," I wasn't sure what to think. I questioned its meaning as it relates to the channel. However, I quickly realized that "Ecosystem Orchestration" is an incredibly accurate description of the synergistic management of today’s complex ecosystems. No one can argue that channel ecosystems are becoming broader, more complex and extremely sophisticated. As the channel evolves in this way, participants in the channel are continuously questioning how do you get the most out of them. How do you take multiple partners, resellers, service providers and influencers and seamlessly manage them - all with the customer at the center? How can you orchestrate success? Please join us as we discuss this topic with James Hodgkinson, CEO of Webinfinity, a global leader in Ecosystem Orchestration. Listen in as James talks about why Ecosystem Orchestration is the key to successfully managing not just partners, alliances and applications outside of the organization, but all the parts of an organization's internal ecosystems as well.

Partners want leads, that is a given. However, what they really need is to learn how to sell in today’s remote selling world. This goes beyond incentives and cold calling, even though both are important and deep into sales enablement: knowing not just what to do, but when to do it and to whom. Based on this trend, it's no surprise that companies like BlitzMaster's are having record years. BlitzMaster's founder and CEO Andrea Sittig-Rolf says that sales enablement services have never been in greater demand. Please join us in a lively conversation with Andrea on what is working in today’s telemarketing world, where to put your incentives, what are the biggest challenges and who is winning the sales enablement game.

Forrester currently lists Channel Automaton at the top of the vendor priority list, with Incentive Automation leading the way. But how important is automation in todays Channel? Is it a real competitive advantage?  What are the challenges? Where does data play into this strategy? Why is it harder than is sounds? There are a lot of questions that need to be addressed, however one  thing is clear according to Jay McBain, Principal Analyst Channels, Partnerships and Ecosystems at Forrester. The ones who get automaton right, from Incentives to personalization, will be the winners. Please listen in as Jay and I discuss the value of not just committing to channel automation, but the upside of doing it right.

While the “Cloud” is sometimes over-hyped and even misunderstood, it's actually a necessity in today's complex and evolving incentives industry. With that said, 360insights is excited to be releasing its 360|TECHCLOUD this week, the first launch in its multi-industry Cloud strategy. More than just the right nomenclature, this "single pane of glass" incentive cloud offers partners and vendors an industry-specific Incentive Automation (IA) platform that combines multiple components that are seamlessly bound together to address a customers' needs in a way that individual components simply cannot deliver on their own. Please listen in as Claudio Ayub and I discuss what the 360|TECHCLOUD really is, why it is so important to the Tech Channel today and what future holds for the first truly dedicated IA Cloud.

Digital marketing has never been more important for awareness and demand generation in the channel. Yet, partners still struggle so much with something that can be such a key tool for their success. So, how do you leverage assets like digital marketing agencies to help to drive success? Please join as we discuss this challenge and opportunity with Cameron Avery, Founder and CEO of Elastic Digital, a leading channel digital marketing agency.

IOT has become a universally understood application in today’s business world, with benefits ranging from managing inventory and maintenance for massive construction machinery, to leveraging cameras inside of refrigerators that tell you when you are out of milk. At this juncture in IOT evolution, many manufacturers assume it is easy and seamless to create an effective connection that fully capitalizes on their IOT investment. The reality is that there are still some big obstacles to realizing maximum effectiveness. How do we make it easy for end users to connect and manage their devices? How do we incent end users to engage?  How do we ensure that connectivity providers and the manufactures are aligned on what is needed to effectively connect, report and measure success? Please join us in our latest podcast as we discuss these issues and many of the solutions with Ray Underwood, Director of Business Development at Zipit Wireless, an industry leader in bridging the IOT gap.