Wondering how you can transform your company to drive more business through the channel and greater partner engagement across your organization? In this episode, Sam Valme, Sr. Director US Channels at Ave Point, shares how they are ramping up sales through Resellers, Integrators and MSPs. Sam unveils the pivotal moments and strategies behind AvePoint’s thriving channel ecosystem, emphasizing the crucial role of product development, enablement, and agile marketing.

Here’s what I learned Sam did at AvePoint to drive channel transformation:

One thing I hear almost every day is “how can we get our partners to bring us more business?” The shift to the SaaS model and a partner ecosystem approach is designed to add more partner value throughout the buyer journey. More influence, more customer success, more account expansion. The good news is that when done right, the ecosystem can also bring you more partner sourced business. In this episode, I share five partnering levers you can use to drive more partner originated business.

Here are levers you can pull to drive more partner sourced business:  

How does your company view partnering? Is it a functional department siloed from the rest of the organization? Perhaps it’s integrated into your sales strategy. But it stops there. One of the messages I’ve been promoting discussing with ecosystem leaders and analysts is that partnering has to be much, much more.

My thinking on this topic was actually inspired by today’s conversation with Jill Rowley, Strategic Advisor for Nearbound. Jill shares why partnering needs to be not just a department, but a fully integrated business strategy.

Here are some of the key things I learned from Jill:

There’s a lot of talk about the demonstrating the ROI of the partner ecosystem as we transition to the SaaS model. The SaaS recuring revenue model is so different than the perpetual world most of us came from. How should we be thinking about the impact and ROI of a SaaS channel? To find some answers, we’re going back to my conversation with Angus Robertson who was Axcient’s Chief Revenue Officer. Angus shares how Axcient redeveloped and executed their 100% MSP channel strategy and the 4 key performance indicators he used to measure their SaaS channel success. 

Here are 4 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of a successful SaaS channel strategy:

LTV to CAC compares the Lifetime Value of your customers to your Customer Acquisition Cost. Investors look at this ratio to see if you have product market fit and how smart you are with your marketing spend. 

The Demand Waterfall is your sales funnel that traces a buyer from inquiry to close. It looks at both the quantity of leads that you can bring in and the quality of those leads.

Sales velocity looks at how quickly leads are moving through your pipeline and how much value new customers are providing.  It’s a key sales measurement as it tells you how quickly you are making money.

NPS, or Net Promoter Score is used to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. It also measures your ability to create advocates or champions in your customer base or in your channel.

Cloud marketplaces have gotten a ton of buzz, but what’s going on in distribution? How are the classic value add distributors (VADs) responding to the rapid growth of the AWS, Azure, and Google marketplaces? One VAD who’s not resting on their laurels is Ingram Micro.

Ingram is rolling out a new digital platform that is a game change for partners and vendors. Today’s guest, Jennifer Anaya, is Ingram’s SVP of Global Marketing. Jen shares the new norm of distribution driven by Xvantage, their digital experience platform enhanced with AI and machine learning. 

Here’s what I learned is possible in the new norm of digital distribution with Xvantage:

Your gut probably tells you that partners amplify the customer experience, but you’ve lacked the data to prove it.  Now I have the data you’ve been looking for and some tips on how you can drive customer success.

In this episode, Nancy Ridge and Norma Watenpaugh share the findings of their groundbreaking research on Partner Experience. They are the authors of an eBook titled Partners are the Customer Experience, brought to you by the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, also know as ASAP.

Here are just some of the key findings of their research:  

A big challenge almost everyone in the channel has to face is how do you get direct sellers to embrace partners? Whether you’re just starting in building a channel or you’ve got a long-standing partner program, you’re going to have sellers who don’t understand the value partners bring, or don’t know how to engage partners effectively. That’s the question we’re going to answer today.

 Jules Johnston, SVP of Global Channels, faced this challenge at Equinix, a massive digital infrastructure company with over $7 billion in revenues. Jules stood up a global channel organization in a company that had been selling 100% direct for 20 years. It was a monumental task, both from a human and systems perspective, with everything designed for direct sales. Learn how she succeeded in gaining the mindshare of both her direct sellers and the partner community. 

Here are some great tips from Jules on how to get your direct sellers to embrace channel partners:   

We have entered the ecosystem economy where partners are critical for growth and resilience. Direct sales are suffering losses. Yet despite all the headwinds, partner confidence is high. Partners are hiring and almost two-thirds of partners are looking at revenue and profit growth. What is going on? Find out in this interview with Jay McBain, channel influencer and Chief Analyst at the technology channel analysis firm, Canalys.  Jay shares his partner ecosystem predictions and more importantly, how you can position yourself to leverage the partner ecosystem in 2024.

Here are five things you can do in 2024 to grow your business in the ecosystem economy.

Only 5 days from Christmas. You know what that means…time for another Christmas Special podcast! This year I’m sharing my latest catamaran sailing adventure in the Grenadine Islands. I’d dreamed of visiting the Grenadines for years. This past October, I finally made it with my sailing buddies. Enjoy my tales of sailing, snorkeling, and fishing while getting to know the islands and the islanders from our 42 foot catamaran. 

One of the last things you want to hear from partners is “why do you make it so hard to work with you?” That’s not evidence of a great partner experience. But what can you do about it? This episode’s guest knows all about that challenge. Crystal Ferreira, Global Head of B2B Channel & Alliances at Logitech, was on the receiving end of that scary news from partners. Hear how she succeeded in removing friction and built a world-class partner program, becoming a better vendor to their partners and customers.

Here are five things you can do to be a better vendor to your partners: