Forrester Research has published an infographic offering a fairly comprehensive view of the companies providing channel software today. The 106 companies, ranging from large enterprise software vendors to start-up providers of point-solutions, are grouped into six major categories supporting: Partner relationship management (PRM) Through-channel marketing automation (TCMA) Channel incentives and program Channel data management (CDM) […]
By Kenneth Fox, CEO, Channel Mechanics There’s considerable focus these days on customer experience. After all everyone knows a satisfied customer is more likely to buy additional products and services (research shows up to 14x). That’s obviously critical as it’s a lot less expensive to sell additional products and services to an existing customer than […]
By Anna Keeve, Public Relations Manager, ESET North America Channel partner marketing is a lot like public relations. When done well, you benefit by getting other people – your partners — to tell your story. In the digital age, there are many different types of ‘influencers.’ Historically, there was one main trusted medium to amplify […]
Soon after ARO, the fluid management division of Ingersoll Rand, kicked off a celebration of its 85th anniversary by revitalizing its brand, partner demand for the updated materials created an unexpected challenge. A new website was doing its duty to provide customers with the information they were seeking. But it didn’t give partners easy-access to […]
To compel partners to participate more in channel marketing programs, asking them to do less might be the right way to go. That’s just part of the successful strategy behind the CRN-rated Five-Star Partner Program offered by Pulse Secure, a leading provider of secure access solutions. During a recent conversation with CMR, Pulse Secure’s chief […]
TeamViewer, a global software provider for IoT, connectivity, monitoring, support and team collaboration, transformed its global channel partner program earlier this year. Among the significant investments the company made to attract and retain a core team of customer-centric partners was the launch of a new partner portal. Modern, easy-to-use portals that enable partners to register […]
Barely a month into 2018, Jay McBain, Forresters’ Principal Analyst, Global Channels, predicted that vendors would rethink their long-tail partner strategies this year and become more comfortable with the casual but generally profitable relationships they have with them. Rather than try to encourage less-engaged partners to rise up in their ranking or take the more […]
When Mark Organ, CEO and founder of Influitive, launched an advocacy platform that enabled companies to put their customers at the heart of their marketing programs, promoting it to businesses that relied heavily on indirect sales teams was a not a priority. But since the company was launched in 2010, a growing number of channel-focused […]
Channel executives are being encouraged to broaden their definition of desirable partners. At ImpartnerCON18, Impartner’s annual customer conference held in Salt Lake City, UT in February, speakers pointed to the decreasing ranks of traditional partners, the emergence of thousands of new agents, and what may well have the biggest impact on the way vendors go […]
Marketing executives agree that collaborating with alliance partners offers significant benefits. According to a recent survey by WorkSpan, the developer of a shared platform that supports networks for partner ecosystems, marketing with partners can increase lead generation and provide access to new market segments and the prospects within them. But the survey also highlighted many […]