Is it time to take your Channel Mobile?

As we begin 2013, mobile technology is already shaping up to be the story of the

year. Smartphone penetration has exploded to 60% in the United States – and

closer to 85% when looking at technology channel professionals. In addition, 25%

of people also own a tablet – likely double that in the Channel.

The numbers are dizzying; Apple is

forecasted to sell almost 1.7 million

of the iPhone 5 per day in December

world-wide and is marching towards

1 billion iOS units sold by 2015.

Android is selling even more,

activating close to 1.5 million units

per day. This is forecasted to

double by later this year.

Mobile is a truly disruptive

technology – it has been driven primarily out of the consumer market and will

impact almost every part of a company’s operations in 2013. This includes sales,

marketing, customer service and yes, the Channel.

There are more than 1.5 million mobile apps on the market today. When looking

at business apps, most are offering very simple functionality and seem to be

focused on garnering consumer attention. This isn’t unlike the evolution of the

web in the late 90’s. Websites evolved from simple online brochures with

gimmicks such as spinning logos, to comprehensive business enabled portals.

Mobile is now starting down that evolutionary path and 2013 will be the year

where new and novel use cases will be tested. Using technology benefits such as

location, motion adaptive, social-awareness, calendar access, cameras and

speech, these apps will be much more automated and predictive than a browser

ever could be.

How do you take advantage?

Marketing has led the early charge for consumer facing mobile apps. Many apps

today are merely PR-based initiatives. Much like the early web, savvy businesses

don’t have to be convinced of mobile's tremendous potential – and they will drive

innovation.

One thing we learned very early on the web was that static homepages created

an experience gap with users and they didn’t return. Without fresh content and

the ability to actually do something productive, attracting users was a one-time

proposition. We see that today with companies creating apps that are not much

more than shiny brochures.

Driving engagement, sharing key

sales and service enablement tools

and real-time information are critical

in today’s Channel environment. The

old vehicles are just not working

anymore at the same level of success

– less and less people are opening

emails, portal usage is at an all-time

low, and even webinar and

tradeshow attendance is down.

While we are still in the early days

for mobility – it is a perfect time for

vendors, distributors and

associations to jump ahead of the

curve and build a useful app for their

partners.

The decision to buy vs. build a mobile

app can be a tough one. Many

internal mobile development teams

are focused on the core product or

service and don’t have the expertise

or cycles to build an effective channel

app. Conversely, getting the app

developed by a local boutique firm

wouldn’t scale with the interactivity,

security, channel tools and process

integration required.

Typically, most partners would

download an app – curious to assess

its utility – and quickly delete once

the app is deemed to be irrelevant.

Much like the early web, active usage

will only be driven by dynamic

content, interactivity and utility.

Fundamentally, companies will have

to align their mobile partner strategy

with their business strategies.

Leveraging mobile partner

communication will save costs and

drive new revenue with sales enablement and training.

Partner satisfaction will also be higher

Designing from the partners perspective is important. The ability to easily stay

up-to-date on products, programs and other key information in one place,

combined with access to sales tools such as configurators, product selectors,

quoting and deal registration will be a game changer. Adding a social element

where partners can comment, like or dislike adds real-time feedback for vendors.

A New Solution hits the Market

ChannelCandy is an Enterprise Mobile Platform designed for vendors to

communicate and engage with their channel partners on the go. Running on

virtually every mobile device, it puts real-time Partner Program highlights, news,

alerts, and sales tools in the hands of the channel.

Many of the top vendors, distributors, franchises and associations have chosen

ChannelCandy to power branded Mobile Apps for their members and partners.

Why a Branded Mobile App?

Today, Channel program information is sent to Partners by email, newsletters,

webinars, telesales and consumer social media. A Web Portal then acts as a catch-

all library for storing program details, sales enablement, incentives, education,

certifications and technical information.

Tremendous amounts of time and energy go into creating materials that are

stored in these portals, but they receive little traffic. CompTIA recently conducted

a survey and found:

Less than 5% of channel partners regularly use vendor portals.

17% open Vendor emails, only 2% click or take any action.

Information is usually sent to and filtered by a “Vendor Champion” (doesn’t

reach sales, marketing and technical teams directly)

Partners who use Vendor programs are the most successful and profitable.

85% of Channel professionals own a smartphone, tablet or both and use

them regularly for business.

At ChannelEyes, we’ve talked to hundreds of Solution Providers and they all agree

that it’s impossible to continually read and disseminate key vendor information.

The average Partner deals with at least 10 vendors and distributors; each sending

multiple communications per week.

There’s no easy way to constantly review all of the vendor portals, read all the

newsletters or emails – decide what is important - and then notify the people in

their organization who need to know.

How will this improve my Channel communications?

A Partner app will be the single place for Channel Partners to see a snapshot of

new vendor channel information, news and updates every day. They can control

the programs they need to follow, filter the information based on their job role

and join the conversation.

With 85% of professionals inside Partner organizations carrying a smartphone or

tablet, it is a unique way to communicate at a personal and consistent level. One

of the results of the mobility trend has been the extension to the traditional

business day; not only are devices being used during the day, at customer

locations, they are used just as much at night and on weekends.

A Partner app will improve:

Channel Sales Enablement – by delivering the tools and resources necessary to

make your Channel act as an extension to your own sales team. Vendors can even

send motivational messages to drive the sales cycle forward!

Channel Education – publishing rich media such as videos, whitepapers, case

studies and certification courses, Vendors can

raise the level of knowledge and capabilities of

your Partners.

Channel Incentives – Partners admit that they

leave money on the table because they don’t

regularly stay up to date. With a mobile app,

they can set alerts and be notified each time a

new incentive can drive new behavior.

Channel Tools – by customizing the app with

external tools such as configurators, calculators,

quoting tools, deal registration and product

information, Vendors will drive better sell-thru,

stronger options and accessories attach, as well

as more robust program participation.

Technical Updates – keep your Channel Partners up to date with tech bulletins,

service fixes and other critical updates in real-time. Technicians can customize the

app to receive push notifications and collaborate with other members of the

community, leveraging the wisdom of the crowd.

Getting Started With ChannelCandy

The development of the app is largely turn-key.

The team at ChannelEyes creates and designs the app with initial guidance from

the Vendor. The branding of the app, including logos, colors, splash pages, as well

as collecting information sources such as Twitter, RSS, blogs, industry magazines,

news, etc.

The initial consultation takes between 60 and 90

minutes and focuses on defining roles and

responsibilities, collecting marketing assets and

outlines the process around integration with the

Apple and Android stores.

Discussions around customization of the app start

during this consultation session. Outlining the

tools, resources and special links to be included in

the app, as well as development resources required.

ChannelEyes will submit the app into the Apple App Store as well as Google Play

Android Marketplace. The app will also be deployed as a mobile website, allowing

usage on other mobile platforms such as Windows and Blackberry.

The time from initial consultation to delivery of the basic app is 6 weeks.

Customizations will take longer and will depend on the complexity and

development work required.

“time from initial

consultation to

delivery of the

app is 6 weeks.”

How the app works

The app will be downloaded by your Partners from the App Store for their device.

The Vendor logo and colors will show up as an icon on their home screen.

As with other apps, future improvements and feature additions will be made

available and automatically updated. The notification feature will be active

showing a red circle including the amount of missed messages on the upper right

side of the app icon.

When the Partner clicks on the icon they

are taken to a security sign on screen.

Vendors can easily manage authorizations

at the Partner organization level, saving

time and ensuring that only trusted

people are accessing your information.

There are several ways to manage Partner

invitations to the app, including a Partner

Pass unique code, whitelisting, or by

Partner request.

After the security screen, the Partner will access their main social wall. Here they

will see a snapshot of Vendor’s new channel information, news and updates. They

can control the programs they need to follow, filter the information based on

their job role and engage with questions or comments.

The Vendor has the flexibility to include content sources such as Twitter, RSS,

blogs and industry news.

These highlights can quickly be scanned by the Partner and selected for more

information. This drives more traffic to Web Portals, marketing sources and

landing pages.

Customizing the app

ChannelCandy is a platform that can be easily expanded to include the tools,

resources and enablement features to drive new levels of engagement by

Channel Partners.

There are several options for incorporating new functions into the app:

1. Link directly to mobile ready pages (ex: HTML 5)

2. Build forms that can transfer information securely

back to the Vendors internal systems (example: deal

registration)

3. Build mobile features directly into the app

Other ways to customize the app are to change the log in

screen and add advertisements into the social stream.

Announcing new products, programs, or co-marketing with

another company is possible within the app.

The ChannelEyes team will work with the Vendor on

different custom options and recommend solutions that

blend a great Partner experience with cost effectiveness.

ChannelCandy Pricing

Pricing is on a yearly subscription model and includes hosting, upgrading and

maintenance in the App Stores. The price is based on how many Partner

companies that will be using the app and supports unlimited users within each of

the companies, unlimited posts, content sources and logins.

Learn more at: http://www.channelcandy.com or call (518) 915-1188