keys to building a winning partner enablement strategy

www.hawkeyechannel.com


February 11, 2010

William Gilsing, VP Global Strategies

The Keys to Building a Winning Partner Enablement Strategy


hawkeye’s Partner Enablement Series

2

Our 2010 webinar series with Baptie focuses on partner enablement.

Today – Keys to Building a Winning Partner Enablement Strategy

April 22 – Enable Your Partners with Proven Solutions

• Deal registration

• MDF

• Global payments

June 22 – Best Practices in Partner Rewards

Win

nin

g P

artn

er E

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ble

me

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trate

gy

© 2010 hawkeye, all rights reserved.

• Best-in-class approach to partner

rewards

• Case study in implementing a

reward/incentive solution

October 20 – Innovative

Communications and Training to

Enable Partners

• Communication solutions to engage

partners

• Training and certification


Solutions for the world’s leading companies.

3

You can depend on hawkeye to maximize your channel investments

1996 Cohesion, Inc. founded

1998 Hawkeye Group founded

2000 Hawkeye acquires Cohesion

2003 Hawkeye expands into Europe

2007 Hawkeye expands into Asia Pacific

2009 Hawkeye introduces PartnerConduit and SaaS offerings

Wh

y h

aw

ke

ye

?

Channel focused. Strategic, experienced minds.

Rare insight into emerging channel trends with a

quest for game-changing opportunities.

Results driven. Flawless execution in translating

strategic concepts into real channel solutions with

a laser focus on results.

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Hawkeye Channel PracticeW

inn

ing

Pa

rtne

r En

ab

lem

en

t Stra

teg

yImprovingthe Value of

Channel Relationships

Channel Strategy

Insight

Assessment

Best Practices

Channel Programs

Enablement

Performance

Measurement

Channel Collaboration

Growth

Reach

Profitability

new!

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hawkeye’s mission is to develop and execute innovative, technology-enhanced channel marketing strategies and programs that allow our clients to deliver incremental channel growth in terms of mindshare, channel solutions, and indirect sales.

http://www.partnerconduit.com/


Today’s Agenda

5

Pinpoint and enable partners worldwide to increase revenue and

penetrate new customer segments.

Win

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Prioritize partner segments to

optimize channel investments

Conduct channel performance

―health checks‖

Leverage partner input

• Qualitative research

• Partner Advisory Councils


PARTNER SEGMENTATION AND ANALYTICS

6© 2010 hawkeye, all rights reserved.


1. Identify partners currently contributing

significantly to your channel revenue

stream

2. Identify partners with potential to

contribute significantly to your channel

revenue stream

Understanding Your Partner Base

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Optimizing your channel investment starts with understanding two key

points about your partner base:

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Segmentation and Analytics

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Segmentation/Tiering exercises help you not

only understand current top-performing

partners, but segmenting out partners with

the potential to perform well.

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Analytics provide you with more

detailed snapshots of partner group

performance and trends.


Wilfredo Pareto

20%20%

80%80%

80%80%

20%20%

Population Wealth

Use for “looking backwards” and “looking forward”

Use for understanding and prioritization of accounts independent of or in conjunction with any other “tiering” or partner “labels”

Partner Segmentation & TieringP

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www.hawkeyechannel.com10

50%

5%

30%

15%

15%

30%

5%

50%

% Accounts

% ResultsExpectation

80%

20%

20%

80%

Accounts Performance

Actual % Results

XX%

XX%

XX%

XX%

45%

45%

We use a 4 level Pareto distribution rather than the usual 20% / 80% “rule” to provide better granularity and especially to identify the lower level 45% of partners who are expected to provide 45% of revenue.

XX%

XX%

XX%

TieringP

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Facilitating Partner Growth

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Encouraging and enabling partners to grow to a higher tier requires:

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True Partner Value

Coverage and capacity understanding

• Who are the value accounts with growth

potential?

Programs

• Hard and soft benefits for moving up

• Revenue growth support (leads, MDF, etc.)

Competency enhancement

• Practical means of supporting partners to sell

and support solutions and customer

segments

Communication and engagement

• Effective indirect communications and

information access

• Prioritized and efficient direct ―touch‖


What You Do Depends on What You WantP

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Existing

New

Target New Customer Size

Segment

Solution Goal

Expand Current Customer Types

Target New Customer Vertical

Segment

Sell to Current Customer Types

Sell to New Customer

Types

Revenue Target

Strategies and tactics to encourage and enable your value partners to grow from one tier to the next will be somewhat or considerably different depending on:

Is it an existing or new product, solution, or service?

Are you targeting the current types of customers you have, or new customer types – size segment / vertical segment?


Road Map to SuccessP

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Coverage and Capacity Understanding

Program Design

and / or

Enhancement

Which of your current partners have the characteristics required to sell

the solution?

How many of what kinds of partners

do you have that could sell the

service?

Hard and

Soft Benefits

What is the priority for recruiting and

engaging individual partners for the

existing solution?

How do requirements of

current partner program

need to be modified or

enhanced for this specific

solution / partner set?

What indirect

communications and

“direct sales touch”

resources can be applied

to reaching the target

partners

Recruiting

and

Activation

What different or

additional rewards need

to be offered to insure

the desired behaviors?

Indirect

CommunicationsPartner Skills

Enhancement

Partner Data Collection and Analysis

Identify and “populate” the partner data base with key attributes required for success with the product or solution

What are best, easiest,

affordable methods for

partners to develop

knowledge and skills to

sell the solution?

What are best, easiest,

affordable methods for

inbound and outbound

communications for the

solution?

Results Analysis, Action Plan Refinement, Expansion

Demand Generation

How can we generate, or better yet enable the partner to drive, demand for the solution?


The Role of Analytics

Analytics are key to helping you understand issues and opportunities related to channel revenues and program performance and prognosis for the future (based on trend projections)

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Maximize revenue and ROI of

channel investment

Identify ―opportunistic‖ groups of

partners for revenue growth

Reduce / refine ―wasted‖ program

spend

Identify effective programs /

actions for expansion

Improved forecasting



Basic data most everyone has

Sales out data

Program performance data (participation activity and costs)

Core partner attribute data (typically partner accreditation or ―tier‖

assignment)

Sales engagement (―managed’ versus ―unmanaged‖)

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Data that permits even more

robust drill down and insights

Account attributes like:

• Partner business models

• Customer size segments

targeted

• Solutions offered

• Services offered

• Certifications held

• Competitors carried

Depth and breath of analytics and actionable insights are limited only

by data availability

Two key challenges:1. Buy-in & sponsorship of key

stakeholders2. Data accuracy & consistency



Pareto level assignment• Our breakout of the traditional 80% / 20%

―rule‖ in to four levels for better partner opportunity understanding and prioritization

Total ―performance‖• Total accounts

• Revenue, program participation, expense, etc.

Account activity frequency• How many partners are actually buying or

participating in a program in any given period or over time?

Average performance per account (APA)• How much revenue and / or other

performance measure does each partner or groups of partners produce / incur in any given period or over time?

Account Base ―Churn‖• How many partners have been added,

how many have ―dropped out‖, and what has been the impact on revenue?

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Continuing vs. new account performance (―same store‖)

• Are new accounts doing better or worse than continuing accounts, and what are the implications?

• Especially important when partner base is being expanded

Program specific measures• Program participation, utilization, cost

• ―Attach‖ rates / cross sell

• Return on investment against incremental revenue

Comparatives• How do accounts in different levels or

with different attributes, who do or do not participate in different programs perform vs. other accounts, or those who do not participate?

Top level and drill down to specific products and partner

attributes


Analytics: Overall and by Partner Attributes

Total and By Product / Solution Groups

• Period to Period• Trends / Trend Forecast

Core Performance Measures• Partners Participating / Not Participating• Revenue • Buying / Activity Frequency• Average Performance per Account (APA)

Additional Measures• Account Base Churn

– Count Adds, Drops, Net Change– Core Performance Measures / Results Add,

Drop, Net Change

• New vs. Continuing Accounts (Same Store)– New Count, Continuing Count– New Performance versus Continuing Core

Performance Measures

Segment Data Associations• Above by Partner Classification and / or

other partner attributes categories)• Above By Partner Classification within

Pareto levels and / or ―Revenue Bands‖

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Account Performance Churn By Classification

(30,000,000)

(20,000,000)

(10,000,000)

0

10,000,000

20,000,000

30,000,000

40,000,000

50,000,000

Platinum Gold Business

Partner

Distributor Unknown

Drops Adds Net Change

Pareto Level 4 (Bottom 50%) New vs. Continuing

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Continuing Accounts New Accounts

% A cco unts in Level % Level P erfo rmance

Pareto Level 3 (Next 30%) New vs. Continuing

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%



Pareto Level 2 (Next 15%) New vs. Continuing

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%



Pareto Level 1 (Top 5%) New vs. Continuing

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%



% Accounts / % Revenue by Classification

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Platinum Gold Business

Partner

Unknown Other

% Accounts % All Revenue

P2P % Change - All

$$$

APA

Accounts

-30% -20% -10% 0% 10%

% Change from Previous Quarter


Analytics Key Points

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Complexity

• Don’t confuse analytics with descriptive statistics. A skilled business analyst with business industry knowledge can perform the required and sophisticated number crunching.

Executive Buy-in

• Obtain buy-in from Finance, Channel Operations, Channel Marketing, and Channel Sales.

Consensus

• The successful use of analytics requires consensus within your organization on the data sets to use (sales, marketing, etc.) and what you want to report

Practical Tool

• Analytics are more than an analytic exercise; they are a practical tool that uses solid information to guide your channel investments

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HEALTH CHECKS



What are Health Checks?

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Hawkeye recommends partner program audits – ―health checks‖ – to

better help you understand your program offerings, processes and

business rules and to identify opportunities for improvement. The

results of a program health check are prioritized, actionable

recommendations.

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Health Checks by Program Offering

Partner Forecasting & Prioritization Partner Communication

Channel Coverage & Capacity Planning

Incentive Management: Promotions, SPIFs, Rebates

Opportunity Management MDF & Co-marketing Programs

Partner Marketing & Sales Tools


General Health Check Approach

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A health check review should be able to answer these kinds of general questions about your program offering:

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Analysis of the program business rules and processes

Does the program motivate the desired partner behavior?

Is the program well integrated with other programs and offerings?

Does the program include metrics to measure outcome/ROI?

Is the program implemented globally with appropriate regional localization?

Does the program enable partners and align with best practices for that type of program?


Key Issues - Checklist

Top Level RTM How do I determine if I should or could go

after a particular segment?

What are the right RTM approaches and mix of direct and indirect sales?

How do I organize and present my channel ecosystem so that my entire organization can understand and buy-in to it?

Channel Coverage & Capacity How target customers want and need to

acquire my products and solutions?

How many of what kinds of accounts do I have and how are they performing?

How many of what kinds of partners to I need to achieve revenue / segment goals?

What are the practical methods of valuing and forecasting that I can realistically apply in my organization?

What is the gap between what I have and what I need?

How do I build a target list of partners to recruit?

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Partner Programs What do I need to enable my partners

and how do I accomplish it?

What are the most critical things – and in what priority – do I need to offer different partner types?

How do my hard and soft program benefits stack up against BIC and my competition?

How do I test and validate my program value proposition?

How do I optimize my channel program spend?

How do I best measure the performance of my partner programs?

Partner Communications What are the best practices for partner

communications and sales engagement?

How do I efficiently and effectively manage the flow of the right messages to the right partners through the right media?



Design & Implement Programs Based on Partner LifecycleH

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Plan & Recruit

Create Demand

Enable Sell Service Retain

Tools, systems and training/certification to enable partners to identify/close opportunities, sell and deploy solutions

Training and Certification

Demo/Eval Roadmap Co-op/MDF

Marketing program and resources to access new markets and acquire new customers.

Co-op/MDF Advertising

Clear engagement policies and pricing

Profitable, easy-to-execute transactions and fulfillment

Leads/OpptyMgmt

Joint sales calls Matchmaking

Partner-specific technical resources and assistance

Pre and post sales support.

RMA policy and procedures

Partner development and collaboration

Partner communications.

Rewards and incentives

Advisory boards, product briefings

Channel customer sat

Provide value proposition to target and recruit partners and to fill geographic and market coverage needs

Profiling, Registration, Qualification

Self-service, collaborative PRM

Partner Strategy/Tactics

Performance Analytics

Partner Programs/Treatments


Health Check Example: Opportunity Registration

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Audit checklist:

Reduce administrative burden

Review program participation – are the right

partners registering the right opportunities?

Review program uptake/usage

Consider ability to support different partners,

different kinds of deals/flexibility

Reporting

ROI

Reduce program complexity

Audit reward levels – Competitive? Effective? Do

they reward the right behavior?

Analyze processes – Review opportunities to

streamline, automate

Trustworthy to partner?

Integration with other applications, databases

Payment process – Timely? Able to support multiple

currencies? Compliant with regulations?

Enter Opportunity

Review Opportunity

Approve Opportunity

Win Business

Make ClaimReview Claim

Approve Claim

Payment Processing

Reporting


Health Check Example: Partner Communication

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Map messaging and methods to goals &

objectives

Push the right information to the right users at the right time

Centralize all communications on

easy-to-use “self-service” portals

Measure, evaluate & modify messaging and

communications

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To FieldTo PartnerThru PartnerTo Customer

Extranets & Intranets Newsletters & RSS Partner Locator Tools Targeted Collateral Sales & Marketing Tools Blogs & Forums

Measure page views, page hits, and click-throughs

Use surveys, interviews and/or focus groups


Health Check Example: Incentive Management

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Audit Checklist

Map rewards to behaviors

Reward desired behaviors

Review program flexibility

For partner types

For localization

Provide end user tools & training

Review program communication

Evaluate ease of use

Reduce administrative burden

For partners

For program administrators

User guides, documentation

Opportunities to automate, streamline

Analyze program ROI

Provide differentiation between tiers

Effective reporting?

Integration with other tools, databases

Analyze payment process, regulatory compliance

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Health Check Example: Incentive Management

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He

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Channel Strategy• Channel spend Analysis• Program Economics• Program Effectiveness

Earn• Sales In• Sales Out (POS)• Training/Certification• Leads Referrals• Customer Sat• Business Process• Training, etc.

Channel Programs

Partners, Managers

Individuals, Teams

Spend• Business Incentives• Promotions• Rebates• Reimbursements

Analyze: Improve Program Spend Effectiveness


RESEARCH & PARTNER ADVISORY COUNCILS



Beyond the Numbers

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Enabling your partners involves more than looking at the data about

program offering usage – you also want insight into why partners adopt

some behaviors. Partners also have insights into your end customers’

needs as well as unique perspectives on trends and anticipated needs

to sell your solution.

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Qualitative research and Partner

Advisory Councils help you understand

partner perceptions of your program.


Why Use Research

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Research provides insights into programs and partners that helps you

understand partner behavior beyond program metrics and data

analytics.

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Assess partner satisfaction with

current programs and identify and

prioritize enhancements

Develop and enhance indirect sales

strategies and partner programs

using information specific to the

individual program

Understand how programs and

strategies stack up in the

marketplace and against the

competition

Know what partners need to

enhance their business and

facilitate sales of solutions and

products


Qualitative Research “Do’s”

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Do engage in research that leads to change – no ―research for research’s sake‖

Do communicate back to your partner community – don’t raise expectations about a program by conducting research and then ignore what your partners tell you

Do update your partners on changes made to your program as a result of research learnings

Do value your partners’ time – keep research efforts tightly focused.

Do coordinate research efforts across business units so that you don’t ―research your partners to death‖

Do make research a regular part of your partner enablement strategy as you continue to make program adjustments and enhancements

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Talk With Your Partners

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Qualitative research techniques rely on relatively small groups of

participants and are not analyzed statistically. Examples include focus

groups and interview studies.

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Not another survey!


Planning a Research Engagement

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Research design is unique for each study and is developed through scoping. Some of the items discussed:

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Ultimate goal of the research—what is the desired outcome?

What is the desired time frame?

What is the geographic reach for the study? Affects not only language/translation, but timing given holidays in various regions, identification of appropriate methodology since some techniques are not successful in some regions.

Participants— who, how many

What other research has been conducted similar to this or with the projected participants?

Will the study be blind or sponsored? Who at the company will provide specific sponsorship if participants need to verify authenticity?

Recruitment, contact lists

Anonymity— assumed for all, unless internal stakeholders are to be identified

Participants’ stake in the research, incentives (honoraria, sharing results, etc.)

Budget


Why establish a Partner Advisory Council?

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PACs can give you a

significant competitive

advantage, helping you

to establish a clear

differentiation from your

competitors.

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Partner Advisory Councils

help you stay in tune with

partner needs as well as

market trends and even

end-customer needs.


Advantages of a Partner Advisory Council (PAC)

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A thoughtfully designed and implemented PAC can become the

cornerstone for establishing strong manufacturer-to-partner

relationships. PACs can help you continually fine-tune your partner

enablement by through effective dialogue with key, knowledgeable

partners.

Provide a formal, highly visible feedback vehicle

Build trust

Provide prestige to the partners selected

Give you valuable insight into market trends and the knowledge to maximize

your channel’s value

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Planning a Meeting

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A successful PAC meeting begins with the planning:

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Recruiting

• Partners recognized as leaders, with significant information and expertise

• Select partners to represent your partner base

• Select a good working group size – about 15

• Ensure that partners can commit to at least one year of participation (no more than 5 years)

Structure

• Plan on meeting formally twice per year

• Duration – about 1.5 days of discussion

• Structured roundtable discussions

• Provide access to executives

Expectations

• Time commitment

• Communication

• Access to senior executives

• Results


During the Meetings

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Make it meaningful

• Partners are businesspeople –ensure their time on the PAC is a worthwhile investment of their time

Senior Management Participation

• Builds credibility

• Partners feel valued if key decision makers are present to act on PAC recommendations

Minimize evangelizing

• Focus on listening!


Post-Meeting

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It is essential to follow-up after PAC

meetings:

Translate PAC learnings into action

• Program changes

• Product/solution enhancements

Provide periodic updates to the

PAC

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CONCLUSION



Keys to Your Partner Enablement Strategy

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Realign your partner segmentation strategy

• Use partner segmentation analysis to guide your channel investments

• Identify not only top performers but partners showing strong growth potential

Perform regular channel health checks

• Use these ―audits‖ to measure whether programs and tools achieve your goals

• Obtain partner feedback before shifting priorities

Research gives you insight into partner needs

• Be selective in your research efforts

• Ensure that partners know you have listened and acted on their feedback – circle

back!

Strengthen ties with key partners with a PAC

• Use them as a sounding board for channel program strategies and tactics

• Share technology road maps

• Obtain buy-in for your enablement strategy

Co

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Free White Paper from hawkeye:

Partner Segmentation: Best Practices in Ranking and

Prioritizing Your Partners


William Gilsing

VP, Global Channel Strategies

THANK YOU


[email protected]

425.656.5891

keys to building a winning partner enablement strategy

Technology

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