Channel Training Trouble? Where to Look for Help
Channel Training Trouble? Where to Look for Help
The good news? If you depend on your channel partners for sales results, there's a simple way around this problem: enlisting the help of three external entities for help in influencing your channel, including...
The professional associations to which your channel partners belong. " The conferences that your channel partners attend (many of which are sponsored by the associations to which they belong).
"Drivers" in your industry.
Why make this move? Because associations, conferences and industry "drivers" are independent of manufacturers and distributors (namely, you!), they can make objective recommendations to your channel partners based on their own knowledge of the channel and industry sales best practices. Additionally, by allowing these entities to serve as a sort of intermediary between you and your channels, your channel partners are less likely to feel as though you're being overly pushy about the ways in which you'd like them to conduct business.
Here's a look at all three entities, as well as some tips for leveraging them to your advantage:
Associations
Professional associations have the ability to assess the skills of channel members and make suggestions regarding how they can improve and what their training should include. This assessment typically leads to the implementation of any necessary training (which the association itself conducts in order to keep it impartial) and assistance in transforming a channel partner's sales approach to improve sales.
Conferences
Industry conferences provide associations with a forum to present training sessions. As a key step in the development of curricula for these conferences, event organizers typically reach out to manufacturers and distributors and ask them to suggest training sessions and content that they believe will continue to advance industry growth. Once the associations decide what the key training sessions should be, they plan the conference around them and invite the most relevant and informed speakers and trainers to conduct the training.
Channel partners from throughout the industry attend these conferences, typically because they are either sponsored by a professional association to which the channel partners belong or because the conference was recommended to them by such an association-or by the manufacturer/distributor for which the channel partner sells products and services.
Drivers
A key contributor to successful associations and conferences are industry "drivers." Drivers are firms (or people) who specialize in all aspects of sales. These subject-matter experts are able to present best practices to channel partners and help them heighten their level of expertise and strengthen their sales skills. Drivers often partner with associations to assist with writing assessments and to present training sessions at conferences, all based on their understanding of what knowledge is needed to meet the manufacturers' needs. Drivers also understand what measures are needed to be successful, and how channel partners can meet manufacturer expectations.
Tips for Success
How do you leverage all three of these industry resources to your advantage?
Get involved with the associations your channel partners join or those that target your channel.
Volunteer to participate on associations' conference committees to recommend topics of importance to your channel.
Recommend speakers-on topics where you see key needs in your channel-to associations that are planning conferences. Arrange follow-up training sessions, mentoring or speaking engagements with the same speakers at your own channel meetings to provide reinforcement.
Recommend conferences addressing pertinent topics to your channel. Offer to fund all or part of your channel partners' participation in these events.
Consider requiring that your channel partners attend specific conferences and specific training sessions while at these conferences in order to become licensed and certified to sell your products and services. You can require attendance at these sessions as part of a certification path, as part of required training that must be completed each year, and/or as a requirement for receiving market-development funding.
Work with a thought-leading association to identify other companies that have similar channel education needs to form a council to address those needs.
Connect thought-leading associations and one or two firms (drivers) that specialize in all aspects of selling for your channel. Work together to form a three-way council to address your channel partners' needs.
Also consider creating an advisory council including several of your top channel partners.
Channel Training Trouble Where to Look for Help - To learn more about this author, visit 's Website.
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If your company sells products and services through channel partners (as opposed to selling directly to customers), you likely face a major challenge: finding ways to enhance your channels' selling skills without appearing as if your company is trying to dictate how its channel partners run their businesses.
The good news? If you depend on your channel partners for sales results, there's a simple way around this problem: enlisting the help of three external entities for help in influencing your channel, including...
The professional associations to which your channel partners belong. " The conferences that your channel partners attend (many of which are sponsored by the associations to which they belong).
"Drivers" in your industry.
Why make this move? Because associations, conferences and industry "drivers" are independent of manufacturers and distributors (namely, you!), they can make objective recommendations to your channel partners based on their own knowledge of the channel and industry sales best practices. Additionally, by allowing these entities to serve as a sort of intermediary between you and your channels, your channel partners are less likely to feel as though you're being overly pushy about the ways in which you'd like them to conduct business.
Here's a look at all three entities, as well as some tips for leveraging them to your advantage:
Associations
Professional associations have the ability to assess the skills of channel members and make suggestions regarding how they can improve and what their training should include. This assessment typically leads to the implementation of any necessary training (which the association itself conducts in order to keep it impartial) and assistance in transforming a channel partner's sales approach to improve sales.
Conferences
Industry conferences provide associations with a forum to present training sessions. As a key step in the development of curricula for these conferences, event organizers typically reach out to manufacturers and distributors and ask them to suggest training sessions and content that they believe will continue to advance industry growth. Once the associations decide what the key training sessions should be, they plan the conference around them and invite the most relevant and informed speakers and trainers to conduct the training.
Channel partners from throughout the industry attend these conferences, typically because they are either sponsored by a professional association to which the channel partners belong or because the conference was recommended to them by such an association-or by the manufacturer/distributor for which the channel partner sells products and services.
Drivers
A key contributor to successful associations and conferences are industry "drivers." Drivers are firms (or people) who specialize in all aspects of sales. These subject-matter experts are able to present best practices to channel partners and help them heighten their level of expertise and strengthen their sales skills. Drivers often partner with associations to assist with writing assessments and to present training sessions at conferences, all based on their understanding of what knowledge is needed to meet the manufacturers' needs. Drivers also understand what measures are needed to be successful, and how channel partners can meet manufacturer expectations.
Tips for Success
How do you leverage all three of these industry resources to your advantage?
Get involved with the associations your channel partners join or those that target your channel.
Volunteer to participate on associations' conference committees to recommend topics of importance to your channel.
Recommend speakers-on topics where you see key needs in your channel-to associations that are planning conferences. Arrange follow-up training sessions, mentoring or speaking engagements with the same speakers at your own channel meetings to provide reinforcement.
Recommend conferences addressing pertinent topics to your channel. Offer to fund all or part of your channel partners' participation in these events.
Consider requiring that your channel partners attend specific conferences and specific training sessions while at these conferences in order to become licensed and certified to sell your products and services. You can require attendance at these sessions as part of a certification path, as part of required training that must be completed each year, and/or as a requirement for receiving market-development funding.
Work with a thought-leading association to identify other companies that have similar channel education needs to form a council to address those needs.
Connect thought-leading associations and one or two firms (drivers) that specialize in all aspects of selling for your channel. Work together to form a three-way council to address your channel partners' needs.
Also consider creating an advisory council including several of your top channel partners.
Channel Training Trouble Where to Look for Help - To learn more about this author, visit 's Website.
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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