Latest B2B SaaS Articles

Starting your own B2B SaaS channel program isn’t easy, to say the least and if you want to get the best result out of your marketing then you first need to make sure that you are in the right mindset to try and tackle all of the things that you need to do.

Take a look below to find out more.

Be Clear & Honest

It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to pitch a program that you have to your own internal team or whether you want to try and engage in a conversation with one of your partners

If you are interested in developing your very own B2B channel strategy then you know you have come to the right place. Here you can find out everything you need to know when it comes to channel marketing as well as finding out more information about some of the hurdles that you might experience when the time does come for you to get started. So what are some of the questions that we are going to be covering in this guide?

Starting your own channel program isn’t easy, to say the least and if you want to get the best result out of your marketing then you first need to make sure that you are in the right mindset to try and tackle all of the things that you need to do. Take a look below to find out more.

There is no question about it. Even the most simple of B2B SaaS channel strategy programs have a lot of different parts so it is important that you design and develop one that has the right framework as well as making sure that your model is as solid as it can possibly be. We’re going to be taking a look at some of the key questions that are commonly asked when building a channel strategy while also building a strategy that comes with all of the right functional details.

When you craft your B2B SaaS channel strategy, it is always a good idea for you to consider the whole process from start to finish. This is because channel strategy programs have so many different parts and you need to consider the whole process if you want to make the most out of it. The basic process for getting a solid strategy includes four different phases. As with any endeavor, you need to invest time and effort into making sure that you put your best plan forward but this is harder than it sounds

When you have a SaaS strategy in place, you need to do everything you can to show your partners the bigger picture but you also need to try and understand the value of what you are being offered as well. Sometimes it may be to your advantage that you make less money on an initial sale so that you can process that sale through your channel, but at the end of the day, why would you intentionally reduce your profit by just passing that deal onto a partner?

If you are ready to take that next step with your B2B SaaS channel strategy then the first thing that you need to do is consider your short term and your long-term goals. At the end of the day, the channel strategy that you have is not a machine and you can’t just turn it off and on whenever you need to make a return. It’s an ecosystem that will continue to grow and develop over time

Now you have all of the strategy research behind you. You also have everything in place so you can start to make the most out of your plan. This section is designed to cover everything you need to know when it comes to your B2B SaaS channel program as well as helping you to get all of the research you need to plan for the future. When you develop a channel strategy there are a ton of variables that you need to take into account.

As with any collaboration, it is important that you have clear and precise communication. You also need to make sure that you do everything you can to maintain a very high level of understanding. Once you have your partner, you will want to make sure that you continue the engagement that you have while also ensuring that you get the frequency of your publications right as well. A lot of SaaS companies work by experimenting with different methods of communication. This includes social media and even mobile applications.

If you want to create your own SaaS business then there are a few things that you need to think about. After all, starting a business requires a great deal of time, skill and patience. You need all three if you want to be really successful.

If you look at the chart, you will soon see that five years ago, it would make sense to use an elephant as the biggest animal on the chart. The main reason for this is because if you grow consumer software, you may be tempting to use SMB SaaS. Referring to the chart, you will see that there are two bigger animals on the follow up post. The whale is now one of the most deserving animals on there and although there are only a few companies that have an ARPA of $500,000, there are a few companies who have a whale presence.

Nobody knew who Google were quite some time ago. They were a small company but they soon became one of the biggest brands out there. History has shown that they owe a lot of their success and even early growth to channel partnerships. Ironically these include AOL and even Yahoo. Now they make billions for their channel partners.

Rampell, from TrialPay has some great advice for anyone who wants to become successful across the board. Rampell’s philosophy for business selling is that you need to start out with a tight vertical.

In this day and age, industry-accepted practices often end up failing and the main reason for this is because they are designed to attract and engage a huge amount of partner types.

Is your Partner Program not Building Personal Relationships?

If your partner program is not motivating the partners who you work with to give you a percentage of their time then there is a high chance that you are nowhere near as personal as you should be. Partner accounts are services that are staffed by individuals. They are all doing their best to profit and grow the sales for their organisation too.

It may seem daft, to declare a sales process worse, or even overrated but the acquisition of the general purchase order is, as it stands, absolutely meaningless. Revenue is paramount in this day and age, and the act of transacting business with customers may seem to be the most relevant course of action. This is especially the case when you look at the sales cycle.

It should be noted that it doesn’t actually matter who gets the PO from the customer. Customers can always transact with the vendor directly, through a channel partner or even through a marketplace such as AWS.

The best 30 partner programs that are being offered by SaaS companies, find out what makes them stand out from the rest.

Are you ready to make your channel managers feel as loved by their partners as their favourite rock idols? Imagine the cheers and admiration that your channel managers will get as they roll into your partner’s offices. Your partners will be queuing up outside your offices waiting for a chance to meet them, but it’s important to know that this is not a fantasy at all. Here are some easy steps that you can take in order to make all of this happen.

All channel professionals are known for caring very deeply about their program elements. If you are one of those people who spend weeks or even months on end designing programs then you will probably benchmark the industry. You will also assess your programs against the competition you have, and learn updates years in advance. You have to know that the most critical element for success is all about partner enablement. Solution providers really do need to be enabled so that they can market, sell, support and even manage the services and products that you provide.

When a group of people were asked, what makes US and UK law firms so successful at penetrating the region, the overall message was unanimous. They said that they were all different and that they all had their individual strengths. Sure, it may seem flippant, but each boss went on to show how the American, or even British counterparts were “getting it wrong”. One person said that the American vendors are finding it hard to penetrate Europe because they thought it was one single market. They said that you just can’t copy your marketing material or even your sales pitches because if you do then you are almost certainly doomed to fail.

Think about it, what would you do if you had no financial worries? You’d probably travel the world, right? Well it is more than possible for you to do that, and you would be surprised at how easy it is for you to make it all happen.

If you want to be as successful as you can be in your business, then you need to learn how to develop strategic partnerships with other businesses. A strategic partner really can provide you with all of the capital you need to leverage your brand, not to mention that they can also significantly help you with your exposure too.

On paper, becoming a channel partner really is a dream job. You get to travel to a huge range of destinations, and you can also host parties as well. After all, what could be easier than dealing with other people who are passionate about your products? How hard can it be to really promote to this fan base and keep them happy/motivated?

Business intelligence providers are continually trying to find clearer pathways to success. They are doing this by trying to reduce decision-based risks. What’s really required here is data. Vendors need to try and develop programs that make information a somewhat exchangeable currency.

Five years ago, vendors were asked what percentage of their revenues were being driven by their partners. They did this so that they could better understand their contribution to a vendor’s growth. One-third of respondents stated that 50% of their revenue was being driven by partners, which is one of the key elements that affect a partner’s experience with the people they work with. 75% of respondents indicated that they expect their partner-driven revenue to increase next year. This is great news as it really does speak to how important partners are to a vendor’s own revenue stream.

Cloud services really do need applications that are able to deliver value. Independent software vendors are always trying to leverage cloud providers to try and bring any one channel to market.

Solution providers know more than anyone that certification is important but they also know that it isn’t the key to producing value either. Vendors need to try and step up so that they can evaluate their programs and the requirements of their channel as well.

The state of the B2B SaaS channel in 2018, what is new and what’s to look forward to in 2019 with insights in best practices to put in place.

Having a great channel and even better programs sometimes isn’t enough for you to entice partners to join your campaign. Vendors need to try and define why partners should be engaging with them if they want to have channels that are both robust and productive

Channel conflict can occur for a huge number of reasons. It usually happens when a lot of people try and sell the same product but for different prices. This causes a situation and it forces your partners to compete with one another and with your sales team.

If you know that you are operating a partner program or if you know that you need to try and manage your program much more efficiently than you are right now then here is some information to try and get you started.

Relaunching

Channel chiefs are continually struggling to find the right starting point when it comes to following the latest trends. The solution to this is simple yet effective, start backwards. A report was released in 2018 that outlined the fact that channel partners are facing a continual struggle when it comes to leaders adopting new models or even technology in general.

Do you have an online business or work globally? This is a must-read report and I’ve summarised the key facts below. This is the Mary Meeker Internet Trend report for 2018