Executing your Plan for a B2B SaaS Channel Sales Strategy
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.
The tactics that make sense for your strategy will largely depend on the product that you have and how you want to try and bring it to the market with your potential partners. The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that you find the right partners. You need someone who can make or break your channel and you also need to feel confident that you have made the right choice with the partners that you have. You will eventually drill down to your individual partners with your strategy and at this point, you need to make sure that every partner you work with is a good fit for your operation while also making sure that they have a good ability when it comes to performing.
The Customer End
Everything always comes back to the customer. For this reason, it really does make sense for you to conduct your search by looking at the needs that you have. When you need to find channel partners it is a good idea for you to look at how your customers use your product. What needs could be filled by you having a channel partner? Are there any gaps in their experience? If you need some additional support so that you can make the most out of your product, how do you need to acquire this?
It is a good idea for you to chat with the people who are dealing with your resources. This includes your customer support team and your technical support team as well. They can work with you to help you understand the real world and they can also give you a sense of how your product or service is doing in relation to the channel partner.
Your Partners
In addition to this, you also need to make sure that you are identifying the potential partners who you want to work with your business. What type of support can you offer them when it comes to succeeding with the business objectives that they have? Once you have done this, you then need to narrow things down so you have a particular partner type. This gives you the chance to start getting specific about what you want in your ideal partner.
You may use criteria such as their location, the audience scope that they deal with, and even the niche focus as well. You may also want to prioritise your partners by their own sales performance and how much reach they have. You can also sort them by their skill level and even their technological assets as well. When you have these types of details then you can start to make more advances with your own recruiting efforts.
Selling your Platform
If it is a good option for you then it is a good idea for you to try and expand your mission. You will also want to do everything you can to provide a complete solution for all of your partners. They are going to be the bridge between you and your mutual customers at the end of the day. You will also need to think about email marketing, automation, and even things like CRM as well.
You will also want to make sure that you are initiating the proper APIs as this will help to support your custom solutions. Ultimately, selling your platform isn’t easy but you do need to do everything you can to make sure that you get the best result out of everything you do. If you want to achieve the best result then you need to put your best foot forward, work with your team and make sure that they are the best solution for you for your channel marketing and even what is planned for the future.
Keep the Entry Barrier Low
A lot of resellers need partners so that they can invest a lot of time upfront. Your approach may be based on your product and even your business model but if you want people to say yes to your pitch then you will want to reduce friction as much as possible. This is so that you can make the initial engagement run as smoothly as possible while also giving yourself the chance to move into a very strong enablement program.
On top of this, you also need to figure out what your partners need to succeed and you also need to try and help them fill their own needs. The tactics that you use will vary but the end goal should be always to empower your sales and your B2B SaaS partners so that they can go on to succeed in their own business. When they have achieved a very high level of independence and competence, they can then sell your product better to the customers that they have.