How You Can Start to Define Your Channel Strategy
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.
You’ll need to focus on minimising any wrong moves and you will also want to put some effort into providing an upfront explanation. With agile bootstrapping to think about as well, it is important that you take care to ask the important questions so you can help to experience a very high level of exposure at all times to any important partners.
A channel program involves exposing yourself to any external partners who probably won’t be as forgiving as you’d like them to be if things don’t go to plan. Of course, it is expected that you are going to experience some bumps but you need to do everything you can to consider these bumps beforehand so you can then address them faster while also making sure that you are doing everything you can to handle them quickly.
Foundational Discovery
When you look at the highest level of strategy, you need to look at the big picture and all of the concepts that are going to come into place for your overall vision and even your mindset. You need to think to yourself, what are your end goals? What is your own definition of success? Who do you need to engage internally in order to take things to that next level? Everyone needs to understand what they bring to the table and you also need to do everything you can to understand the associated value. You also need to have clear expectations about their own respective roles as well.
A lot of people agree that a big part of this phase is getting to the truth about what people expect when they want to build a planning team. You need to frontload the whole process and you also need to try and be detailed. It helps to be general in your discussions and if you can’t get clarity or if you can’t set your own realistic expectations then this is another thing that you have to think about. If you are struggling to get clarity then bring in another supportive mindset when it comes to your leader and don’t run the risk of pursuing your own channel development.
Operational Alignment
Once you have a general consensus in regards to your big picture and the ideals that you have with your vision, it is time to start talking about what is going to bring your vision to life. This includes your skill sets, your resources, your organisational adjustments and so much more. You also need to consider the cross-functional alignment of every team that is supporting the channel while also making sure that they are set out to support the channel in general.
Tactical Experience
When you utilise tactical experiences and executions you then begin to put your own plan into action. It helps to think proactively when you do this and it also helps with your strategy development. This helps you to make sure that your channel program runs smoothly as well. Things could change after you launch but at the end of the day, it does help to plan ahead to a certain degree and your review of an operational alignment will help to uncover this to a certain amount. Of course, you will also need to establish the alignment that you have to a very high level and this even includes the high-level, cross-functioning buy-in as well.
You will want to establish the process protocols that will help you to guard against any misconceptions and even any oversights as well. You will also need to recount a situation where the head of business development seals a big deal with the big client. After this, they probably learned that this created a ton of conflict and this cast the company in a bad light with their channel partners. On top of this, you also need to prepare yourself for a contingency as well. It is wise for you to take the time so you can develop all of the right communication and the right engagement so you can keep everyone in the loop. This also helps to give you the clarity you need when it comes to the overarching goals that you have in your channel marketing.
In addition to this, you also need to look at the channel strategy that you have so you can combine this while helping with any accounts that you have with the channel partners that you have. Of course, it is important that you execute some know-how trust with the partners that you have and this includes the pitch, the sale, and even the after-sales experience that you have as well. When you take a look at Nasson and you hear him talk about excellence, you’ll find that it’s not about getting things done. If you have a partner who is assessing the value of a vendor, it is important that you are clear about what has to be done.