Why Deal Registration Programs Fail
View PDF | Print View
by: Guest
Total views: 90
Word Count: 296
|
Providing channel partners with a means to register and track their own deals or leads with you is an excellent way of developing a holistic sales pipeline and forecasting process whilst minimizing channel conflict and potentially rewarding partner loyalty and transparency. But I have seen such programs fail for a variety of reasons: * Lack of publicity * Lack of incentive for the partner * Inconsistent vendor behavior, disregard for incumbency and/or customer preference leading to greater channel conflict * Partners able to register deals regardless of incumbency or customer relationship * No win – no reward for the registrant regardless of whether the vendor wins the deal or not Whether automating the process or not, you will have to think long and hard about work flow and business rules once more or else these programs can be costly failures and create a great deal of channel dissatisfaction. The rewards have to be worthwhile and attractive. I feel strongly that when a partner registers a deal with you and drives the sale, the registrant should receive a reward even if the deal is ultimately won by a competitive partner. I have seen VAR’s lose interest when a low cost competitor wins a deal on price when the registrant put in all the work and the vendor refuses to pay out. Come what may, deal registration must be quick, easy, accessible online and consistently executed by the vendor. It needs to be marketed continuously to your partners too otherwise interest and activity will fade. A word of warning though, deal registration programs can be almost impossible to manage manually unless numbers of registrations are expected to be very small. The process of validation, incumbency checking, approvals, closure verification and reward remuneration can tie up significant administrative, sales and marketing resources very quickly and very easily. |
About the Author
This article was written by Mike Morgan, COO of Foundation Network, specialists in Lead and Opportunity Management and Deal Registration software. Foundation Network’s Partner Relationship Management software suite, RelayWare, is an on-demand proven suite of business tools designed to transform the way vendors interact with their partners.
| previous: How the Right Sales Compensation Plan Can Supercharge Profits | next: DockMaster® |
Rating: Not yet rated
Login to vote