Businesses are always looking to unlock new revenue streams, which is precisely why many leading technology vendors opt to open up channel programs. You get a team of committed partners who are essentially selling your products on your behalf. But not every channel program is the same. If you want to take your program to the next level, you need to implement deal registration.
What is deal registration?
Deal registration is the process by which partners register deals with vendors. When a deal is approved, the vendor gives them the partner exclusive right to close that deal over a specific period of time (e.g., three months). During this period, neither the vendor nor other partners are allowed to contact the prospect. This incentivizes partners by “locking up” an opportunity while reducing potential channel conflict. For these reasons, deal registration is often a core component of leading channel programs.
What are the benefits of deal registration?
Deal registration delivers a number of benefits to channel program, including:
- Increased visibility into revenue earlier. By deploying a system that makes it easy for partners to register deals, vendors can identify pipeline and forecasting earlier in the process.
- Reduced channel conflict. As companies grow with indirect teams, it is critical to ensure that channel and internal teams aren’t stepping on each others’ toes. Otherwise, partners are unlikely to stick around your program for long.
- Improved resource allocation. Knowing when and where deals are coming from allows vendors to plan accordingly and give partners the resources they need to close deals right when they need them.
These benefits deliver more revenue to technology vendors and, in turn, increase partner satisfaction because they’re closing more deals, too.
How can you make deal registration work?
At this point, you’re thinking that deal registration sounds great and all, so why not give it a try? Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as simply snapping your fingers and getting the results you’re hoping for. Consider that
70 percent of deals don’t get registered, despite the fact that 80 percent of organizations consider deal registration to be a critical component of their channel programs. Why does this happen? It’s simple: Most programs are suboptimal, so they don’t deliver the intended results. Ensuring your deal registration implementation is successful starts with building a
good program! What exactly does a good program look like? It starts with fairness. If rules aren’t enforced evenly and transparently, it’s only a matter of time before at least
some partners start to feel cheated. And once that happens, they’re unlikely to continue participating. Of course, partners don’t work for free. They’re talented salespeople who are motivated by one thing: cold hard cash. If you want to help your channel program reach its full potential, you need to incentivize your partners every step of the way. That way, they will be motivated to keep deals’ statuses updated and register as many deals as they can. The best deal registration programs give partners complete visibility into the status of each and every deal. This visibility enables them to access important information at a glance to see where things stand at a specific point in time. Successful programs are also known for their approach to communication. By using powerful
deal registration solutions, you can automatically nudge partners and encourage them to update deals when necessary. That way, you don’t have to worry about them forgetting about any in-progress deals or getting distracted by other important areas of operations.
Ready to do deal registration the right way?
When done the right way, deal registration can have a profound impact on your bottom line. For more information on how to implement a deal registration program that delivers the results you’re hoping for, check out our free e-book,
Deal Registration Best Practices for Technology Vendors.
