Whether you have a channel sales solution with a single platform or a tech stack with multiple technologies, having a definite solution to manage your channel sales and an appropriate Sales Analytics tool is essential to developing a reliable channel strategy. And indeed, that cannot be overlooked. The right set of tools can lead to producing significant ROI and can contribute to increased channel sales which further helps:
Save time on manual activities.
Streamlining current channel management operations, processes, and resources.
Closing more deals by equipping the channel partners with the best tools and technologies so they can attain mutually set partnership goals.
And to achieve all of this, many things need to be considered while selecting the right set of tools to manage your indirect channel sales. Let's dig into understanding the best practices to choose the right channel technology stack.
Considerations for selecting the best Partner Relationship Management Platform!
1. Easy Usability by all user groups
One of the essential aspects of selecting a channel management platform is the ease of partner usability & engagement. You have several different channel partners, but they don't find it simple to use the platform; then, your efforts may go in vain. Therefore, if you want your channel partners to be able to use your partner portal to provide user documentation or virtual training that they need before sending them out to represent your products. Better yet, make sure you simplify your programs and portal to make it as simple as possible for your partners to use.
2. Integrations
A good Channel Partner Management Solution should have the tools that each different team within your channel department needs to be able to manage their respective areas. The channel marketing team needs different tools than the channel sales team, and the channel finance team needs its own set of tools to manage incentive payments, etc. A one-size-fits-all solution can certainly help, but we prefer that you consider a modular solution that lets you roll out what you need now and add new capabilities as your strategy and team grows over time. It is also important to consider how your channel relationship software integrates with other platforms, both the ones you use now (like your CRM) and the ones you might need to add in the future.
3. Qualified Lead Distribution
Sales prospecting is considered one of the most time-consuming aspects of the whole sales process and doesn't even involve active selling. It is more like a precursor to sales. A channel sales tech stack should include sharing leads with your channel partners that shorten their sales pipeline. Giving your partners a way to increase the opportunity pipeline with a vendor allows them to focus more on closing deals and spend less time searching out prospects that may be a good fit for your products.
4. CRM
CRM software enhances your sales team's productivity overall, and the right CRM tools allow you to maintain a single source of customer truth for your company. CRM is considered the focal point of a sales technology stack for most sales groups. Therefore, when choosing the right PRM tool for channel sales management, one must consider which tool works the best within your company's CRM and how seamlessly it integrates with the other systems. And one essential thing is whether you can extract the data easily for analyzing and providing management dashboards that let you see your entire opportunity pipeline for internal and external selling teams/partners. Considering this may help you choose the right one.
5. Measuring results
Along with powering the entire sales process, a sales tech stack must provide partner channel insights. A solution that provides accurate and meaningful performance metrics may facilitate identifying potential issues or conflicts with sales teams. With the help of the right tech stack, channel managers can quickly generate accurate reports and monitor performances with a streamlined view. You can easily identify strong channel partners and the ones that may need additional guidance from your team.
6. Sales or deals coaching
Every business is different and requires a varied set of training and knowledge sharing for its partners. The right tech stack must be equipped to train your channel partners to sell and service your products so that they can represent your company the way you want them to. The right tech stack has all the elements needed to provide training or coaching that might help make sales easier.
Why is selecting the Right Tech Stack essential?
The right tech stack has a big impact on the development, expansion, and increase of your channel sales. The right tools can easily demonstrate enhanced ROI. One of the greatest aspects of choosing the right tech stack is that it can significantly contribute to expanding your overall sales footprint regionally or globally. Rather than just handling each component efficiently, the right channel tech stack can also help flush out difficulties or challenges you may experience at different stages of channel growth. The right tech stack can have a big effect on your scalability in terms of performance while facilitating flexibility and scalability, reducing manual work, and letting your experienced talents focus on other activities.
The Solution!
A Modular PRM with excellent and seamless integration capabilities ticks all the boxes outlined above while providing a streamlined view for each of your varied departments. The hard truth is that nobody wants to spend much time on manual tasks and instead wants to spend time analyzing the results they have driven that contribute to their company's channel sales strategy. A Modular PRM Solution has all of the tools you need to put together the right channel tech stack for your organization.
Bottom Line!
Technology should be designed explicitly to streamline sales processes. Channel sales management can be complicated, and what can be even more complex is finding the right tool to manage everything seamlessly. However, once identified, the right channel sales management tools can help you get instant access to indirect sales data, closed/ lost analysis, scalable channel partner training, certifications, leads and opportunity management, a realistic view of fact-based data to make strategic decisions, and much more. Vartopia's PRM Solution is a complete modular solution that doesn't impede the sales process but helps you automate the sales process efficiently. It's time to automate the sales processes and let your sales representative spend more time on what they are doing! You know what? It is selling!! Request a demo today!
