Understanding why your Deal Reg Program isn't as effective as you would like

12.29.22 06:00 PM By Vartopia Team
Many technology companies sell through indirect channels and often implement Deal Registration programs. While a simple deal registration program can help streamline your go-to-market motions, the harsh reality is that most deal registration programs do not actually work the way you envisioned when you were putting them together.   But the question is, even after leveraging the programs by incentivizing the partner base and increasing the sales productivity, why do such programs not work as you had thought they would?   Here are a few benefits that a successful deal registration program provides.  

Benefits of an effective Deal Registration Program 

You get a better view of your complete opportunity pipeline.  
  • It provides the channel partners with the tools they require to succeed.
  • It makes it easier for the partners to use  
  • It helps communicate effectively in urgent scenarios.  
  • It provides the data that businesses consistently require to improve.  
  • It lowers the possibility of channel conflicts.  
  • With deal reg, channel partners can work with their clients devoid of worrying about other companies trying to offer the same services or products at lower costs.  
  • Enhanced profits  
  • Assistance with the selling cycle  
  • Insights into the performance  

Reasons why most Deal Registration does not work! 

1. Designing a Deal Reg Program

Deal Registration Programs generally tend to be explicitly designed to meet the vendor's business interests and are often focused on managing the sales mix, over-distribution, and attaining pricing protections. Unfortunately, when the design does not take business interests, sales productivity, and profitability into consideration, the programs can lead to huge fissures in the vendor & channel partners relationship.   And this gap doesn't completely summarize the loss as it can also create a lack of interest in the deal reg program from your channel partners and low program adoption.   

2. Complex Process

Most deal registration programs include several hurdles for channel partners to deal with. This is one of the foremost reasons that most deal reg programs fail to work as expected.   Programs with complex processes often fail due to the channel partners having to go through a lot of burden in protecting an opportunity that outweighs the risks of losing it. If a specific deal reg process doesn't include simplified steps or processes, chances are that the partners may not put in extra effort as they feel that it is not worth it, and consequently, they do not participate.   

3. Lack of Automation

Another reason most deal reg program doesn't work is the lack of automation. Most companies utilize traditional tools like email or excel that often fail to provide adequate transparency to the channel partners.   Therefore, this lack of transparency is one of the primary reasons that most deal reg program falls short. On the contrary, vendors who deploy simple programs with an automated platform can eradicate this friction.   

4. Failure to protect the deals

Many vendors sometimes experience conflicts in deal ownership when the rules and regulations are not defined and ultimately fail to keep their promise of protecting a specific deal.    Vendors often jump in when an end-user decides to switch to a different reseller and only looks to close the opportunity. Therefore, rather than trying to work with the partner that registered the deal and helping to resolve the conflicts, they break the partner's trust by allowing the opportunity to go through a competing partner.    

5. Focusing on short-term cycles   

Most deal reg programs often focus on short-term cycles that lead to failure in establishing rapport with partner's sales reps, which is essential to close deals, build momentum, and minimize the returns for the partner base.   

6. Programs that do not explicitly advertise the benefit

Most deal reg programs do not explicitly share their participation benefits from a channel partner's perspective and are perceived more like a mystery box.   Since the lack of relevance is what the channel partners experience and the entire program is perceived as a mystery box to the partners, they are unlikely to show interest in participating. Therefore, one of the finest ways to overcome this challenge is to showcase to your partners that if they register deals, they will have higher opportunities and sales productivity.    

Optimizing your Deal Registration Program  

Deal Reg ProgramSetting up a Deal Registration Process is a crucial part of your channel partner program and delivers ample advantages to your business. It enhances partner loyalty, develops trust, increases collaboration, eradicates conflicts, generates a seamless partner ecosystem, and allows managers to measure progress.   In order to optimize your deal reg, here are some best practices that should be included in a partner program.   
  • Determine the goals  
  • Highlight the advantages  
  • Onboard channel partners with easy-to-understand program qualifications  
  • Keep the deal reg flow flexible and user friendly  
  • Bring it all into a single seamless system.  
  • Make it easier for the channel partners to submit a request  
  • Provide the tools that channel partners require to manage the entire deal reg process  
  • Be responsive and transparent  
  • The users or managers of the system should have the ability to manage sales within the partner portal.  
  • Distribute leads  
  • Automate dashboards to provide easy visibility over the entire program.  
  • Integrate with CRM to provide a unified view of all the sales-related activities. 

Bottom Line!   

An efficient Deal Registration Program has the power to transform the entire channel program. It leads to a seamless partner program in order to grow the business network and drive positive financial consequences.   One of the foremost aspects of deal reg is that it is a crucial key to building trusted and strong relationships with the channel partners, as partners spend a lot of energy, time, and skills in developing leads. Setting up a partner platform where they can register new deals and manage them seamlessly will go a long way toward your program's success.   Vartopia is uniquely positioned to deliver that desired functionality to your deal registration programs and take them to the next level seamlessly. Book a demo today to see how Vartopia could help you extract the best out of your programs.  

Vartopia Team