1. Using Partner Relationship Management for Channel Managers
  2. Overview of Partner Relationship Management

Overview of Partner Relationship Management

Channel organizations can use partner relationship management functionality to recruit channel partners and sell products and services through them to grow their business.

Both channel organizations and partners use partner management to align their businesses so they can more successfully close deals. Channel organizations also use partner management to analyze partner performance, thus optimizing their time and financial investments in their partners.

Channel managers have their own work area to manage Partners, Enrollments, Programs, Marketing Development Funds (MDF), Activities, and Partner Announcements. Partner salespeople can qualify leads, register deals (lead-to-deal registration and deal-to-opportunity conversion), register opportunities, request MDF aid, and view announcements from their channel organization. As well, channel operations managers can make reports available to partners, so the partners can better monitor their performance.

How Partner Relationship Management Is Organized

Partner relationship management functionality is organized in the following areas:

  • Partners

  • Enrollments

  • Programs

  • MDF

  • Deal Registrations

  • Partner Announcements

  • Sales Infolets

Partners

Channel managers can perform overall partner management, including signing up new partners and providing them with access to the channel organization's applications, managing all aspects of the partner account, including:

  • Partner profile information

  • Partner contacts

  • Partner teams

  • Partner leads

  • Partner deal registrations

  • Partner opportunities

  • Partner relationships

  • Partner business plans and objectives

  • Partner programs

  • Partner program enrollments

  • MDF

  • Partner notes

  • Partner activities

  • Partner assessments

  • Partner collaboration

Channel managers can view a wide range of information about each partner and partners can access the channel organizations applications to manage the following:

  • Partners

  • MDF

  • Lead Qualifications

  • Deal Registrations

  • Opportunities

  • Activities

Programs

Partner program are strategies used by channel organizations to encourage partners to recommend and sell their products or services. Partner programs define the type of business relationship between channel organizations and their partners. Partner programs provide terms and conditions as well as benefits and incentives.

Channel organizations define partner programs to segment their partners and provide benefits based on partner competencies, performance, and expected revenue from partners. Programs have an eligibility criteria and associated benefits. The partner program describes the requirements and benefits for partners when they're members of the program.

Enrollments

A partner program enrollment is the enrollment of a partner in a specific partner program. Active enrollment in partner programs can make partners eligible for benefits and incentives that come with the partner program. Enrollments allow the channel team to track and manage which partner users are taking part in the partner programs offered by the channel organization.

Marketing Development Funds

Market Development Funds (MDF) are funds that the channel organization makes available to their partners, so the partners can market the channel organization's products in specific geographical areas, or so the partners can market the channel organization's brand in general. MDF enables channel organizations to manage the full cycle associated to marketing development funds, from creating and managing MDF budgets to managing MDF requests and claims submitted by partners.

Deal Registrations

Deal registration is the process partners use to request exclusive rights to a deal from the channel organization and get an incentive for doing so. This process provides partners with the means to inform the channel organization about a deal, and by being first to register that deal, the partners receive priority for the opportunity if their deal registration is approved. Deal registrations are less speculative than leads, but more speculative than opportunities. The full deal registration life cycle is supported. Partner users (or channel users on behalf of a partner) can convert leads to a deal registrations, and deal registrations to opportunities.

Partner Announcements

Channel organizations can send announcements that partners can view when they sign in. These announcements communicate important information that the channel sales team want partner users to know.

Sales Infolets

Channel managers can use their own set of sales infolets so that they're apprised of critical sales and partner activity information, including required action information and detailed reports on one page. The sales infolets include key performance indicators for the following:

  • Actual revenue versus quota

  • Top opportunities

  • Stalled opportunities

  • Open pipeline revenue

  • Partner status

  • Partner performance