Channel Development

At Plexus we can deliver all your IT channel marketing needs, but unlike many agencies we have an in depth knowledge of IT channel go-to-market strategy, so we can help you with everything from business development, partner selection and on-boarding through to sector specific campaigns. Unless you are planning to hire a huge global direct sales team the IT channel is the obvious route to gain an army of sales people across the geographic regions and markets that you wish to serve. When the channel is working well it can provide the perfect vehicle to grow your business, however for many vendors the path to channel success can be a rocky one with many never reaching the business outcomes they had hoped for. In order to navigate the complexities of channel engagement we developed the Plexus Channel Strategy Framework which focuses on 5 key areas of channel strategy with the intention of surfacing any barriers to channel success. Our framework can be applied to any route to market whether that be a distributor, reseller partner or an OEM customer.

Making The Channel Work For You

The IT channel is currently undergoing changing business models, new service offerings and a focus shift towards customer needs.

• The pay-to-play distribution giants never worked for the smaller vendors and their dated model is being left behind
• We help our clients focus on selling based on business outcomes to drive end user demand
• With end user demand you also create channel demand
• Through our targeted digital campaigns your prospect ‘black book’ stays with you, regardless of internal or channel partner staff attrition

Channel Fundamentals

• 01 The Battle For Mind Share Any distribution partner or reseller with a broad line card will be bombarded with programs, messaging and incentives from their manufacturers. Being heard amongst the crowd is challenging enough, but being remembered after that great telephone conversation or meeting can be even harder still. We call upon our channel experience to work with you to determine if and how you can gain mind share within the channel. Often the key to success is establishing the correct peer-to-peer executive alignments with the formulation of agreed business goals.
• 02 Know When To Take Control Of your Own Destiny For many early stage IT vendors, having a high expectation of IT channel success can often result in hugely disappointing and costly results. In sales, knowing when to walk away and disqualify a lead makes you far more effective, and that same philosophy should be applied to channel engagements. Walking away from a channel partnership can be hard, especially if you have spent time, energy, and resources building a relationship, and giving up means you’ll have nothing to show for it. We work with our clients to identify early warning signs within channel engagements to ensure there is a backup plan to drive end user demand and build a pipeline of prospects regardless of channel challenges.
• 03 The Channel Can Work Great, But make sure you are ready There is no doubt that when the channel is working well the results can be fantastic, however first impressions count, so be sure that you are confident in your product readiness before approaching the channel. Channel sales teams work within a comfort zone and will not generally position solutions they do not have confidence in. If your initial channel engagement results in a poor customer experience you may burn your bridges and second chance opportunities. Our decades of channel experience provides an external view and assessment of your channel readiness, plus our virtual team have all the skills needed to ensure you hit the channel right first time.