WOTC Panel: How Suppliers Can Help Partners Win More Solution Sales Through Customized, Not 'Cookie-Cutter,' Channel Resources

When it comes to partner programs, one size doesn't fit all. Vendors realize that by embracing the channel, offering customized resources to partners, and tweaking their channel resources, both solution providers and suppliers will coexist and prosper.

But first, suppliers have to stand out in a sea of IT vendors that solution providers are bombarded with on a consistent basis.

Wendy Hoey, director of distribution and vendor alliances for Denver-based solution provider Optiv, led a panel of supplier executives who discussed capturing the attention of partners, marketing changes and vendors' evolving value proposition to partners.

[Related: WOTC Panel: Diversity In Workplace Is Key To Succeeding In Shift To Cloud, Recurring Revenue]

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IT vendors haven't historically been known as agile or flexible. But, the ability to change and change quickly can help capture the attention of partners, said Pam Johansen, senior director, sales ecosystem for BMC Software.

These changes don't have to be large, sweeping changes to the channel program. Instead, offering customizations for channel partners is a good start, Johansen said.

Having both the vendor and partner be more mindful of how business customers are buying and consuming IT will also help both suppliers and partners succeed, said Regan Ogner, head of global channel marketing for Intel Security.

Understanding the customer's journey will help vendors customize and build the right marketing strategy alongside their partners, rather than supplying partners with "cookie cutter" marketing tools, she said.

"It's the harder way to go, but it's definitely [presents] more of an opportunity for long-term growth and an opportunity to deepen the relationship between partners and [vendors]," Ogner said.

Fortinet is already doing this by giving it partners access to writers that can help them create unique content geared toward their businesses, said Krissy Kelley, Fortinet's senior director of channel marketing and partner programs.

"This makes it more about the [partner's] value proposition tied with Fortinet's," she said. "Partners loud and clear are saying that this is the most valuable asset we've given them."

As partners make the shift to solution selling, vendors must evolve their partner programs accordingly. Fortinet is arming its partners with conversations about pain points, rather than products, Kelley said.

For Intel, it's about giving partners access to more education and enablement tools, Ogner said.

"Ultimately, making the change to solution selling is the right thing for the customer," she said. "We understand that if we make these changes, we all grow together."

Evolving a channel program requires buy-in from an enthusiastic internal staff that understands the value of the channel, said Jana Valenti, director of field and channel marketing for Symantec Corporation.

"That piece is really undervalued. People like to work with people that they know and trust … your internal people are your secret sauce," she said.

Having a staff that understand and is prepared to support channel partners isn't only a benefit to the channel. Vendors also win because more often, customers are leaning on solution providers as their trusted partners. If vendors can better support partners, and partners have more to offer their end customers, all parties will benefit, Optiv's Hoey added.

There's still room for improvement in the relationship between vendors and partners, as long as vendors continue to evolve both their offerings, as well their channel strategies.

The technology won't always get a vendor in the door. The relationship can be made or broken based on the interaction between the partner rep and vendor sales rep, Ogner said.

"I think [vendors] overcomplicate things. And if it's complicated for us to understand, imagine what it's like for a [partner]," she said. "I think we need to get down to a place of what's best for the customer, and then how everyone can make money."

Solutions providers can help vendors simply and get back down to basics, Kelley said.

"Tell us why you win, and why you lose," she said. "When you're in the trenches, what's pushing you over to that win, or what's missing … We probably don't ask that enough."