In this part 4 of our Microsoft ISV Workshop Series, we will outline the findings of our group discussion with Microsoft ISVs in Western Europe at various stages of development. I suggest reading Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the series if you haven’t read them yet.
In part 3 we categorised the top challenges from the group in the workshop. We asked readers to consider their top 10 challenges, and then their top 3 challenges.
Now, we review these challenges, add some other typical challenges and identify what would help you apply these to your business. It is imperative that you determine your top challenges and take steps to address them.
Here are the top challenges for each stage as identified in Part 3 of these series:In understanding the Top 3 Challenges for each group, let’s see how the challenges were described, prioritised and why they participants put emphasis on these particular challenges:
Early in Channels – Considering or Starting:
This could be part of a large company or a start-up. You are in this group if you are considering or at early stage in selling your product through sales partners. The focus is on your product and its stages in engaging with sales partners.
This Early/Considering or Starting group highlighted the following top three challenges:
- Legal Agreements
- Partner Education
- Complexity of Sales
The group’s concerns were on whether their highly technical solutions would work in sales channels.
- What was written up as Partner Agreement, was meant to be “The relationship with the Partner”, encompassing Partner Proposition, Partner Responsibilities, Expectations and more
- What would the partner agreement be that a partner would buy-into? What would be the Partner Proposition?
- What would be the effort to build the partners’ capabilities, in creating and providing the training to make an impact?
- With much specialist or proprietary capabilities required what would it take to address the complexity in the sales process?
In seeking to work with partners initially, you must determine clearly what you want from partners, then assess what you can expect to start with and how you can train and support them to build their capabilities in you working together. This varies much depending on what you are selling and complexity in the sale and delivery stages.
Growing in Channels:
The members of the Growing group already have a number of partners and have developed proven elements of their partner model. If you are in this group, you are now seeking to grow your channels and revenues from the channels.
This Growing group highlighted the following top three challenges:
- Awareness of Company Product and Value Proposition
- Partner Commitment/Focus/Best Efforts
- Creating Trust/Love Story/Channel Conflicts
The ‘Growing in Channels’ group were concerned about the channel partners’ product knowledge, commitment and relationships.
- How do you make your partners truly aware of the Customer Value Proposition?
- How do you gain greater Partner Commitment and Focus to get more proactive execution on plans?
- How do you build relationships with our partners that enable you to work better together in the market?
In addressing these challenges, the group were seeking greater engagement, commitment and focus on their propositions from their partners.
Some queries against these challenges. Have you assessed your Partner Fit with each partner? How well do your propositions fit into the partners business and what is the expected pace of business for their products? What are the bottlenecks within the partners business where their proposition is concerned and what can you do to alleviate this bottleneck? Would more marketing and sales support from you drive greater demand within the partners market?
Established:
The members of the Established group have many partners and established operating partner programs. You are a part of this group if your business is established and has a well-developed partner strategy.
The Established group were concerned about the channel partners’ product knowledge, commitment and relationships.
- Quality of Delivery
- Post Agreement Sales
- Service Delivery Blockage
The ‘Established in Channels’ Group encountered challenges around their Channel Partners’ Capability and Capacity to deliver on projects and sales commitments.
- How do you ensure consistent Quality of Delivery through partners?
- How do you better enable a proactive start to sales activity once agreements are signed?
- How do you assess and address skills capacity risks for projects?
The challenges in Established are related to enablement of their partners, in sales and in delivery. How to best manage the quality of delivery, which could be seen as enablement of relevant project management capabilities?
As you can see the challenges vary between the stages of growth. It is important to approach each stage in a unique way to maximize your return on investment and capitalize on the efforts already made by your team.