I was honored to be invited to speak to a group of Microsoft ISV (Independent Software Vendors), Software Product Companies / ISVs, at a meeting in Taormina, Sicily in early November 2018. The 20 or so companies, of the greater group of 50, were achieving €10s to €100s of millions in annual revenues and growing very strong global businesses. So, by all accounts, they were growing and established companies, ranging in services from deep technical infrastructure solutions and enterprise applications, to full applications built on Microsoft Dynamics. Microsoft was the common factor among them all, as they have built their solutions on Microsoft technology or platforms and the Microsoft ISV team are dedicated to helping them grow their businesses.
I had proposed to do a workshop with the group, seeking to understand their challenges in sales channels and encouraging them to share their experiences, while I would share some structures and models to help companies develop their own particular plans. I thought that this workshop approach would achieve greater interaction and be more engaging for the group. For the workshop, I proposed splitting them into 3 groups;
1) Considering or Starting in Channels
2) Growing Channels
3) Established Channels
The premise was that companies grow in a maturity model from start-up to established. The Sales Channel Maturity model traverses a similar path; irrespective of company size, the company has to learn. More established companies are more difficult to change. I must admit, I like change and seeing companies develop.
From what we have seen in Tenego, small and large companies have similar challenges in the channel and must traverse a similar Channel Evolution from First Sales Partners to Proven Partner Model.
I’ve seen examples of many companies attempting to speed up their pace of maturity through the Channel Evolution with heavy investment, but without the desired results, as there are many factors that affect the pace of sales channel growth.
The model outlined is a Lean/Agile Sales Learning Curve approach managing peoples’ time and managing investment until it is time appropriate to accelerate. It doesn’t have to be slow, but it is a better investment. It can be baby steps in quick succession depending how well your company has developed on a few key factors.
The Sales Channel Maturity Model encourages companies to right size their channel development plans according to their stage in the model. If you were managing a Division 4 sports team, your first objective is not to beat the top of division 1, but to get promoted into Division 3. You must be honest with yourself about what division you are in from a channel maturity point-of-view, and how fast you can progress, based on the key factors to channel growth.
Back to my planned session in Sicily. My proposed workshop approach had risks. What if they didn’t divide neatly into the 3 groups? What if there were no companies who considered themselves as “Starting in Channels”? What if the group were not open and ‘input’ had to be dragged out of them? And of course, there’s always the possibility of that one awkward workshop participant who thinks they know everything and is cynical about any suggestions on thinking differently. I occasionally meet people who have had a bad experience with sales channels and without understanding why, believe that partners just don’t work. These are normal risks in running any event and thankfully I’ve been there so many times before, I knew that I’d just figure it out at the time and enjoy it.
The view from the plane as I arrived into Catania was spectacular and I was looking forward to meeting my hosts.
Click here for part 2 of the series Key Challenges in Sales Channels