Channel Enablement Roundtable: Recap and Relevations

Thanks to all the channel enablement professionals who joined our Channel Enablement Roundtable on the beautiful NetApp Sunnyvale campus in March. It was a great start to what should be an intriguing ongoing conversation in 2012.

Attendees gathered to hear about best practices from their peers and focus on the importance of a strategic approach to channel enablement. Channel executives too often live quarter to quarter, focusing on product-focused campaigns, and are not able to take a strategic view on providing channel partners the right information to be successful over time.

In addition to compelling conversation among the attendees, we had a chance to hear from industry leaders:

Moving forward There were several themes that ran across all the speakers’ presentations, and their themes of “align, integrate and execute” form the foundation for future conversations:
We’ll discuss each of these three pillars of channel enablement in future posts.

Create less content to drive more sales
There was also lots of interest in the “asset framework and analysis” discussion at the end of our session. You can download the Few and Improved ebook here.

Looking forward to great conversation about channel enablement!

Are Your Sales Enablement Assets Boilerplate?

Just returning from a baseball spring training trip in Florida (Go Phils)…read a Southwest Airlines magazine article about the background of the word “boilerplate.”

“In the early 19th century, boilerplates were thin plates of steel used to make steam boilers. As regional newspapers started popping up, news syndicates developed and sold them stories, which were printed on thin sheets of metal that resembled boilerplates. Because of the medium they came in, editors had to publish the stories as written. So the term boilerplate came to refer to any kind of formulaic, unvarying text, often seen in wills, contracts, and other legal documents.”

 I thought through the implications of “boilerplate” content that many companies use in their sales enablement materials (and those used for channel sales enablement).

• Consistency and repetition are good.  The overall intention of boilerplate content is to ensure the validity and accuracy of the messaging being presented to salespeople as well as customers. But while we like consistency, “unvarying” is NOT good…
• Boilerplate doesnt allow for customization by audience. Sadly, many sales enablement assets (playbooks, battlecards, guides, etc) are simply repackaged collateral copy with a few competitive angles. That kind of boilerplate content isnt really helpful to salespeople who need to apply solution messaging in specific selling environments (by industry or persona).
• Channel organizations really understand the pain. Channel sales enablement professionals are too often tasked with taking general corporate collateral and making it work in a channel setting. If they’re not able to update contents and messages to apply to partners’ services and solutions–or to their unique view on the midmarket–then the boilerplate gets thrown out the window.

It’s also interesting to consider the newest concepts of “syndication” compared to early 19th century printing. Web and channel syndication is alive and well today (I’ve spoken to some leaders in channel syndication that are doing some exciting things with automating channel marketing). The intersection of channel enablement and web syndication will be the subject of future research and blogs!

Lessons Learned from Our Sales Enablement Content Webinar

We had some great insights at our webinar, Five Ways to Improve the Quality and Value of Sales Enablement Content. Jim Ninivaggi and Marisa Kopec, research analysts at SiriusDecisions, walked us through their experience with technology companies and common sales enablement content challenges.

A key takeaway was that you should approach sales enablement like you do demand generation. Target your message to the right audience, align content assets with the buying and selling cycles and be creative with your delivery.  Plus, measure — always measure.

Additionally, our attendees had a chance to give some feedback through poll questions. 50% of respondents are NOT aligning sales enablement content with the sales cycle. They see the need, but they haven’t gotten there yet.

I invite you to download the slides or watch the full webinar replay. We’ve also published an eBook on how to evaluate content. In it you’ll learn how to spend less time and  money on content while supporting sellers to even greater heights in performance Click here to download!

And let me know if you have any questions or comments!

To Whiteboard or Not To Whiteboard

Whiteboard selling tools are the latest craze. With good reason — they eliminate “death by PowerPoint” (or need for any supporting technology) and enable sellers to have more intimate, interactive conversations with their customers and prospects using nothing more than a writing surface and pen.

Problem is, they’re popping up everywhere, and sellers are being inundated with new process and techniques.

At Launch International, we’ve had the opportunity to create and/or work with dozens of whiteboards, ranging from business-focused high level conversations to the most technical of discussions. We’ve rolled out whiteboard tools to global organizations, and trained dozens of partners and sellers nationwide on how to use them. We’ve watched sellers both shine and struggle as they take on this new medium and determine when/how to successfully include it in their selling style. 

It’s a transition for them, and it’s hard work to learn a whiteboard and present it well. So, we owe it to them to make sure it’s on target, and to create it with the end goal in mind. 

We’ve identified commonalities across these whiteboards and categorized them into three groups:

• Scoping whiteboards explore pains and challenges throughout client organizations. These are typically used at the early stages of a sale because they help drill down to specific issues a target may be facing.
• Impact whiteboards demonstrate solution value across the organization to show how disparate groups or units could benefit from a more integrated solution.
• Transformation whiteboards illustrate a new way of doing business based on the value of your solution. These could show maturity curves, timelines, or even benchmarks across competitors and the market.

 PROS(of well-designed whiteboards)

• Creates interaction between seller/buyer
• Carries a conversation from a business need to a solution response
• Is natural, so sellers easily can present
• Infuses differentiation, “sparklers” and proof points along the way
• Builds consensus and logically carries buyer to next steps in the process

CONS(of ineffective whiteboards)

• Don’t clearly define points of interaction, so they become a drawn presentation
• Don’t clearly identify when to be used in the selling process, such as using a technical whiteboard in an introductory conversation
• Scripts language and flow that causes presenters to struggle Is not unique. If you remove one vendor name and add another, would you have the same whiteboard?
• Does not actually do the intended goal: Gain approval from the audience to move to the next step in the buying process

When It Comes To MDF, Waste Not Want Not

Have you ever felt desperate to “do some marketing” but unable to get it done?

Every year, 25 percent of the $1 billion in MDF available to the channel goes unclaimed and is added back to the bottom lines of vendors and distributors, according to estimates from CMP Media. How does that make you feel? If you’re frustrated but don’t know what to do it about it, you’re not alone.

Vendors and distributors don’t like wasting that money because it indicates that their programs are not as valuable or complementary as they should be. Certainly they need to know if you’re not finding value in their programs, but let’s leave that challenge for 2012. Your immediate marching orders: Claim the MDF you have accrued in 2011 and save it from reabsorption on Jan. 1.

My non-scientific survey of more than a dozen solution providers, vendors and distributors in October indicates that roughly 75 percent of VARs will squander some MDF this year, simply because they don’t know what they may have accrued. What an incredible waste!

I consulted for one leading VAR that successfully built a national event marketing strategy primarily on MDF. This company has a large in-house marketing team, however, and is able to dedicate staff to tracking MDF. Few partners can support the resources required to track MDF and create strategies to maximize the MDF use. That’s when you need to rely on automated tools and resources provided by your vendor or distributor. Or at the very least, lean on your regional channel manager to find out what funds are available.

MDF exists to help build channel revenue, so most vendors are only interested in supporting initiatives that can directly drive sales. That means brochures, Web sites and other broad messages aren’t likely to be covered. Vendors are more likely to fund programs with maximum revenue potential.

Through my experience with organizations on all sides of the channel, I’ve developed a list of marketing initiatives that you could execute this year to optimize your MDF opportunity.

• Awareness: Print, e-mail and telemarketing campaigns that target a specific market with a clear message are the best way to spend 2011 funds and deliver the greatest chance for reimbursement. The campaigns could help you kick off 2012 with a bang.
• Briefs: Reports showing executives the business-level benefits of a technology solution are valuable—and more likely to be read. Remember, be long on vision and short on spin. They can also be great payoffs to your demand gen campaigns—and the development will fit into your 2011 budget for 2012 delivery.
• Case studies: Customer successes are the perfect answer to prospects who say “prove it” to your claims. Providing an past success with a similar solution gives the perfect validation that you can do what you say you can do.

By the way, vendors and distributors seem perfectly willing to work with partners who still have MDF available and want to spend it this year. In the words of one availability management software channel manager, “I love to help our partners spend free money!”

Sales Enablement and Marketing Should Evolve Along With Your Cloud Computing Solutions

In August 2010, Launch International published a white paper outlining recommendations for marketers around their cloud computing offerings. In How Marketing Can Accelerate Cloud Adoption: Three Strategies to Turn Buzz into Buyers, we offered some thoughts and examples around:

• Mapping cloud messages to buying and selling cycles and enabling the development of resources that guide customers and prospects to and through the cloud
• Investing in non-traditional thought leadership and awareness activities can dispel confusion and doubt surrounding cloud technologies
• Developing the right sales conversations to help build and sustain prospect interaction to continue moving an opportunity forward

But since we published that paper just 14 months ago, the entire cloud computing marketplace has grown and matured at an incredible pace. It seems the transition from “early adoption” to “mainstream adoption” has been compressed—and clearly that’s a good thing for cloud solution vendors, providers and resellers.

And just like the market adoption of cloud computing has accelerated—so has Launch International’s experience helping cloud vendors and suppliers develop the strategy, assets and resources it takes to recruit and enable resellers, as well as take an integrated, mature message to market.

The kinds of cloud vendor clients we’ve worked with is broad—from systems, software and storage vendors interesting in driving cloud infrastructure solutions through direct and indirect channels, to distributors and managed service providers trying to show value to both resellers and customers.

Cloud sales enablement and marketing for 2012
We’ll be updating the cloud marketing paper in the coming months, but I wanted to take a rainy Friday here in Philadelphia to put a few ideas to paper:

1. Maturing the cloud message: I’ve seen a real shift in the way cloud companies are talking about their solutions. The early messages around cost savings are still valid, but it seems we’ve all done a lot more thinking about driving real business value: becoming more agile; being more responsive to market fluctuations; developing new capabilities and services for customers. This more proactive, value-centric approach better addresses customer challenges and is helping with cloud adoption.I’ve been speaking with a desktop-in-the-cloud company whose offerings are basically the same as they were 12 months ago. But their business has really shifted quite a bit as desktop virtualization has become a much hotter topic. I’ve been impressed with the way they’ve shifted the message to be more customer-centric, while still retaining their focus on managed service providers. Which leads me to point #2…
2. Targeting service providers: With more cloud technology options on the market every day, hosting and service providers have many options for how they deliver their cloud services. Security was an early message for cloud marketers, but that’s now become table stakes. Today’s service providers are looking for new technologies that will help not only with cost savings and security, but in driving agility and flexibility across the infrastructure. Large technology vendors in the server and storage spaces are retooling their messages and recruiting materials to show service providers how they can help customers be more dynamic.One of my long-term clients has started putting significant resources into forging better relationships with service provider partners. Much like the long-term strategy of encouraging consultants and systems integrators to base their solutions practices on a certain technology, today’s vendors are showing the value of their offerings in a service provider’s cloud architecture. That’s also critical in recruiting new reseller partner…taking us to point #3…
3. Enabling VARs and partners: Channel industry trade publications and websites are full of headlines and articles analyzing the impact that cloud computing is having on the traditional VAR channel. Certainly pure-play systems resellers are going to need to transition their business model to take more of a cloud strategist role, and depend on their vendor suppliers and regional service providers to help craft a complete cloud transition strategy that adds value to the customers’ business AND the reseller’s profitability.One client of mine has added “cloud aggregator” to their reseller line card. They’re helping their reseller partners identify the best cloud offerings to offer, as well as offering a dashboard of cloud usage issue resolution—a critical part of resellers becoming a “trusted advisor” for clients and their cloud strategies moving into the future.

No shortage of cloud information for customers OR resellers
The cloud computing marketplace has made me realize that I’m truly a “market headline junkie.” I’ll click on any story or blog that offers information or insight into how marketers can help sellers make money selling cloud computing.

I’d be interested in your feedback and thoughts about sales enablement and marketing cloud computing services in 2012 and beyond.

Whew! 14 Years of Sales Enablement, Channel Marketing and More!

It was pointed out to me that today (Sept. 1) is my 14th anniversary with Launch International. Not bad for a 19+ year old company! (I was actually Employee #3…though we don’t really have badges or nametags!)

I realized that many of my co-workers (and clients!) were still in high school (or before), so I’m here to confirm that:

• Technology DID exist in 1997…and there was more to “high capacity storage” than just punch cards.
• The Internet DID exist…though AOL was the primary onramp, and Geocities was the only online community to speak of.
• Blogging, tweeting and social media were alive and well…though we called them “bulletin boards.”

 I’m not usually philosophical about these kinds of things, but this anniversary brings out a few thoughts:

• In new hire interviews over the past few years, my standard statement has been “Launch is what you make it.” I’ve always known that each of us at Launch has the ability to conceive, develop and manage our own direction at Launch, based on our strengths and desires. I was hired 14 years ago as “the newsletter writer,” while our company president and another staffer handled the sales guide business. But I’ve been able to grow my role based on my experience and ideas— high-level messaging and positioning, channel enablement and marketing, whiteboard selling conversations, and more.  Our company has significantly changed over the past years, but we’ve maintained the focus on providing content and assets to help salespeople sell more and move opportunities through the pipeline faster.
• The reseller channel has always been important, but in today’s environment, the channel is even more critical than ever. SMB/midmarket segments mean more quick-hit opportunities. And vendor channel organizations need these reseller partners to advance their solutions into many more markets and customers than they could reach themselves.  With our experience in vendor channel organizations and distribution, the opportunity for Launch is huge! This is why Launch is dedicating more resources to channel enablement and marketing in 2011 and beyond.
• Today’s sales enablement marketplace has finally caught up with Launch.  We’ve been doing “sales enablement” since before the term existed. Now clients, analysts, consultants and other agencies are dedicating entire departments to a segment that is completely in our wheelhouse…while sales enablement has actually been our complete reason for existence for 19+ years. That’s why you see and hear so much activity in the office around sales enablement…and why we’ve hired an SVP focused on growing our sales enablement business, and dedicated business to campaigns, events and relationships positioning Launch as a go-to sales enablement resource.

So in summary, it’s been a great 14 years.  But I am more excited about the future than ever before. The market has come to us…and our clients and prospects are realizing our value.

It’s an exciting time to be at Launch International. Our vision and expectations are clear…our team is ready…and our opportunity is endless.

Be a Sales Enablement Superhero!

One of the best parts of working for a creative and strategic organization is that we get to blend serious content with creative approaches.

That’s what we did in promoting our recent e-book, 6 Steps to Giving Your Sales Teams the Content They Need (and Want).   We wanted to take a fun and creative approach to a very strategic topic…and give it a new spin.

Take a look at the promotional art…and we’d love to hear your input on the e-book!  http://enablesales.it/pMB8rU

Alliance Marketing Triple Play

It’s not easy being an alliance manager these days! Alliance managers need to play the roles of both the strategic visionary and the tactical execution expert.  Their corporate marketing peers often have teams of marcom specialists and product marketing experts on hand to create long-term marketing strategies. But alone in the alliance management arena, marketing managers have to be fast on their feet and think quickly!

Launch International’s alliance marketing clients tell us their biggest challenge is being experts on multiple products and solutions. In addition to their own company offerings, alliance managers need to know their alliance partners’ solutions, as well as their sales channels and customer base. That’s a lot of specific audiences—and a lot of custom messages.

Fret not. Launch International has helped many alliance marketing managers navigate the wilds of alliance solution marketing.  Our “Alliance Marketing Triple Play” will give you some ideas and direction for creating a marketing foundation for your alliance partnerships.

 1. Messaging

Don’t assume that a great solution will naturally make its own friends. We’ve seen the best ideas die in the channel because the vision and value weren’t properly defined up front—before launching to sales teams.

Alliance solution messaging is critical to the success of a joint solution. Both partners need to agree on the solution basics: what the solution is, who it’s for, what value it delivers to the audience, etc.

What’s more, there needs to be a competitive differentiator that separates your solution from others in the marketplace. Let’s face it, your alliance partner likely has partnerships with other similar or competitive vendors, so spend a little time defining how you’re better!

For one Launch client in the ERP software space, we developed a complete message overhaul to better align the company’s software with the platforms of its primary server partner. The new messaging included the highlights of the server platform and how the ERP application leveraged those features to deliver speed and efficiency to the user.

2. Mindshare

Once you’ve defined the joint solution messaging, it’s time to roll it out through the sales channels of both companies. This is where we’ve seen many clients hit a roadblock—not because they lack the ability to sell, but because they haven’t properly shown either sales force how the solution can benefit their common customers and prospects. 

While brochures and data sheets may come to mind first, be sure to include white papers and case studies—which can often move a customer to a buying decision faster. In addition, solution selling guides for both companies will help the sales teams understand the total solution and best describe it to their customers. 

One Launch client, a storage networking market leader, created a selling guide for the sales force of its largest OEM alliance partner. The solution messaging was developed to leverage the server vendor’s current messaging. Meanwhile, the joint solution was positioned as the premier choice for the companies’ mutual customers.  Early feedback from the sales force has been very positive, and we’re exploring additional solution selling resources for this client. 

3. Maintenance

This isn’t about maintenance services; it’s about maintaining communication with your various audiences. It’s simply not enough to create the solution and expect the sales teams to go forth and conquer.  Like any other solution marketing initiative, audiences must be continuously cultivated and reminded of solution messaging, benefits, and value propositions. 

Ongoing communications like email and social media can further reinforce your messaging and help customers and salespeople better understand your solution in specific contexts. Be sure to find a new or original hook in the marketplace as a reference point for your solution. For example, compliance, security concerns, and ROI are recent hot buttons in the industry press. Figure out how your joint solution can best help your customers solve these challenges.

 Launch International used security management as the angle to help a large storage and security services client combine their messages with a software alliance partner. The joint solution leveraged strengths from both companies, truly differentiating their solution in the marketplace. In fact, a large analyst firm posted the thought leadership materials Launch International created for the client on its website and in subsequent webcasts.

While alliance marketing will never be easy, you can increase your effectiveness through the “Triple Play” of Messaging, Mindshare, and Maintenance.

Three Common Partner Marketing Pitfalls

Being in channel marketing means you’re used to living quarter to quarter. Your budgets, programs and daily life are all tuned to driving dollars NOW to fulfill this quarter’s sales target.

However, that kind of tactical thinking is contrary to contemporary integrated marketing strategies, and can hinder partners’ long-term marketing opportunities. Those are the challenges we highlight in our “Pitfalls of Partner Marketing”:

• Pitfall #1:  Leading exclusively with vendor messaging. Many channel partners try to mimic a vendor’s identity, messages, and value propositions. Be careful when doing so in a competitive market where customers are looking for specific value-added services and offerings they can’t find anywhere else. We always encourage channel partners to develop their own voice and identity separate but complementary to their vendors.
• Pitfall #2:  Relying on one-off product campaigns to drive ongoing business. MDF is a dual-edged sword. Vendor products and brands fund quarterly one-off campaigns, but that’s not a marketing plan. Instead, help your partners use your product-led campaigns as part of a multi-touch marketing plan that continuously reinforces a business solution with new and exciting offerings.
• Pitfall #3:  The “set it and forget it” static website. Partner websites are simply too important to have stale, static content anymore. There are many great content management systems that can help your partners update their own content without HTML or programming experience. It will help them get in front of their customers, and it will help YOU keep your channel partners using fresh, updated messaging.

The key to avoiding these pitfalls is to help your partners develop a nine-to-twelve month marketing calendar that promotes specific solutions on a quarterly basis. That way you can apply specific vendor and brand MDF dollars as the partner promotes a specific offering within their solution-focused campaign. For example, a business continuity campaign targeting CFOs can still include product messaging as supporting information for the partner solution. The partner gets a chance to show strategic value and grow long-term relationships, and you continue to drive market awareness of your solutions.