Six Essentials for Innovating in the Channel

30-Minute Webinar // January 22, 2015

Scott Salkin Founder & CEO Allbound

Michelle Andreas Director of Business Development and Marketing Solutions Avnet Technology Solutions

Quick Introduction… Inbound or outbound?

YES!

75% OF ALL GOODS FLOW THROUGH INDIRECT

SALES AND MARKETING CHANNELS

Source: World Trade Organization

But they’re STUCK using stitched-together portals and legacy systems that cannot keep up.

Sales and marketing are the engine…

Resulting in lost TIME & MONEY

90% of content & training never used by sales

(AMA/Forrester)

35+ hours per month spent searching

for tools and training (IDC Sales Enablement Study)

Millions spent on content, but no way to track/report

(Content Marketing Institute)

Innovation is EVERYWHERE!

+140k people +1,000 solutions

Why not the channel?

“DIGITAL DARWINISM” When technology and society evolve

faster than an organization or industry can adapt.

1 Data, the Cloud & Cool Apps

x  

For the channel… “Top-performing channels need to embrace new technologies to help their partners move the pipeline more efficiently.”

x  

Start Thinking Differently

Shows you how everything and everyone in the business world are related, including vendors, suppliers, customers, employees, more.

Crawls millions of websites daily to help businesses understand who is using their competitors’ software and when they started or stopped using it.

Lets you automate list building through the power of social networks and sync contact info directly to your CRM or marketing software.

x  

Quickly  and  easily  connect  to  any  source  of  data,  no  ma5er  what  it  is  or  where  it  lives.  

SaaS  &  cloud  companies  who  cut  churn  by    50%  can  DOUBLE  revenue  2x  faster.  

x  

In the channel… Start integrating, measuring and reporting on key performance indicators, such as:

• Training and enablement•  Lead generation and marketing• MDF spend and ROI• Content syndication• Social engagement• Deal registration• Closed deals

x  

For the channel… “Predictive analytics can drive sales performance and help ‘automate’ a rep’s day with activities that are shown to drive results.”

Fi#een  Must  Know  B2B  Sales  and  Marke6ng  Tools  for  2015  www.Allbound.com/15-­‐for-­‐15      Brian  Solis  on  Digital  Darwinism  and  Genera6on  C  h5p://www.briansolis.com/2014/09/digital-­‐transformaPon-­‐race-­‐digital-­‐darwinism/          

2 Mobile & UX Design

While living in this world…

Living in this world…

x  Our Brains have Been REWIRED

“Business applications – both desktop and mobile – need to adapt and take advantage of how we now PREFER to engage with technology.”

So, where are we mobile in business?

52%  

17%  

12%  

10%  5%  4%  

Email  

Task  Management  

Enablement  

Social  

Push    

Voice  

40%  

14%  

22%  

16%  

8%  

Sales Marketing

x  

In the channel…So, how can mobile and UX design impact channel sales and marketing?

• Create a user experience that drives engagement and usage

• Deliver content to the field, anytime and anyplace, without getting lost in the inbox

•  Integrate with apps that may already be in use, e.g. Box, Dropbox, Docusign, Google Drive, Twitter, LinkedIn

• Collect data on mobile activity

Don’t Do •  Just push out a

mobile app or build a mobile website

•  Require ANOTHER password

•  Ignore design and accessibility

3 Automation and Campaigns

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Data quality

Content creation/cost

Process

Skilled staff

Metrics

Culture

Exec Buy-In

IT Support

Funding

Marke6ng  Automa6on  A  Lot  of  Buzz,  Even  More  Challenges  

Really? 75% of channel

partners admit to being sub-par

marketers.

“The most successful channel programs enable partners by enhancing their skills in marketing fundamentals, strategy and metrics while providing turnkey execution.”

Leveraging the same messaging, promotions, and calls to action across multiple activities (e.g., social, video, email, telemarketing).

Concierge Services 75% of channel companies report that they are not highly skilled in marketing.

•  B2B expertise•  End-to-end•  Telemarketing•  Strategic•  Reporting•  Transparency•  Compliance

In the channel… Combine on-demand training with turnkey collateral and campaigns that can be customized, executed and tracked.

• SaaS portal platform• Trainings and resources aligned to

marketing campaigns•  Insight into results and feedback from

the field (Rank/Review)•  “Shopping cart” execution w/ MDF• Real-time concierge (Chat, etc.)•  Integrated analytics and POP

4 Gamification & Incentives

Motivating workers today is more difficult than ever.

70% of US workers are NOT ENGAGED at work.

Our average attention span is now 8 seconds – 1 second less than a goldfish.

Except when it comes to cash and prizes.

“Partner marketers need to retrofit incentive programs to provide more innovative, long-term strategies that incentivize loyalty and activity in addition to revenue.”

•  Problem:  partner  reps  thought  it  was  too  difficult  and  too  confusing  to  sell  a  new  technology  from  a  Fortune  500.  

•  Solu6on:  organized  and  incenPvized  training,  enablement  and  lead  generaPon…create  habits.  

•  Result:  more  reps  learning,  conversing,  downloading  resources;  15%  increase  in  reps  selling;  $3M  impact  on  revenue…in  one  quarter.  

In the channel… Communicate, track and incentivize any activity that can drive enablement, knowledge and revenue.

• Set aside budget for ongoing incentive programs…monthly, even daily

• Track training views, resource downloads, content shares, campaign launches, deal registrations, etc.

•  Incentivize and compensate based on these activities

• Create competition

5 Sales & Channel Enablement

40% 22%

12% 9% 9%

6% 2%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Ability to understand & solve my challenges

Industry knowledge & expertise

Ability to leverage company's resources

Technology expertise

Likability & personality

Ability to communitcate differentiators

Product knowledge

Top Rep Attributes in Terms of How They Influence Buying Decision…What Do Your Prospects Want?

Source: Forrester Research, Inc. (n= 166 North American enterprise business and IT decision makers)

Business Leaders IT Leaders Overall

Knowledgeable about their products/solutions 88% 88% 88%

Understands my issues and where they can help 34% 43% 38%

Can relate to my role and responsibilities in the company 38% 29% 34%

“When you meet with a salesperson, how often are they prepared for the meeting with you in the following ways?”

Source: Forrester Research, Inc. (n= 166 North American enterprise business and IT decision makers)

What Are They Getting?

“Sales enablement maximizes channel sales ROI…but without being centralized, its intent remains inefficient.”

Bring it all together… All Your People

All Your Training

All Your Resources

All Your Marketing All Your

Funds All Your

Data

In the channel… Provide consistent, centralized means to ensure channel reps have the skills, knowledge, tools and assets to maximize every buyer interaction.

• Audit and catalog content – by type, quality, relevance, influence and value

• Find a centralized, alternative means of storage, distribution and syndication…other than email

• Create a regular cadence of meaningful communications

6 Social & Thought Leadership

Self-Directed Decision Making Prospects/customers started to delay purchasing conversations with suppliers.

Due Diligence Begins First Engagement w/ Sales

We’ve All Heard It:

Purchase

57%-70%

Customers

Suppliers

Co-Workers

Family

Friends

Personal Networks

Social Networks

Review Sites/Blogs

Buyer

It’s no longer simply about “what” you sell, but “why”

and “how” you sell it.

StartWithWhy.com

78%

of B2B buyers feel reputation is VERY important when looking for business products/services.

In the channel… Provide partners with expertise and tools to differentiate the company brand and the personal brand of individual reps:

• Get them to their “why”?• Teach and share resources on best

practices for personal branding• Automatically feed content and

recommendations based on data• Consolidate and centralize tools and

apps into one platform• Collect and analyze social data• Attend our next event…

Remember this?

90% of content & training never used by sales

(AMA/Forrester)

35+ hours per month spent searching

for tools and training (IDC Sales Enablement Study)

Millions spent on content, but no way to track/report

(Content Marketing Institute)

Marketing Simple organization,

delivery, tracking of content.

Sales & Channels Real-time knowledge and tools where/when they need them.

Executives Built-in visibility,

analytics and reports.

The Channel is Open for Business

San Francisco, CA 25 Taylor Street 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94102

Scottsdale, AZ 14811 N. Kierland Blvd. Suite 300 Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Scott Salkin CEO, Founder 602.881.1718 ssalkin@allbound.com @scottsalkin

LET’S GO CHANGE THE CHANNEL…

GO ALLBOUND.