Move Over James Bond — We’ve Got Partner Behavior in our Sights
I came across this video recently, where a former FBI agent walks through body language. He discerns what people are saying when they’re not saying anything at all. 55% of communication goes entirely unsaid. From an arched eyebrow to the shoes a person chooses to wear, every little choice, cue, and movement, no matter how small, mean something.
Once you’re used to observing that level of detail, you’ll feel like a spy, able to pinpoint what someone means or doesn’t mean on the fly. You can even take this approach with channel partners. Move over, James Bond — the Channel Professional is on the case.
Are You Paying Attention?
What are partners revealing with their actions — or inaction — inside your program portal? What insights can you unlock from their activity (or lack thereof)? After all, as with everyone, sometimes what partners say in a conversation does not align with their own marketing and sales activities. Let’s take a closer look at what you can discern from your partners’ portal activities.
Training Takeaways
Take a look at reporting on your eLearning modules and training courses. Chances are, you’ll get a good idea of who your high performers and earners are based on who’s successfully completed the training opportunities available to them.
On the other hand, if you’re seeing a partner who’s partially completed or attempted one or more courses several times, that’s a sign they could use a little additional help — whether that’s a call from your team or a nudge in the right direction through a targeted campaign encouraging partners to complete courses. Consider including a good incentive for successfully completing the course, too. This light push toward the right training could be exactly what’s needed to turn a good partner to a great partner.
Peek into Program Participation
Active partners who participate in your programs and, most importantly, adhere to the processes you teach them through training materials and campaigns are likely to be your superstar partners. They’re among your most loyal advocates to end users, and the first partners you should turn to when you seek out feedback on what partners want out of your program. They’ll have useful input since they’re the ones poking around in your offerings most often.
Seeing Deal Success Indicators on the Rise? Good News
A partner that’s interacting with co-marketing activities, lead distribution, or demand programs — and whose opportunity pipeline, sales stage percentages and deal sizes are on the rise? That’s a partner you want to keep around as long as you can. They’re sales advocates for your program. Even if they’re not the most active or making the biggest deals, if they’re selling more with every deal, they’re a keeper.
Take a look at the reporting for those partners, too. ZiftONE’s analytics make it easy to isolate any number of factors to determine what’s setting deal-makers apart from the rest. You can also make sure two up-and-coming partners aren’t directly competing for the same leads by checking their territories, leading to a more harmonious, profitable outcome for everyone.
Do you swear by a specific statistic or behavior from partners as indicative of a specific win or worry? We’d love to hear it — drop a note in the comments.
