Which Came First? The Question or The Answer?
Ever hear the one about the ice salesman who walked into the igloo, said hello to…
The Questions to Ask for Channel Partner Success in 2022
Time now for partying, presents, and planning. Holiday season, yes, but also the…
10 Steps to Achieve Channel Marketing and Sales Alignment for Your B2B Company
Sales and marketing alignment increases the power of marketing’s…
Built for Success: Sales and Marketing Alignment Best Practices from Channel Leaders
Sales and marketing alignment is a challenging but worthwhile pursuit…
Mergers, Not Acquisitions: 5 Marketing and Sales Alignment Strategies
Honing marketing and sales alignment strategies can better serve Chief Revenue…
Lead by Example: How to Help Your Partners Achieve Sales and Marketing Alignment
If you aren’t asking it yet, there’s a crucial question to begin raising with your…
Channel Partner Enablement: 5 Strategies to Swipe from Direct Sales
Sometimes it seems there is much confusion as to the definition of exactly what…
Proving Your Channel’s Value in 2021 – Your Questions Answered
On December 10th, Zift teamed up with the experts at Vistex & AchieveUnite to…
What Happens When You Focus on the Last Word in “Channel Account Manager”
It’s easy to get your channel partners to exile your channel account managers (CAM)…
10 Channel Strategies to Drive Higher Sales & Marketing ROI
There really is no precedent one can draw an analogy from to describe the level of…
Full Sales Funnel Management: Dancing Backward — And in Heels
I suppose it goes with the turf, but I have been doing a lot of thinking about…
Healthy Pipeline, Healthy You
Right now, in this COVID-19 era, protecting and preserving health is a community…
Toll Takers & the Channel: Are You Seeing the Full CX Picture?
In July, The New York Times published an article, The Last Toll Collector, that…
Enterprise Channel Management and Learning to Skydive
For my 21st birthday a few decades ago, all I wanted to do was skydive. I had never…
What’s Your Flavor? Sales Excellence: eLearning for Channel Sales Success
Sales Excellence, one of our Zift Zone Strategic Alliance partners, has been…
AchieveUnite, Channel Acceleration & the Lifetime Value of Partners
Our Zift Zone Strategic Alliance Program has some standout channel leaders in its…
Welcome To The 2019 Channel Partner Draft
Welcome to the 2019 Channel Partner Draft! Following the 2019 NBA Draft and in the…
Acronym Mayhem: The Fine Line Between Expertise and Jargonese
You’ve seen them. We all have. You’ve listened to presentations full of…
Necessary Risks? Skydiving for Channel Technology
Skydiving. It’s something people love or hate. You can imagine the expression of a…
Kick Procrastination to the Curb: Practical Tips to Stay on Task
We all do it. So I looked to the Internet for an answer. “Why do we procrastinate?”…
Customer Experience & the Channel: On Being a Customer Experience Advocate
After years of leadership as a product manager and product marketing in software…
Rule Your Channel Kingdom with ECM
Imagine, if you will, you’re the ruler of a kingdom -- or seven kingdoms, even.…
Passing the Torch: The Changing Channel Workforce
Channel folks, let’s talk. The channel is changing, though that’s a given. It…
Welcome to the Future. Welcome to ZiftONE.
Last week, we officially launched ZiftONE. ZiftONE embodies years of channel…
Measure the Health of Your Channel with Assessments
When something isn't right, whether it's your car, your pet or yourself, you're…
Inside Zift: Margaret Clair & Channel Engagement
Margaret Clair has been a Zifter since 2010 and has seen her fair share of change…
Easy Listening: Can’t-Miss Tracks from Essential Channel Visions
Alright, I admit it: I’m a millennial. An avocado-on-toast, phone-toting,…
The Inside Scoop: What’s Up & What’s Next for Zift Solutions
2018 was a huge year for Zift Solutions. Industry analysts, insiders, and channel…
Top 10 Channel Chatters of 2018
We were chatterboxes this past year -- and for good reason. We had a lot to share.…
Don’t Just Take Our Word for It
It’s one thing to claim you are a market and industry leader. It’s quite another to…
Cheers to Our Channel Leaders & A Pint of Partner Engagement
You know me. I’m the Southern guy, who loves pimento cheese, soccer and channel…
From Content to Conversion – Moving your Buyer through Every Stage of the Sales Funnel
Following my last blog post on KPIs, I think the topic of conversions and…
Why Channel Technology Must Integrate or Face Extinction
As our regular readers know, Zift has been focused on the vision of…
Changing the Channel: Zift is Merging with Relayware
We’ve got some big news: Zift Solutions has just announced our intent to…
The Deal on Leads
Lead management and deal registration, two critical components of channel sales and…
SiriusDecisions Summit 2017: Must See Channel Sessions
We just touched down in Vegas and are ready to roll at SiriusDecisions Summit 2017.…
Love, Trust & Leads – A Manufacturer’s Channel Story
Trust. The cornerstone of any good relationship. And as we found in a recent study…
Three Mantras for Channel Sales Managers
Channel sales leaders face a unique set of challenges on a daily basis. Managing…
The Shrinking Sales Cycle: How to Win the Online Content Game
The beloved sales cycle -- the time it takes someone to move from the Awareness…
Content Marketing & The Buyer’s Journey
What if you could target each of your partners' customers -- not just based on…
3 Steps to Start Driving Channel Sales
Did you know that indirect channels make up nearly 70% of all technology sales,…
Why Channel Sales Leaders Should Care About Channel Marketing Automation
For the past several years as a research analyst, I had a front-row seat watching…
Zifters Go Back to Class
Summer vacation is over, and school is back in session. As the kids (and some of…
5 Most Memorable Social Media Campaigns of All Time
Every once in awhile, a social media campaign turns into something truly…
When and How Should You Contact Your Sales Leads?
There’s a fine line between helpful and creepy. A colleague knowing that you were…
Channel Marketing Success Cornerstone #4: CMA Platform Operating Model (part 4 of 4)
Zift’s latest eBook uncovers The 4 Cornerstones of Channel Marketing Success. In…
4 Ways to Align your Sales and Marketing Teams
Does your organization suffer from a tenuous relationship between your sales and…
Closing the Sales Enablement Gap
As Zift has grown within the channel marketing automation space, becoming a leader…
Channel Visions: Zift Sits Down With Sal Patalano
As part of our exclusive Channel Visions video series, I recently had the…
A Blueprint for Channel Success: Resellers (Part 2)
Building a successful channel program is a lot like building a house. This blog…
5 Ways to Take the Guesswork Out of Your Sales Process
Zift welcomes guest blogger, Amanda Kahlow, CEO and founder of 6Sense. On July 8…
Making the Connection (New Video)
Channel success really comes down to partner engagement and connections. Without…
How Automation Can Transform Channel Partner Sales
Gil Cargill (Principal of Cargill Consulting Group) authored a Channel Pro magazine…
Focusing on the Future of the Channel
I’ve been here in Miami this week representing Zift Solutions at Channel Focus…
How Many Tactics Does it Take to Secure a Deal?
I’ll admit it. I’m a 1970s kid. If you are as well, then you likely remember that…
7 Secrets of Lead Nurturing Success
Bob Lamkin recently joined Zift Solutions as part of the Marketing Advocate…
Planning for 2015? Focus on Partner and Supplier Sales Activity
While some are still wrapping up their quarterly reports for Q3, savvy channel…
A New Era for Channel Sales and Marketing
Our industry is experiencing a new era – and so is Zift Solutions. We recognize…
Not So Fast! Build a Foundation Before Leads Hit the Funnel
Our customers and their partners continually tell us that they want more leads. Who…
Stretching Content Out: The Benefits of Repurposing
Stretch Armstrong! We all know the buying process has changed and research shows…
Generating & Nurturing Leads Through to Close
We’re excited to welcome guest blogger Chris White, AVP of Marketing for Orasi…
3 Proven First Steps For Increasing Lead Generation in the Channel
We are excited to have guest blogger, Heather Margolis, Founder and President at…
Putting an End to the Leaky Pipe Syndrome
Lead generation can be expensive. According to Hubspot, the average cost per lead…
Turning Leads Into Opportunities With Zift
Join us in welcoming guest blogger, Brent Clouse, VP of Marketing for…
3 Reasons Why B2B Companies Should Use PPC to Grow Sales [VIDEO]
Is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) a part of your marketing mix? Hopefully you're nodding. If…
Why Lead Nurturing is Essential to Channel Partner Success (Part 3 of 4)
This blog post is the third part in our series which aims to help suppliers…
How to Introduce and Optimize Automated Lead Distribution (Part 2 of 4)
This blog post is the second part in our series which aims to help suppliers…
Rethinking Lead Distribution to Transform Opportunities into Real Revenue (Part 1 of 4)
It’s time to rethink lead distribution and the importance of partner pipeline…
Times Have Changed: The Sales Environment Evolution (Part 1 of 4)
Dramatic shifts in today’s sales environment are driving big changes in channel…
3 Ways to Optimize Partner Sales
As so many of today’s businesses rely on channel partners to drive product sales,…
3 Effective Ways To Increase Leads & Conversion Rates
You have just seconds to convince someone that your web page is worth reading.…
Branding & Profits Through Ad Retargeting
Bringing Back Interested Prospects When I talk to people about their marketing…
Listen To Your Customers To Boost Channel Sales
A Basic Worth Repeating: The Importance of Listening When it comes to B2B channel…
Review of IDC Paper: Data.com: The Fuel for High-Performance B2B Marketing and Sales Engines
Letting You Know The SkyIs Blue Overall: 2/5 stars – marketing 101 information…
The Truth About Content Syndication and SEO
Occationally questions come up around the effect of content syndication on SEO. We…
