Presentation from Channel Focus delivered by Marc Monday on 15 May 2019. This presentation delves deeper into what Jay McBain at Forester calls the "shadow channel" and was an opener for a deeper discussion around customer acquisition through digital marketing and alliances.

1. THE RISE OF
INFLUENCER CHANNELS:
DOUBLING DOWN ON
INDIRECT SALES

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5. WHO ARE YOUR
FAVORITE
INFLUENCERS IN POP
CULTURE?

6. INFLUENCERS IN BUSINESS

7. Do you know who INFLUENCES your customer in
their buying decisions?

8. BE HONEST

10. HOPE IS
NOT A
STRATEGY

14. 75%+ OF SMB BUYING
DECISIONS ARE
MADE BEFORE THE
CUSTOMER CONTACTS
A SALES REP

15. The KEY to
determining your
best approach to
an influencer
channel is to work
your way back from
the customer

17. Meet the customer
where they are
TODAY
With an entity they
TRUST
Focus on speed to
VALUE

19. START BY DIAGNOSING
THE GAPS IN YOUR
EXISTING PARTNER GO-
TO-MARKET SALES
MOTIONS
AND SALES
AND MARKETING
AND SALES OPERATIONS

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21. Its both – don’t
necessarily chuck your old
program and start over….
Iterate & simplify around
THE CUSTOMER

22. PREREQUISITE WORK - ) FRAMING THE NEEDS
Deal
Support
Technical
Transactional
Deal
Development
A

23. PREREQUISITE WORK - ) FRAMING THE NEEDS
Existing
Customers
Big Deals
Small Deals
New
Customers
B

24. PREREQUISITE WORK - ) FRAMING THE NEEDS
[________]
[___________]
[___________]
[_______]
C
What are some
other dimensions to
frame this out?

25. 7+ (NOT SO SIMPLE)
STEPS TO BUILDING
AN INFLUENCE
PARTNER ROUTE-TO-
MARKET

26. STEP 1) UNDERSTAND WHO IS INVOLVED
Inside the company
Outside
the
company
Influence
realms Customer
IT
procurement
Lines of
Business
Operations
Legal
Finance

27. STEP 2) UNDERSTAND WHO IS INFLUENCED BY WHOM IN
THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS
Customer
IT
Procurement
Lines of
Business
Operations
Legal
Finance
Outside Legal Council
3rd party auditors
Outside CPA firms
Analyst Firms
Selection Firms
Competitors
Private equity
Industry Groups
Other ISVs
Customer peers
Hardware providers
Venture
Telephony/hosting
Cost management tools/consultants
Banks/FSIs
Government Regulations
Varies drastically by industry and company

28. POP QUIZ: SPOT THE INFLUENCER CHANNEL PARTNER
Bank
Accountancy
Rideshare
Supplier
Equity Investor
Customer

29. STEP 3) ALIGN
MARKETING AND
SALES

30. With up to 75% of
customer due
diligence being done
before engaging with
a rep - we MUST
redefine the hand off
between
marketing/demand
and sellers

31. STEP 4) BUILD A VALUE OF ENGAGEMENT MODEL
Value
Volume
Align gives/gets to
desired outcome or
route to market
expectations
Drive investment
strategy that MOST
aligns to desired
customer outcomes

32. STEP 5) DO THE
MATH

33. ✓ Shift investments to align to the
CUSTOMER sales strategy
✓ ALIGN SALES COMP
✓ The days of entitlement
investments are over
✓ Invest against growth performance
goals

34. STEP 6) SHOW
THE PATH

35. 7) MEET WHERE/WHEN/WITH-WHOM THE
CUSTOMER IS LISTENING AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT
Thought
Leadership
Communities
Associations
Point Marketing
Partnerships
Formal Shared
Campaigns
Co-Sell
Resell Services
Halo Marketing
Informal
Referral
Referrals
Build & Extend
Software
vendors
Hardware
vendors

36. 7+) MAKE IT LOOK SIMPLE FOR SALES AND YOUR
CUSTOMERS
partner
Influencer
engagement
Customer Sales
$/#/☺
Make
my
quota
Time to
value
Leads

37. THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY
• Channels and partner programs must consider themselves Indirect Sales or perish
• Focusing on the customer always makes the path clear
• The customer trusts who they trust – you just need to find out who that is for each
buying decision maker. Ensure your CRM supports ALL partners who influenced a
deal in terms of tracking!
• Pace of change is only going to accelerate, partnering programs need to be
modular and agile
• Maximize for P2P and make it a differentiator
• Channels and routes to market add value, volume or velocity or they die
• Bailing on your old channel holistically almost never works; nor does just investing
in a new one – your customer expects an omnichannel for everything
• Its complex, no doubt – but nobody (outside of your team) wants or needs to see
your program complexity

38. FOCUS

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