Channel partnerships in 2023 and beyond

10-11-2022 • 42 mins

Successful channel partnerships need focus and collaboration, and in an increasingly uncertain climate, it becomes even more important that we not take existing relationships for granted.

Joining Anna to continue their conversation on channel success are Steve Warburton and Matt Hathorn.

Guests

Steve Warburton is Managing Director of Zen Internet's partner and consumer business, and one of the most highly-regarded channel leaders in the industry.

Matt Hathorn is CEO of Recur, which has been helping vendors and partners activate and deliver on their mutual sales growth plans, for over a decade.

Key takeaways

Effective execution of strategy starts from the shop floor, not from the top down.
This value exchange should be evident across sales, operations, technical, etc.
Now more than ever during a challenging economic period, it’s important to know what you’re good at, and focus on delivering that core competency, rather than become tempted by other avenues that ultimately dilute the core business offering.
Enablement is an open-ended activity. Activation is what drives real sales. It’s less well-understood but more impactful.
It’s far easier to learn in bitesized chunks, but those chunks need to be connected together to create an effective learning journey.
Ferocious competition is not always in the interest of the customer, especially if it leads to businesses failing to co-operate to deliver customer success.
If a client is acquired by a larger entity, we cannot assume the relationships we’ve built with that partner will hold, so we need to view a merger or acquisition as the beginning of a new relationship, and put in all the requisite effort to create success.
Why a partner who’s just been acquired might be like an oil tanker arriving at the front door – and what to do about it.