New personal blog
posted by mlang905 at
17:33
Friday, December 01, 2006
Monday, December 19, 2005
What to put in your portal?
Portals have been a hot topic for most channel selling organizations since it became practical to enable some form of self-service over the internet to channel partners. Some ideas related to portal offerings are in the following article:
Cisco Launches Portal to Help Partners Speed Sales, Deployment
from the Channel Insider
"A new sales tool unveiled this week by Cisco Systems Inc. is designed to help partners reduce deployment and sales cycles for the network vendor's advanced products and solutions.
Steps to Success, a Web portal, provides resellers with access to sales tips, best practice libraries, chat and phone support, and partner-specific outlines designed to walk VAR sales teams through the sales and deployment process. "more...
Portals get more interesting if you are able to connect business execution tools with the static product and process information traditionally available. More on that to follow.
Michael
Cisco Launches Portal to Help Partners Speed Sales, Deployment
from the Channel Insider
"A new sales tool unveiled this week by Cisco Systems Inc. is designed to help partners reduce deployment and sales cycles for the network vendor's advanced products and solutions.
Steps to Success, a Web portal, provides resellers with access to sales tips, best practice libraries, chat and phone support, and partner-specific outlines designed to walk VAR sales teams through the sales and deployment process. "more...
Portals get more interesting if you are able to connect business execution tools with the static product and process information traditionally available. More on that to follow.
Michael
posted by mlang905 at
14:20
Contact information update
Due to a major restructuring at BlueRoads, I am leaving the organization. I enjoyed my time with the organization, and wish all my BlueRoads colleagues the best of luck.
I will continue to publish this newsletter on an irregular basis.
My contact information is changing as well. My phone numbers all remain the same. My email address that you can reach me at is mlang905 at hotmail dot com.
Axel is leaving BlueRoads as well. His new contact information is as follows:
Blog: http://axelschultze.blogspot.com
Website: http://www.axelschultze.com/
Email: as@axelschultze.com
Thanks for all of your kind comments.
Michael
I will continue to publish this newsletter on an irregular basis.
My contact information is changing as well. My phone numbers all remain the same. My email address that you can reach me at is mlang905 at hotmail dot com.
Axel is leaving BlueRoads as well. His new contact information is as follows:
Blog: http://axelschultze.blogspot.com
Website: http://www.axelschultze.com/
Email: as@axelschultze.com
Thanks for all of your kind comments.
Michael
posted by mlang905 at
13:55
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Deal Registration ideas: Part Two
Deal Registration refers to a channel program designed to encourage channel partners to bring new sales opportunities to a vendor. In many ways it is the opposite of lead management. Leads are opportunities that a vendor passes to their channel, while registered deals are opportunities that are passes to the vendor from their partners.
As a vendor, the difficult part about a deal registration program is deciding which sales opportunities you are interested in receiving from your channel partners. Contrary to initial expecations, and as your colleagues who have already launched a deal registration program will tell you, partners are typically highly interested in sharing opportunities with you. Especially if there is a business incentive to do so.
In many cases the incentive may be the requirement to register opportunities that the partner would like help with, or deals over a certain size that merit your attention, or in some cases deals that the channel partner is requesting margin relief on.
Part Two is an article describing the requirements for participation in a deal registration at APC:
APC Announces New Rewards And Channel Program
from ChannelMinds.com
"...By participating in APC’s new programs, partners receive access to all APC’s program benefits and pricing. Program levels and qualifications are as follows:
- As an APC Authorised partner, sales force personnel and engineers pro-actively identify and pursue InfraStruXure opportunities. Authorised partners have access to all APC resources for new clients and for product specific questions. These partners can also consult the APC Web site for additional program information, access their personal Web page and receive training.
- A Silver Certified partner has the same criteria as the Authorised partner; however, sales force personnel and engineers must also be competent to design InfraStruXure systems up to 20kW.
- Gold Certified partners must possess a basic-level of NCPI knowledge and prove competency with APC’s online configuration tools. Sales force personnel and engineers must also be competent to design InfraStruXure systems up to 80kW.
Partners who wish to join APC’s Certified Partner Programs are not required to make significant upfront investments. APC supports partners’ entry into the program via no-cost trainings, fully funded customer education events and direct field support on initial sales opportunities brought to APC by partners. Members of the certified partner programs receive a personal Web page, priority technical support, and listing on APC’s partner locator." more...
=====
There are many different ways to approach this idea, but it is clear that the limits to a deal registration program are actually limited by whatever your imagination can dream up. More deal registration program ideas to follow...
Michael
As a vendor, the difficult part about a deal registration program is deciding which sales opportunities you are interested in receiving from your channel partners. Contrary to initial expecations, and as your colleagues who have already launched a deal registration program will tell you, partners are typically highly interested in sharing opportunities with you. Especially if there is a business incentive to do so.
In many cases the incentive may be the requirement to register opportunities that the partner would like help with, or deals over a certain size that merit your attention, or in some cases deals that the channel partner is requesting margin relief on.
Part Two is an article describing the requirements for participation in a deal registration at APC:
APC Announces New Rewards And Channel Program
from ChannelMinds.com
"...By participating in APC’s new programs, partners receive access to all APC’s program benefits and pricing. Program levels and qualifications are as follows:
- As an APC Authorised partner, sales force personnel and engineers pro-actively identify and pursue InfraStruXure opportunities. Authorised partners have access to all APC resources for new clients and for product specific questions. These partners can also consult the APC Web site for additional program information, access their personal Web page and receive training.
- A Silver Certified partner has the same criteria as the Authorised partner; however, sales force personnel and engineers must also be competent to design InfraStruXure systems up to 20kW.
- Gold Certified partners must possess a basic-level of NCPI knowledge and prove competency with APC’s online configuration tools. Sales force personnel and engineers must also be competent to design InfraStruXure systems up to 80kW.
Partners who wish to join APC’s Certified Partner Programs are not required to make significant upfront investments. APC supports partners’ entry into the program via no-cost trainings, fully funded customer education events and direct field support on initial sales opportunities brought to APC by partners. Members of the certified partner programs receive a personal Web page, priority technical support, and listing on APC’s partner locator." more...
=====
There are many different ways to approach this idea, but it is clear that the limits to a deal registration program are actually limited by whatever your imagination can dream up. More deal registration program ideas to follow...
Michael
posted by mlang905 at
13:00
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Lead Generation and your organization
Now that it is possible to build out closed systems for lead management (see earlier article on lead management success from BlueRoads), methods for populating the channel CRM system with leads are becoming more important. Louis Columbus has published a helpful article about generating leads from the folks who are already speaking with your customers:
Generating Leads from your Frontline
from CRMBuyer.com
"It may appear that having frontline employees have a mix of objectives would cause confusion. In the companies who have started using frontline employees for lead generation, cross-selling and up-selling, the results are significant. These companies have accomplished a balance between service and selling.
Ask any salesperson what they never have enough of, and leads will always be at the top of the list. The traditional forms of creating leads including advertising, direct mail, webinars, events and tradeshows, and even cold calling aren't delivering enough leads to create consistently strong pipelines.
The definition of a strong pipeline varies by companies. A "strong" pipeline in one company is considered a 5X multiple of sales reps' quotas, with some sales management teams stressing 3X as a minimum. With such strong demand for leads, thought-leading companies in lead generation are turning to their frontline employees as a lead generation source.
The Forgotten Frontline
Four companies have taken the steps to look to their frontline employees as a source of generating new leads from prospects and existing customers. Continental Airlines, RBC Financial Group, County National Bank, and Alpha Company are among the companies that have enabled their frontline employees to create leads from the many more interactions these employees have compared to their revenue-generating counterparts. One company put the ratio at 150:1, meaning for every revenue-generating contact from sales, support spoke to customers 150 times. Cross-selling and up-selling is a natural extension for support staffs. If you haven't encountered this with your credit card provider, you will soon. The financial services industry continues to be one of the most prevalent users of this strategy with significant results. " more...
=====
A couple of related points: first, the quality of leads from a lead generation program can have a significant impact on your organization's ability to drive more business from a lead management program. The nice thing about a frontline lead is that there is naturally a certain amount of qualification that has already taken up front, typically from a person who is already familiar with what your value proposition is.
Second, being able to measure the impact of leads from different lead generation programs is key to helping determine what the best source of leads is for your particular business. Some businesses do very well with direct mail, while others might enjoy more success from trade shows.
More about the topic in a future article...
Michael
Generating Leads from your Frontline
from CRMBuyer.com
"It may appear that having frontline employees have a mix of objectives would cause confusion. In the companies who have started using frontline employees for lead generation, cross-selling and up-selling, the results are significant. These companies have accomplished a balance between service and selling.
Ask any salesperson what they never have enough of, and leads will always be at the top of the list. The traditional forms of creating leads including advertising, direct mail, webinars, events and tradeshows, and even cold calling aren't delivering enough leads to create consistently strong pipelines.
The definition of a strong pipeline varies by companies. A "strong" pipeline in one company is considered a 5X multiple of sales reps' quotas, with some sales management teams stressing 3X as a minimum. With such strong demand for leads, thought-leading companies in lead generation are turning to their frontline employees as a lead generation source.
The Forgotten Frontline
Four companies have taken the steps to look to their frontline employees as a source of generating new leads from prospects and existing customers. Continental Airlines, RBC Financial Group, County National Bank, and Alpha Company are among the companies that have enabled their frontline employees to create leads from the many more interactions these employees have compared to their revenue-generating counterparts. One company put the ratio at 150:1, meaning for every revenue-generating contact from sales, support spoke to customers 150 times. Cross-selling and up-selling is a natural extension for support staffs. If you haven't encountered this with your credit card provider, you will soon. The financial services industry continues to be one of the most prevalent users of this strategy with significant results. " more...
=====
A couple of related points: first, the quality of leads from a lead generation program can have a significant impact on your organization's ability to drive more business from a lead management program. The nice thing about a frontline lead is that there is naturally a certain amount of qualification that has already taken up front, typically from a person who is already familiar with what your value proposition is.
Second, being able to measure the impact of leads from different lead generation programs is key to helping determine what the best source of leads is for your particular business. Some businesses do very well with direct mail, while others might enjoy more success from trade shows.
More about the topic in a future article...
Michael
posted by mlang905 at
11:40
Monday, November 21, 2005
Deal Registration ideas: Part One
Developed earlier this year, a company named Avanton has come up with some unique ideas in the deployment of their deal registration program:
Avanton Puts New Spin On Deal Registration
from CRN
"Security appliance vendor Avanton is offering a new channel program designed to help partners close sales.
Avanton's Alive At Five program, unveiled Monday, is a deal-registration program that requires partners to produce five solid leads each per quarter.
Armed with those leads, Avanton's channel managers and direct-sales team take steps to help close the sales, said Chuck Watkins, newly hired chief sales officer at Avanton, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
"What we set out to do was create a channel model that is low effort, high return for the partner," said Watkins. "We have eliminated all the heavy lifting that comes with the traditional partner/VAR relationship." more...
As per your requests, I will start sharing some more deal registration program ideas in future newsletters.
Michael
Avanton Puts New Spin On Deal Registration
from CRN
"Security appliance vendor Avanton is offering a new channel program designed to help partners close sales.
Avanton's Alive At Five program, unveiled Monday, is a deal-registration program that requires partners to produce five solid leads each per quarter.
Armed with those leads, Avanton's channel managers and direct-sales team take steps to help close the sales, said Chuck Watkins, newly hired chief sales officer at Avanton, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
"What we set out to do was create a channel model that is low effort, high return for the partner," said Watkins. "We have eliminated all the heavy lifting that comes with the traditional partner/VAR relationship." more...
As per your requests, I will start sharing some more deal registration program ideas in future newsletters.
Michael
posted by mlang905 at
11:53
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Microsoft finally weds itself to services
Bill Gates: 'This Is the Live Era'
from VARBusiness
"After aggressively exploring the software-based services space for the past several years, Microsoft has made its commitment official. At an event held for the media and analysts in downtown San Francisco, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and several colleagues outlined the ways the company plans to incorporate services components into virtually every aspect of its business in a new initiative dubbed Live Software.
Gates compared today's event to a pair of seminal moments in Microsoft's history: its much-hyped conversion to the Internet in 1995 and its .Net migration to XML and Web services in 2000.
"Every five years or so, we look at our strategy and make these big bets," Gates said. "The releases we're showing you today are the full realization of our XML/Web services efforts, and the opportunity to build the new applications wouldn't have been possible without this approach." more...
Sounds like this software as a service idea might be getting some attention...
Michael
from VARBusiness
"After aggressively exploring the software-based services space for the past several years, Microsoft has made its commitment official. At an event held for the media and analysts in downtown San Francisco, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and several colleagues outlined the ways the company plans to incorporate services components into virtually every aspect of its business in a new initiative dubbed Live Software.
Gates compared today's event to a pair of seminal moments in Microsoft's history: its much-hyped conversion to the Internet in 1995 and its .Net migration to XML and Web services in 2000.
"Every five years or so, we look at our strategy and make these big bets," Gates said. "The releases we're showing you today are the full realization of our XML/Web services efforts, and the opportunity to build the new applications wouldn't have been possible without this approach." more...
Sounds like this software as a service idea might be getting some attention...
Michael
posted by mlang905 at
10:10
