Marcus Cauchi INSIGHT
“If your vendors don’t have a clear roadmap to channel excellence, ask them why not? Demand more from your
partners. After all, they need you. ” Marcus Cauchi, Sales Trainer at Sandler
nd another job.
Before you get into bed
together, are you taking time to
make sure that you are giving
this marriage the best chance
of success? Do these terms help
you achieve what you want from
the partnership or do they feel
a tad one sided and not in your
favour?
Did the vendor channel
manager sit down with you
as the leader of your business
and discuss your plans, your
objectives? Did they seek to
understand why you are in
business, what choices you
want your business to enable
you to make, the lifestyle you
want to enjoy, when you want
to exit and how they can help
you achieve your personal goals?
I already know the answer.
Probably never.
Let me suggest something
that old school vendors will
struggle to comprehend.
Sit down at the early stages
of your courtship and talk
about why you are in business
and who you are trying to serve.
Are you compatible? Establish
if you share common values
and if you like and trust each
other. Co-develop a sales plan
that allows you to identify
opportunities that will help
you get both your needs met.
Map out your market in terms
of their accounts and prospects
using the KARE model:
• Keep
• Attain
• Recapture
• Expand
Work out which accounts
show the greatest promise to
serve your client and will help
you win your second deal
in the rst 90 days, because
experience shows that unless
you make a second sale by then,
you will lose interest and all
that eort will be for nothing.
Establish the ground rules
for engaging those prospects.
Create a joint pursuit plan.
Agree when and how they will
train your salespeople to sell
their products. I know you have
veteran salespeople but if you
look at those partnerships that
failed, I’d put money on it that
their emphasis was on providing
you with product knowledge
not helping put money into
your bank account. Am I
wrong?
If they aren’t willing to
train your salespeople as if
they are their own, that speaks
volumes about their level of
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commitment to this marriage.
And if they can’t establish
enough trust for you to be
open about your client’s pains,
allow them to coach you on
how to win this deal and for
them to stay out of your way
and never upset your client
or your salespeople by selling
selshly, this relationship is
doomed to disappoint.
If your vendors don’t have
a clear roadmap to channel
excellence, ask them why not?
Demand more from your
partners. After all, they need
you. Expect more from your
vendors. For a partnership to
work over time, both sides need
to get better. It is time vendors
respected their partners and
stopped treating you like the
ugly step sister of their direct
sales force.
www.commsbusiness.co.uk May 2019 | Comms Business Magazine | 19
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