Investec commissioned market research company Vanson Bourne to explore the growth strategies of UK technology businesses – and how Channel Partner programmes have affected them.
They surveyed 200 senior IT and business decision-makers in vendor companies and 50 decision-makers within the Channel across the UK during 2018.
One big difference between technology businesses that scale up their sales and those that don’t is TLC – tender loving Channel.
Technology businesses often thrive early on by solving specific problems in niche areas.
Channel partners can open doors for tech firms, helping them sell to new clients, new industries and fresh markets.
The message is clear: both the forward-thinking vendors and the more creative resellers and consultancies value genuine partnerships. That starts with sharing information freely – but unless the relationship is a two-way street, the Channel can under perform and limit scale-up potential.
Respondents reporting a “highly successful” partnership programme delivered revenues considerably higher, just under £50mn, than moderate or less successful ones.
We asked in which areas they felt their partnerships needed improvement – and got a wide range of responses. The Channel can supercharge sales… if the partnership is genuinely multi-dimensional.
48% wanted to invest in their online platform, along with buying into marketing support. Furthermore, 41% of companies wanted to install more training for their partners.
Half of vendors expect to significantly modify their Channel roster to fulfil their growth ambitions. As well as openness and ease, we discovered vendors should be investing in better online platforms;
feedback-oriented R&D; better marketing support for partners; continuous training; and accreditation programmes to help their Channel Partners differentiate themselves.
It takes investment to optimise results, and entrepreneurs should be asking themselves what success looks like and how they’ll build working relationships with Channel Partners towards those goals.
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