A Holistic Approach To PRM
According to the World English Dictionary, the definition of holistic is as follows:
— adj
1. of or relating to a doctrine of holism
2. of or relating to the the medical consideration of the complete person, physically and psychologically, in the treatment of a disease
You may be asking yourself what this has to do with vendor – partner relationships. It’s a fair question which I’ll address in a moment.
A Holistic Doctor’s Approach
Traditionally the word holistic is used to describe doctor – patient relationships. A doctor treats the whole person and not just the symptoms. Mind, body, and spirit are all nurtured by a caretaker – in this case, a doctor. A holistically treated patient – or person – is presumed to be able to thrive mentally, physically, and socially – generally able to lead an optimal life. In order to treat or provide direction, a holistic doctor must have a depth of knowledge about the patient which is more meaningful than just being able to identify surface aches and pains and prescribe drugs or apply wraps and topical ointments.
A Holistic PRM Approach
With that, let’s get back to PRM! Using this analogy, it’s fair to say that a vendor is akin to a doctor, while the partner is akin to a patient. We’ve established then that in order to thrive, the partner must be nurtured and the vendor must have information. It’s also fair to say that a well-balanced partner is best suited to achieve optimal results. So, how can a vendor nurture a channel partner in a holistic fashion?
1. Know your partner
The Channel Partner LifeCycle
2. Know what stage of the Channel Partner Lifecycle they’re in (see right)
3. Treat the Channel Partner “Person” first by fulfilling basic human needs (see table below)
4. Treat the Channel Partner “Business” second by fulfilling business needs (revenue & efficiencies)
By treating the Channel Partner “Person” first, you effectively arm team-members with the tools and information that lead them to both participation and excellence. A sample list of Channel Partner “Person” needs might include the desire to:
| NEED | SATISFY |
| Be “in” on things | Access to product data |
| Be rewarded for participation & excellence | Deal registration & incentives |
| Receive fair compensation | Timely review of sales & commission objectives |
| Learn new things | Learning Management System |
| Share good news | Lead tracking and registration |
| Receive sympathetic support | Accessible vendor support & knowledge base |
| Be a part of a team | Collaborative Selling & Marketing |
| Engage in interesting work | Promoting a vendors freshest products |
| Know the rules of the game | Vendor Admin & Reporting Tools |
A Specific PRM Example
Imagine a vendor – partner relationship in which the partner has failed to live up to their potential.
Symptoms:
The partner shows signs of indifference toward the vendor’s products, a lack of faith in the vendor’s ability to provide assistance during the transaction lifecycle, and sense of bewilderment as to how much value a qualified deal is worth if they pursue and see it through to closing.
Cause:
The cause might be that there is no formal deal registration program or associated tools for the partner to:
- Share the good news
- Be a part of a team
- Receive sympathetic support
- Receive fair compensation
- Be rewarded for participation and excellence
Treatment:
Unfortunately, providing a deal registration process isn’t enough. It might temporarily provide relief for some of the symptoms described above. However, providing a deal registration program does NOT offer a fully holistic approach to the overall vendor – partner relationship! It simply makes deal registration an activity that *might* be perceived to be worthwhile. Then what? What about the rest of the partner lifecycle?
Cure:
A holistic approach to vendor – partner relationships is one that fulfills human needs at each stage of the partner lifecycle. A holistic PRM solution includes deal registration, learning management, timely review of sales objectives, event registration, marketing fund requests, incentives programs, and so much more!
Review
If your channel is not delivering the results you’d like – take a moment to reflect on the primal human needs listed on the left column of the table above. Do you, as a vendor, promote your channel program in a way that satisfies these needs? Do you do so across all stages of the partner lifecycle? Do you have enough information from your channel partners in order to treat them this way to begin with? What effect would more satisfied channel partners have on your line of business? Would you attempt to satisfy these needs with spreadsheets and email blasts, or do you believe a contained system that addresses all of these needs is worth implementing?
¶ Posted March 11th, 2011 † Ken § Channel Whisperer, PRM ‡ 1 Comment |