Channel Demand Generation Conversion Rates – A Study By Sirius Decisions
RelayWare CEO, Mike Morgan recently attended a great event hosted by the team at Sirius Decisions in which they revealed some really interesting statistics relating to demand generation. Of special interest to us of course, are the statistics and suggestions they made in relation to demand generation through and with channel partners.
To summarize, the Sirius Decision team revealed detailed analysis regarding next-step progress through the B-to-B sales pipeline (funnel or waterfall) for Direct Sales, Channel Sales, as well as some regional comparisons. The net findings were as follows:
| Sales Method | Net New Opportunities Closed |
| Direct (Average) | 2.89 per 1,000 inquiries |
| Direct (Best-in-Class) | 14.23 per 1,000 inquiries |
| Channel | 1.4 per 1,000 inquiries |
| Non-North American (EMEA) | 3.84 per 1,000 inquiries |
| Non-North American (APJ) | 2.55 per 1,000 inquiries |
Not surprisingly, the channel appears to be the least effective method of closing business – posting a less-than-flattering 1.4 opportunities closed out of 1,000 inquiries!
On the surface, one might conclude from these figures that indirect sales channels are just not good at closing leads and that the channel will lose one in every two leads you would have won had you gone direct. But we need to look harder at the underlying issues. The analysts at Sirius Decisions offered attendees a glimpse of these and a made a number of suggestions for enabling the channel to make a more meaningful contribution, including:
- Put simpler systems in place for deal tracking and management
- Vendors should clearly convey target audience profile to partners at the inquiry stage
- Partners should be given more incentive to update leads and offered easier updating processes
- Implement more cohesive processes and systems (less disparate)
- Vendors should invest more heavily in raising channel awareness
- Enforce time limits for channel to accept/progress leads
- Introduce/enhance channel incentives
- Introduce/enhance certification programs
- Auto-qualify partners earlier in the partner relationship life-cycle
Now that list looks very familiar! These are exactly the initiatives that we’ve been encouraging the market to implement for some years and the ones that are central to any Partner Relationship Management strategy. It is our belief that a comprehensive PRM solution such as RelayWare will:
- Execute these tactics efficiently and effectively
- Enable the channel to fulfill it’s strategic potential
- Become an integral part of achieving business objectives
Vendors who successfully implement a PRM strategy are turning these statistics on their head. Is it time you joined them?
¶ Posted March 11th, 2011 † Ken § PRM ‡ No Comments |