Partner Relationship Management
While businesses have traditionally focused on acquiring customers through the direct sales model, the channel is becoming one of the core components for driving revenue and achieving greater market penetration in less time. Clearly, partners have become key to scaling sales operations, increasing sales volume and revenue, controlling cost and extending market reach.
If businesses are going to be successful in developing an indirect channel, giving partners the tools they need to successfully sell, service and support their products is critical to success. Partner relationship management (PRM) enables companies to improve both the management and enablement of partner networks. It also improves communication and collaboration with partner members. PRM in its best form will reduce the costs of managing partner networks while, at the same time, improving the partner experience in those networks. It allows companies to scale and manage thousands of partners without having to increase staff. It enables partner success by giving partners what they need, when they need it.
Good PRM can be viewed as a hierarchy. At the bottom is the ability to automate. Automation typically must include partner on–boarding, but can also include everything from the mundane "forgot password" functionality to more complex training and certification (LMS), contract and document management, or even integrations into multiple systems (CRM being just one). Only through automation can a company truly scale.
The next level in the hierarchy is sales enablement. Whether it is access to an opportunity registration program or simply self–service access to content, sales enablement is all about giving partners the tools they need to be successful in selling a company's products. This includes providing content in the local language for international partners.
Marketing enablement is the next level in the PRM hierarchy. Once a partner can sell, it is time to get them some leads. Enabling partners to create their own demand is the highest level of evolution for PRM systems. This can include everything from on demand co–branded collateral and trade show assistance to fully implemented outbound marketing campaigns.
TreeHouse Interactive's PRM solution is Reseller View. It is the most comprehensive solution available. Reseller View has features that allow companies to build world–class partner programs that achieve the best practice that the PRM hierarchy represents. It gives companies the ability to decrease the time and costs required to manage partner networks while enabling partners to maximize revenue.
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