Amplifying your unique channel partner value proposition

There are questions that every company must ask: Why do partners or customers buy from us? What clearly motivates a decision to choose us or our products over others? What makes our company and our products or services unique or better than the rest? And although many companies put a lot of effort into creating a great customer value proposition, they often don’t think about creating a partner value proposition. Obviously, your partners are not the same as your end-customers. So, your partner value proposition will need to be different.

If you can perfect your unique partner value proposition, you most certainly will choose better partners and improve your marketing strategies through your channel partnership. A value proposition is the one clear statement about you, in relation to your partners, that brings more partners, creates stronger relationships, and encourages loyalty. Once you craft a compelling value partnership, your next step is getting the message across to those who need to hear it!

Follow these steps to get your value proposition across to your partners:

• IDENTIFY PARTNERS WITH SIMILAR GOALS AND TARGETS: It’s important to demonstrate a clear fit with the partner’s existing business of target customer types, decision makers and domain expertise for the proposition to be credible and understood.
• CLARIFY HOW YOU CAN HELP: It's essential to prove how you, the vendor, will help your partners penetrate new markets and generate incremental business. This can be done through partner and customer use cases and vertical market strategies and campaigns.
• SHOWCASE YOUR INDUSTRY CRED: Clearly show how you will provide resources and expertise to sell your products and services. Perhaps this is through developing thought leadership, content, and other social media communications that demonstrate your knowledge.
• ANTICIPATE THE FUTURE: Provide a clear path for the partner towards offering services that augment the vendor’s offering. This might involve an audit or evaluation of your partners’ current capabilities to understand the best way forward.
• DEVELOP A CLEAR ROADMAP: Show what investment is needed and the expected time to revenue. Is it a growth market? Will the partner be provided with new business leads? Will the partner receive new marketing funds that will benefit their broader business? Is there a need for new technology or other solutions?
• EMPHASIZE CAPABILITIES AND EXPERTISE: Show how you can build value for the partner. Demonstrate how the elements of a mature partner program, the training, support and overall business opportunity is much more than the license share and services revenue. The new capabilities and credibility brought to the partner may have an impact on other areas of their business to generate growth all around.

Boosting your partner value proposition depends on attention, consistency, and repetition. You want to ensure you stay top of mind with your partners and they see the success of other partnerships by way of carefully crafted case studies and communication. In the end, if you take the time to articulate your clear partner value proposition and demonstrate its success, it will add up to partnerships that spell success.