Technology startups often fall into the trap of believing that channel partners are motivated by innovation, product fit, or even a shared vision. While those factors may open the door, they won’t keep the door open. The hard truth? Channel partners are coin operated. They’re driven by one thing above all: making money.
You might think your product’s uniqueness or market potential is enough to keep a channel partner committed, but the reality is that their primary concern is their bottom line. Sure, they may be initially excited about your complementary product line, but excitement fades if they can’t close deals and generate revenue.
Why This Should Matter to You
If your product is difficult to sell, slow to gain traction, or competing for time and attention with other products in their portfolio, it’s going to fall to the bottom of their priority list. Channel partners don’t have time to evangelize your product. They need fast wins. And they’ll focus on whatever is the easiest path to profit.
So, how do you win the hearts and minds of channel partners?
By focusing on their wallets.
Make it easy to sell your product – this means providing sales enablement tools, marketing campaigns, and compelling offers that help them close deals quickly. Your channel partner will choose to invest their time in the product that delivers the highest returns for the least amount of effort. They represent other companies too, so if your product is hard to sell or doesn’t provide competitive margins, they’ll move on to the next thing in their bag.
Invest early in co-marketing campaigns to help them move deals along. Equip them with value propositions that resonate, powerful case studies, and tools that minimize friction during the sales process. The more you can show them how to win with your product early on, the more they’ll prioritize it.
To win their hearts, win their wallet.
The takeaway is simple: Winning a channel partner’s loyalty comes down to making it profitable for them. The faster they see the cash register ring, the more engaged they’ll be. You can have the most cutting-edge, revolutionary product in the world, but if your channel partners aren’t making money from it, they won’t stick around.
In a nutshell: If you want to win their hearts, you must win their wallets first. Plagued by channel partner turnover or lengthy delays in getting them to productivity? Be the belle of their ball in minutes, reach out today with absolutely no strings attached.
