5 Steps to Effective, Partner-Centric Deal Registration. Driving business effectively through the channel can be a challenge for any sized company.

1. Channel Effectiveness
5 Steps to Effective, Partner-Centric Deal Registration
By Penny O’Rourke, Bluewolf
The Agile
Enterprise

2. The Agile
Enterprise
executive summary white paper will provide an overview of the
“An effective deal
Channel Management Lifecycle for deal
Companies rely on partner channels to
registration and the key building blocks to
registration process can
help them maximize profits, extend market
achieve success.
penetration, expand into new markets,
reduce sales costs and serve customers dramatically improve
as efficiently as possible. However, driving channel enablement visibility into sales, both
is its own lifecycle
for the vendor AND for
business effectively through the channel can
be a challenge for any sized company. As
companies try to increase volume through
Typical customer relationship management
the partner. It Makes
(CRM) initiatives look at one, several or
the channel, productivity emerges as a
all of the areas in Figure 1: from demand pipeline visibility AND
forecasting much simpler
critical strategic success factor.
generation through sales automation, to
There is no shortage of terms, terminology customer service and support. Effective
and straightforward.”
and jargon in the channel enablement space: Channel enablement follows a similar
sales programs, channel reviews, market process, although your partners have their
development funds (MDF), sales promotion own unique life cycle and a slightly different
incentive fund (SPIF), co-marketing, joint flavor in each sub-process.
selling - the list goes on. However, there
For example, in terms of a channel or partner
is one area which matters most to both
management program, demand generation
partners and the vendor: deal registration.
considers how vendors find, recruit, and
Deal registration is important because it on-board partners. The customer support
is about managing revenue, eliminating sub-process includes service entitlement,
conflict, and measuring channel compliance. warranty and returns management.
It is a top priority and the vendor’s
Deal registration may be considered one of
responsibility to accurately implement a
the many sub-processes within channel
deal registration process that is both fair
enablement, however, typically its scope would
and transparent for partners. Additionally,
touch several functions in vendors’
effective deal registration allows the vendor
and partners’ organizations: marketing,
to understand the true merit of each partner
inside sales, channel managers and executive
within their network. This allows vendors to
management. The scope of deal registration
practically structure their overall program
can be as narrow as asking your partner to
and manage each channel partner to
capture prospect information in a tool or it can
maximize value.
be as broad as making your partner responsible
There are a number of best practices for lead generation and qualification,
involved with setting up an effective deal converting leads to opportunities, closing deals
registration process for the channel. This and pipeline reporting.
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3. CRM Customer Lifecycle
deal registration: 5 steps Step 4: Determine Logical Hand-off and
to building success Approval Points
Laying out a successful deal registration Step 5: Enhance the Partner’s Experience
process involves taking time upfront to with Advanced Quoting, Pipeline Visibility
consider the varied needs of partners
and Reporting
and structuring a process that meets
both your partner’s needs as well as your
own. Deal registration on its own is not step 1: segment your channel
a partner management (PRM) strategy.
Segment your channel partners by key
Deal registration, however, is often the
characteristics (size and role in the network,
most contentious piece of a given channel
geographic location, products and services
strategy, so correctly building a partner-
they sell, success factors, etc.) and then
centric approach to deal registration can
identify the unique needs (as a vendor and
be the difference in your channel strategy’s
the channel partner) in the deal registration
ultimate success.
process. This step is critical, as companies
The 5 steps to effective, partner-centric might find that different partner classes
deal registration are as follows: might have very similar needs, or conversely,
partners in the same class and category
Step 1: Segment Your Channel
have very different needs due to various
Step 2: Define a Channel-Centric operational differences (e.g. the territory
Sales Process they operate in).
Step 3: Identify the Partner ‘Do, One of Bluewolf’s global enterprise clients
See, and Share’ Policy offers a great example of the importance
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4. Channel Process
of channel segmentation. Although they can we best support you in the selling and
segment partners into a number of unique marketing of our products?” This is not one
classes, and the methods of administrating size fits all, so vendors should be diligent
to each partner class is different, the deal about addressing the SPECIFIC needs of each
registration process is exactly the same for channel segment.
different partners within the same region. It
is a simple and short process, with only a few
step 3: identify a partner
pieces of key information required from the
‘do, see and share’ policy
partner. On the other hand, two re-sellers in
neighboring countries who are managed by Information visibility rules. Construct
the same channel manager need to use very well-defined polices for administering to
different deal registration processes because various accounts within your channel. Be
one has exclusive rights to sell in a territory sure to keep the unique characteristics
and the other does not. of each partner segment in mind when
defining policies for account setup, deal
sharing and information flow, both internally
step 2: define a channel-centric with channel managers and externally
sales process with partners. Can they see each other’s
A clear, simple sales process is at the heart accounts? How about each other’s deals?
of deal registration. Vendors should design Most vendors raise their eyebrows at those
a channel sales process based around questions but they also have to consider
PARTNER needs, not vendor convenience deal sharing or two-tier selling. On the
or ideas about what a vendor thinks the other hand, vendors and partners (with
partner’s needs are. To do this, start by which you share sensitive data) present a
asking partners within each category, “How class of compliance and security risk that
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5. organizations are increasingly required to Also, vendor specific approval might be
address, driven by regulatory requirements required before a partner can offer a certain
and standards. discount or non-standard terms and
conditions. Clearly establishing a workflow
Vendors must also always consider the key
for vendor approvals can reduce your close
hand-off points in their sales process. It is
time. Research shows that 80% of deals can
often the case that deal related information
be approved without human intervention
moves between the vendor and the partner.
by using simple business rules. Don’t make
Vendors should outline their approach up
the deal approval process more complicated
front: identifying the key trigger points, who
than is necessary. It is not likely that direct
needs to be notified when, who receives
vendor approval can ever be eliminated
regular updates, and what is necessary
from any channel management process.
in terms of an audit trail. Also, determine
However, establishing the proper timeline
the areas that might be better managed
and workflow for hand-off and approval
manually. For example, for a partner in
points can eliminate much of the strain and/
Norway who is registering a single deal once
or delay of getting a deal closed.
every 3 months, it is cheaper to collaborate
with them over e-mail instead of building
and maintaining the necessary logic directly step 5: enhance the partner’s
inside of your business system. experience — advanced quoting,
pipeline visibility and reporting
step 4: determine logical Steps 1-4 are the foundation blocks for a
hand-off and approval points successful Channel Management Experience.
Deal approval is often another critical step Step 5 serves to enhance that experience, by
managed by deal registration. Managing offering channel partners access to shared
channel conflict is a major challenge for business intelligence. Depending on the
vendors. From the vendor perspective, deal variations available to a vendor’s product
registration helps a company gain visibility and possible add-ons or services offered by
into a global pipeline and forecast. But from a channel partner, generating customer-
the partner standpoint, deal registration facing quotes might be a complex process.
ensures credit for a given opportunity. Common platforms and systems can make it
It also provides that there is no cross or easy to collaborate on quoting information
competitive selling happening by another and keep necessary documents within a
channel partner or even the vendor itself. single repository. Cross channel dashboards
Identifying the right point for partner deal and advanced reporting provide immediately
registration to occur helps alleviate and actionable insight into your customer and
manage this potential for conflict. channel mix.
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6. close the loop with PRM applications for lead management, deal
channel partners registration and partner location (up from
5% in 2009). Gartner research also shows
An effective deal registration process can
that organizations that enable on-demand
dramatically improve visibility into sales,
PRM will be able to capture more deals
both for the vendor and for the partner.
(more than 25%) through the registration customer highlight
Once all the steps for a deal registration
process, as well as increase visibility of leads Adobe Systems Incorporated
process are in place, pipeline visibility offers award-winning software
managed by their partners (more than 40%).
and forecasting are much simpler and and technologies that have
Both of these activities will help to make the
straightforward. However, just as with set the standard for
vendor organization more visible to partners, communication and collaboration
a direct customer sales cycle, closing
create loyalty and increase collaboration for more than 25 years.
the loop with your sales and marketing
with partners.
efforts is a critical step to any program’s challenge
success. Vendors need to both measure Management and monitoring
and manage the impact of their deal vendors cannot afford to sit idle of partner commission payouts
registration programs and plan for sharing worldwide
As outlined at the start of this white
this information regularly with partners. • Complex product sets
paper, deal registration is only a single,
Vendors should also build in the ability for • Multiple disparate legacy
although critical, component of any well- IT systems
their deal registration process to change
structured PRM strategy. Organizations that • Multiple Partner Portals,
and adapt over time, as needs of both
take the time upfront to lay out a clear, no unified process
the vendor organization and the partner • Internal resource constraints
advantageous partner-centric approach to
channel change and react to ongoing
deal registration are building an important strategy
market conditions.
foundation which supports the entire Salesforce.com Partner Portal
structure of a channel program, but a for Deal Registration rolled out
complete PRM strategy involves much more. to 300+ Partners
on-demand partner relationship
A fully developed channel strategy contains • Phased by business unit and
management (PRM) solutions
proper incentives, training, certification, product set
The channel enablement vendor market has • Integration to multiple systems
communication, market development, and
struggled for years with traditional ERP/ results
sales sub-strategies that all work together
CRM providers offering overly complicated, • Provided one global partner
to engage and drive loyalty from your
industry-specific solutions, which all process and portal
channel partners.
require significant funding and resources to • Provided real-time, accurate
data and reporting
implement. The emergence of on-demand With the recent global recession some
• Enabled full audit
PRM solutions has begun to capture the organizations believe the time is right
compliance worldwide
attention of vendor organizations across to take a break, reign in spending,
different industries. According to Gartner, and stop innovating. Actually, this is
by 2014 more than 20% of organizations completely inaccurate. Market slowdowns,
that sell via channels will use on-demand or recessions, are not a time to stop
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7. innovating; they are a time to invest in real your unique culture and organization to Call Today! 1-866-455-WOLF
process reform. Partner channels represent develop a full range of channel solutions that or +44 (0) 118 937 1059
an area for forward thinking organizations map to the entire life cycle of your partners.
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to agile managed services, Bluewolf knows
Bluewolf has 10 years of consulting * Lead Sharing & Deal Registration how to get your business to the next level of
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