Channel Strategist Ian Hutchieson and Impartner CMO Dave R Taylor focus on driving channel engagement and loyalty in a new era of distraction and temptation

Webinar outlines 5 strategies Channel Chiefs must take to remain irresistible to top industry partners; references examples outside the channel that are setting the pace for 'experience expectations'

SILICON SLOPES, Utah, Nov. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Partner Relationship Management (PRM) SaaS leader Impartner today tackled PRHD (Partner Relationship Hyperactivity Disorder) to help companies address partner loyalty in a new era of distraction and temptation. In a new webinar titled Curing PRHD, Global Channel Strategist and Loyalty Expert Ian Hutchieson, who heads the global channel practice for loyalty consultancy ICLP, and Impartner CMO Dave R Taylor outline the five top strategies channel chiefs must take to continue to remain irresistible to top industry partners and maintain their competitive advantage. Watch the webinar at this link: http://bit.ly/2g3YdHT

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In this webinar, which was originally presented in London as part of the Channel Chief University Series co-sponsored with Impartner's strategic partner, Gorilla Corporation, Hutchieson and Taylor address the near death of partner loyalty in the market today, which has vendors scrambling to find ways to attract and retain the industry's best, most profitable and most contemporary partners. 

"Leading analysts paint a grim picture of the distraction today's partners face, with most working with an average of 12 vendors in their portfolio," said Hutchieson, who provided insights into the following five key strategies companies can employ to ensure their partner programs continue to be irresistible, partnerships become stronger and channel performance improves:

1.  Make sure your partner experience is BETTER than your competition's:

• Leading analyst data shows 86 percent of partners chose their vendor based on the Partner Portal. And today, the experience partners have is rooted in the experience they have as consumers, so the experience companies provide needs to be "consumer grade." This is especially true when it comes to the Partner Portal, which is the bedrock of the experience for partners. Experience was certainly a key competitive differentiator for FitBit, who cleverly taped into users' psychology and motivators to create engagement and communication programs and win the market in just a few years – all while massively under spending key market players like Nike.

2.  Make partners successful FAST:

• There is a limited window to make a first impression. Recruitment is easy, but keeping partners is hard work, so nurturing early allows companies to recognize partners for early positive behaviors and sales successes right from the start, keeping them from getting distracted and losing interest. Amazon Prime is a great example of a company rewarding customers who originally signed on for a shipping benefit, with a host of other benefits that keep them loyal, including streaming video and music. This quickly made Prime an industry beacon of success.

3.  Make it easy for partners to be PROFITABLE:

• While a lot of loyalty programs are built around emotion, it ultimately comes down to profitability.  No solution is going to make partners feel good if they aren't making a profit. Helping partners be self-sufficient and find the right tools to self-manage their profitability so they are in control and can manage their business at their desired rate is key – deal registration, MDF funds, leads, etc. A leading UK-based grocery chain, Waitrose, won customers with easy-to-use, personalized and "irresistible" offers and promotions that kept consumers coming back and saving money at industry-leading events for the company.

4.  Make visiting your portal regularly IRRESISTIBLE:

• Fundamentally, a company's Partner Portal starts to tap into the emotional side of things. Communications aside, companies need to ask themselves what they are doing to make sure they are creating a Partner Portal experience that helps partners prospect, sell and service products and solutions, and an emotional connection with each partner contact to entice them to visit the portal regularly.  Don't undervalue the role of emotion – brand, advocacy and emotional connections – in B2B marketing. AirBnB is the perfect example of a consumer brand that created a beautiful, aspirational experience that allows both renters and those renting properties to get engaged and bring an emotive experience to their properties, quickly emerging as a critical force in the hospitality industry.

5.  Make sure you EVOLVE your channel program and manage churn:

• At the end of the day, channel management means not just recruiting but also churning to stay agile and invest in partners who deliver the most value. Instead of asking which partners to keep and which to cut out, though, companies should be asking "which partners should I really be investing in?"  Starbucks' recent re-do of its loyalty program to focus on those customers who spend more, and not just "regularly," caused a major stir in the industry, but ultimately helped the company focus on those customers who were truly driving their most valuable sales.   

To watch the full webinar summarizing Hutchieson and Taylor's strategies for curing PRHD, click here.  For more on how Impartner, Gorilla and PRM can help companies increase their partner loyalty and accelerate their indirect sales, click here.

About ICLP 

As a worldwide leader in loyalty marketing and CRM, ICLP builds loyalty and creates devotion. From acquiring customers and understanding them as individuals, to creating relationships that engage, reward and inspire loyalty, we turn customers into advocates and relationships into profit - and have done for over 25 years. We have global experience in B2B and B2C loyalty marketing in multiple industry sectors including retail, travel, financial services and technology.

ICLP is a Collinson Group company. Collinson Group is a global leader in influencing customer behavior to drive revenue and add value for our clients. With a unique blend of industry and sector specialists, the group develops and delivers market-leading products and services to help build, manage and optimize customer relationships across four core capabilities: Loyalty, Lifestyle Benefits, Insurance and Assistance.  

For further information please contact: Carolina Mandich, Business Development Director Carolina.Mandich@iclployalty.com or iclployalty.com

About Gorilla Corporation

Gorilla Corporation delivers game changing revenue growth for technology companies. Gorilla has been central to Channel Expansion and Optimization globally for over 20 years. Constantly innovating, developing best in class strategy and tactics, Gorilla deploys Channel Teams to recruit and manage partners to decrease the vendor cost of sales, time to revenue and increase market and channel coverage. Gorilla also conducts global channel marketing including Concierge solutions. With Gorilla, Vendor Partners anywhere in the world are supported in co-marketing by a local Gorilla expert.

Proven methodology, solid technology, leadership and customer satisfaction are at the core of Gorilla's practice.  Based in Downtown San Francisco, Dallas Texas, Palo Alto California, Mexico City, Nairobi Kenya, Sofia, Bulgaria, Brussels, Belgium, Barcelona Spain and Singapore.  Contact +1 415 829-4245 (Americas Main), +34 93 344 32 61 (EMEA Main).  www.gorillaict.com.

About Impartner

With nearly two decades of experience in accelerating indirect sales, Impartner delivers the industry's most advanced SaaS-based Partner Relationship Management solution, helping companies worldwide manage their partner relationships and accelerate revenue and profitability through indirect sales channels. The largest pure-play PRM vendor in the world, Impartner provides the industry's only out-of-the-box solution that can deploy an enterprise-class Partner Portal in as few as 30 days, using the company's highly engineered, multi-award winning, three-step Velocity™ onboarding process. For more information on Impartner, which is based in Utah's tech hotbed, the Silicon Slopes, visit www.impartner.com, or in the United States call +1 801 501 7000, for EMEA general call +33 1 40 90 31 20, for London call +44 0 20 3283 4465, and for LATAM call +1 954 364 7883.

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Contact:
Kerry Desberg
Impartner
425-231-9529
Kerry.desberg@impartner.com

Related Links

http://www.impartner.com

SOURCE Impartner