It seems that everyone has an idea on what it takes to be successful these days with cloud, cloud technologies and ERP software.

My area of expertise (after 25+ years) is working with small and midsize businesses, Enterprise Resource Planning software (or business management or accounting software, if you prefer) and working both as a partner and with partners in the vendor world.

In that time I have had a great opportunity to view the world from various sides (including as a customer for a couple of years) and as a result I have also formulated my view of what it takes to be successful in the world of technology, the “cloud” and business software and I have encapsulated that in my 4xP Platform for ERP Success. So I want to talk about each of those P’s – in this post I wanted to cover the topic of partners and where they fit in the equation.

3 Key components are needed in any successful partner engagement

3 Key components are needed in any successful partner engagement

It is an absolute given that in the mid market and small enterprise it is impossible to be successful without building and enhancing a partner channel.

Almost every vendor out there in some way shape or form has engaged with partners – whether systems integrators, resellers, smaller consulting companies or “mom and pop” shops with varying degrees of success. Many claim to be partner friendly and yet those same organizations – almost each and every day – do things that either consciously or unconsciously undermine their partners ability to succeed.

Others can’t seem to quite make up their minds…one minute they say we love partners the next minute they are cutting partners out of deals, taking deals or bad mouthing partners because it doesn’t suit their “strategy du jour”.

I believe that you need to be 100% committed to the success of your partners and my first experience of a vendor that believed this was back when I first got to know Doug Burgum and his team of accounting software devotees. It was an even better experience after I decided to move from being a Great Plains partner to being a Great Plains employee where the mission was “To improve the lives and business success of partners and customers”….

This was a crystal clear call to action for everyone inside the organization and I( still carry it internally as my own personal mission statement in all my career moves since then. So what does it take to improve the life and business success of a partner?

I believe it takes 3 key things and these are in no particular order as they are all equally important…and I am not going to mention a great product…that’s the price of entry.

The 3 things are a partner program, a clearly defined marketing program and an enablement program. Parchment Replica of the Magna Carta of King JohnThe partner program covers the basics of how a vendor should work with partners…if you like, it sets a level playing field that states clearly what a partner can expect from working with a vendor and in return, what the vendor expects in return….almost like a “Magna Carta” for the Channel.

The marketing program isn’t just part of the Partner Program – it stands alone as a part of the mix but it is incredibly important and the lack of a marketing program with clearly defined goals and deliverables sets any well meaning partner engagement up for failure…..more about that later

The third component of the mix is an enablement program….almost every partner I have engaged with needs help to build and develop skills in one or more of 5 areas – sales, pre-sales, marketing, professional services and business “professional” development – and by that I mean all aspects of building a business. A good enablement program needs to cater for all of these things…..and not just in the context of what a partner needs to be successful with your product but what they need to be successful overall.

Too many partner enablement programs are self serving…they are all about trying to mold partners to the vendors idea of what a partner should be (which is usually not what the partner wants to be). When you have all of these components in your partner engagement I believe you are on the path to success.