Brian LaManna’s Post

Engaged partners sell more... But what metrics are important to you as a vendor? Ultimately it's about driving indirect revenue, whatever your magic number is for the qtr/yr. There are many granular KPI's you can track, but the recurring ones that I hear about are: 🤝 Partner Recruitment: Getting new partners into the program 🤝 Partner Activation: Helping partners become active in the program 🤝 Partner Revenue: Getting partners to sell more 🤝 Partner Engagement: Keeping partners engaged and selling At Komz we are constantly looking at engagement from different angles, overlapping our own engagement dashboard with PRM data (of available) to demonstrate ROI and how these metrics have increased over time, but also, what drives real engagement! Get in touch for a chat! - - - www.komz.io - - -

🤯 Let’s face it, building pipeline is harder than ever. 🔄 You’re not alone. There are fewer deals, longer sales cycles, more complexity in the buying landscape. 🖼️ Sellers need to change because the buyer landscape changed. 👀 We’ve gathered Kevin "KD" Dorsey inside tips on how to use video messaging to engage and convert prospects. ▶️ Learn why video messages and Vidyard are perfect for sales—no calls needed! https://lnkd.in/giKNkGqm

I LOST 3 DEALS THIS WEEK... You won't believe why. Our competitors are legacy solutions that have held our prospects hostage. Our prospects wanted to churn the legacy solution. BUT.... The legacy solutions said: "Hey, if you churn on us, we will also churn on you when our renewal comes up." AND.... This wasn't just 1 vendor... But 2 different vendors playing the same game. Here’s what this tells me: • These unicorns have a MASSIVE churn issue. • Long-term, most of these legacy solutions are screwed. People are building bigger, better, faster solutions that are 10x cheaper (like Distribute). • The customers aren't happy because they feel like they are held hostage. The users of the product are unhappy because they have to keep using a crappy product. Kinda sad this is the game some big SaaS players are playing right now. Thoughts? PS... I created 13 Email Sequences you can use to supercharge sales. I spent 5 months to find the best 13 to share. Here's the breakdown: https://lnkd.in/efTS4GEx

Navigating the Buying Cycle is the Path to More Conversions 🗺️ 💡Did you know buyers go through distinct phases when making a purchase decision — from initial awareness of a problem to actively evaluating solutions to ultimately selecting a vendor? Understanding these stages and crafting a strategy to engage prospects at each step is crucial for boosting conversions and driving more revenue. You need to map: ➡️ Prospect information to uncover ➡️ Delivering tailored content and resources ➡️ Asking the right questions to progress deals Want to stop shooting in the dark and start guiding buyers effectively through their entire journey? Give it a read! 🔗 Read the blog here: https://buff.ly/3VOVrfu

Fact: You can't close deals with a cold email and a prayer. 😓 You need to educate buyers at every step of the way before signing them as a client. Learn from experts to level up your buyer education efforts 👇🏻 👩🏻🏫 Krysten Conner shares one question to make your buyers feel heard in a discovery call 🔖 https://lnkd.in/gEv2RWFn Chris Orlob shares nine lessons about SaaS sales demos from his time leading sales at Gong 🔖 https://lnkd.in/ghBN73eq Katelyn Bourgoin 🧠 talks about repeating your message to stay top of mind and gain buyers' trust 🔖 https://lnkd.in/g8mvg386 Alon Even explains how to generate demand through buyer enablement content 🔖 https://lnkd.in/gJXAfhms And if you're not sure where to get started, here's your roadmap to educate and engage buyers across the buying journey. #buyereducation #buyingjourney #b2bSaaS #saasmarketing #producteducation

A big part of Robin Robins' process is getting MSPs “to answer your phones.” Now I’m challenging channel VENDORS to do the same. I called seventeen vendors in the last six hours to reach their sales departments. Four of those calls were follow-ups to conversations already had, seven were follow-ups to completed requests for information that went to the ether, and the remainder were new vendor inquiries.  The result? I got two humans, one directly and the other by labyrinth dance. For those of you who don’t know me, unless there’s a remarkable amount of food involved, I RARELY do the business dance.  As I was writing this, I received a call back. Had a great conversation, but the person informed me that the call queue is their lowest priority since they are doing demos and other duties. There are so many people looking for work right now. How many potential clients are you willing to lose by being exponentially picky? Even an awkward call by an inexperienced person is an opportunity for your business to have a conversation and future client along with continued learning experience for someone who may just grow to be one of your VPs someday. And if you’re closed for a federal/bank holiday today, please update your automated attendant to note when you’re closed. You may send out blasts to your existing clients, but what about the rest of the world? We’re not checking your social media feeds first.

In my next post on distribution and channel partners, I discuss resellers. Resellers are companies that sell your product directly to end customers, often (but not always), bundling your product with other products or services, and earning a commission on each sale. Reseller relationships can be exclusive or non-exclusive. This arrangement allows expansion into new markets and geographies without hiring or expanding the existing sales team. In today’s post, I discuss these reseller relationships, when they’re helpful to consider as your company scales, and key terms in reseller agreements. https://lnkd.in/g8bQ34XK

In November we ran a vendor roadshow to support 3 key partners to focus on deal registrations (pipeline). We broke this down to 3 key areas: 1. Having great conversations 2. Turning tech offerings into key out comes (AKA what's in it for them) 3. Storytelling within specific verticals We delivered a 1/2 day session with the partners and their team in person, plus 3 follow up virtual sessions and accountability support via online chat. The training was developed from our onboarding process and utilising the Sales Skills Scorecard! At the end of the 8 week engagement we reported $1.4m in pipeline. They key to the partners success? Focusing on 1 industry vertical, with a specific problem described using the exact language identified to showcase success with an outcome supported. AND... consistency. Looking for results like these in your business or across your resellers? Schedule a call HERE: https://lnkd.in/gE2mx_Xx #sales #salestraining #salesenablement #salesacademy #techsales

Not every partner is a good fit for every vendor. Most often your best partner is someone else’s worst partner. Crafting your ideal partner profile goes beyond revenue generation. It should also be based on partner capabilities, market coverage, customer types, and other attributes. For this reason, Channelnomics developed the ROCKER methodology for defining partner missions. Check it out here:

Start a Partner Program Today If you’ve been thinking about it but have been putting it off for some reason, here are some cold hard facts from my experience to help you reach your tipping point and start a partner program: ✅ Partner Channel CAC is 50-60% lower than Inbound. ✅ Referrals through Partner Channels close at approximately 50-55% (higher when looking at Qualified Opportunities - 70-75%). ✅ Churn is typically lower (5-10%+) than new business through other channels. This doesn’t all happen overnight, though. Be prepared to invest 12 months+ into building an effective function (you’ve got to build the pipeline of both partners and referrals).