Self-Awareness

Toth said there’s value in a channel manager who can identify not just what their company does well, but what it does not so well.

Consider that most companies offer 20 to 25 different types of services. Channel partners that specialize in best-of-breed, vendor-agnostic sourcing don’t want to waste their time selling subpar aspects of a vendor’s technology portfolio.

“I want channel managers to tell me, ‘Hey, we’re really good at this over here. This over here – not as great.’ “

Morris agreed.

“Transparency between supplier and partner is paramount to building trust. Trust builds confidence, confidence builds loyalty, loyalty builds a relationship, and the relationship builds repetition,” Morris said.