IT Channel Landscape: What Is the Next Normal?

Author:

Aurelien Mottier
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Episode

84

IT Channel Landscape: What Is the Next Normal?

Aurelien Mottier

CEO at Operatix

Barrie Desmond

Head of Global Marketing and Business Development at Exclusive Networks

The IT channel landscape is never going to look the same again.

 

(Do we even need to reference COVID-19 at this point?)

 

Today’s guest describes the 4 stages to arriving at our next normal in the IT channel.

 

Recently on B2B Revenue Acceleration, we interviewed Barrie Desmond, Head of Global Marketing and Business Development at Exclusive Networks, about why he calls himself Chief Storyteller — and how to thrive during disruption in the IT channel landscape.

 

“If people turn the clock back, they’re stupid and deserve to fail,” Barrie said. Instead, he comes at the next normal with this mindset: “You don’t lose. You win, or you learn.”

 

left quote
right quote

You don’t lose. You win, or you learn Barrie Desmond

Barrie Desmond – Head of Global Marketing and Business Development at Exclusive Networks

The Next Normal

 

Barrie wrote a standout LinkedIn post about the next normal. He explained that we’re more focused on the outcomes of what we do rather than the task or the process.

 

And that’s just one of the great changes that the COVID crisis has brought about to the IT channel landscape.

 

“From a continuity perspective, we’ve seen a lot of business resilience in the channel,” Barrie said.

 

He is impressed by the lengths to which channel partners have gone to collaborate for success.

 

Barrie also called out our better outcomes from companies that were able to respond to the crisis quickly. “I’ve seen some marvelous cases of businesses that decided not only would they be agile, but they would adapt,” he said.

 

So many of us have innovated — and continue to innovate — because of our instinct to “serve first and sell second,” as Barrie put it.

 

A few other positive changes:

 

  • Accelerated decision-making cycles
  • Fewer decision-making cycles
  • Skills at taking measured risks
  • Being agile
  • Being adaptable
  • Hybrid work styles

 

“Work is a thing you do, not a place you go,” Barrie said. “Those challenging conventions will be a lot nimbler, more agile, and more responsive to the market.”

 

left quote
right quote

Those challenging conventions will be a lot nimbler, more agile, and more responsive to the market.

Barrie Desmond – Head of Global Marketing and Business Development at Exclusive Networks

The 4 Phase Approach to Disruption

 

There’s a disciplined way to deal with disruption — and then there’s a panicked way.

 

Here are Barrie’s 4 phases:

 

  1. React
  2. Recover
  3. Reflect
  4. Reimagine

 

React

 

Our reaction phase to COVID-19 was March and April 2020. Let’s not do that again.

 

First we saw a rapid deployment of remote working. Then we decided our remote workers needed the appliances to work.

 

“They needed access to their normal daily work tools, applications, services, and then we had to maintain the integrity of those,” Barrie said.

 

In other words, react equals quick fixes.

 

To the IT channel, reacting is all about integrity.

 

“This period has been a field day for the bad actors, for people to exploit a hugely increased threat landscape,” Barrie said.

 

Recover

 

The recovery phase is taking a look at how we reacted, seeing whether it works, and trying to optimize it.

 

Imagine a car with a bad exhaust. A reaction would be to put some tape on it. Recovery would be to keep driving with the quick fix in place.

 

“We don’t want to stop and do anything because the car is still working. And that’s where we’re at now,” Barrie said.

 

Scrambling to make our reactions into long-term solutions is not a great look.

 

Reflect

 

Barrie calls reflection “the dangerous phase.”

 

Honestly, you don’t want to spend much time here. Too much reflection keeps you from being agile and adaptable.

 

If all you’re thinking about is how to get back to the way things were in January, you haven’t learned anything from the past 6 months in the IT channel.

 

Reimagine

 

“Jump into reimagine,” Barrie said. “Rethink, rebuild.”

 

This is the phase when you actually fix the car’s exhaust, buy a new car, lease a new car, or decide to build airplanes.

 

Now is the moment to iterate — to execute your 18 month curbside fast food business plan in 2 days.

 

left quote
right quote

We need to automate more and improve productivity more if we’re going to go through these difficult times.

Barrie Desmond – Head of Global Marketing and Business Development at Exclusive Networks

 

This is how we reimagine IT

 

Barrie sees 2 big opportunities to reimagine the IT channel landscape.

 

1) Consumption models

 

We need to rethink how we offer our services.

 

“People who are so heavily reliant on some subscription based consumption could easily expand to deliver more teams or more collaboration tools,” Barrie said.

 

Or more cloud storage. Or virtual desktops.

 

Barrie calls this the evergreen enterprise. It’s something that continues to iterate itself and can expand or contract at need.

 

“You’ve got an infrastructure that underlines continuity, resilience, and mitigates any risk,” he said.

 

Look at the way that we’re going to work now, our new habits and patterns, and reimagine how to maintain integrity under these new and changing circumstances.

 

2) Innovative technology

 

We can be pretty sure there will be a recession.

 

As innovators, we need to get ahead of that.

 

The IT channel should come out with innovative technology solutions to speak specifically to the recession.

 

“Technology has always thrived in difficult trading circumstances in recessions, yes, because we need to automate more and improve productivity more if we’re going to go through these difficult times,” Barrie said.

 

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe to The B2B Revenue Acceleration Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website.

 

About Operatix

Operatix is a Sales Acceleration company specialized in supporting B2B Software vendors to identify new revenue streams, increase qualified sales pipeline, and accelerate channel development across Europe and North America. Operatix has a wealth of experience in working with the biggest tech players worldwide as well as a multitude of emerging software vendors.

The 30/60/90-Day Plan of a New Marketing Leader

Pete Lorenco

How the Recession Can Affect Business Expansion Plans

Mike Jones

The JOLT Effect: Helping High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision

Matt Dixon

Ready to get started?

Learn more about how we can get work as an extension of your Sales & Marketing teams to drive more revenue.

Channel Transformation

Digital transformation is changing how companies buy and use business solutions, making vendors re-assess the capabilities of their channel ecosystem. With channel dynamics in constant flux, vendors need to be ready to cut ties with partners that don’t share their vision or have connections with the right B2B buyers.

 

Operatix has supported numerous vendors in their path to Channel transformation by assessing current partners and recruiting new partners that are more aligned with their new channel strategy. Once the right partners have been identified, Operatix built scalable outbound sales development programs that accelerated their routes to market.

Inbound Response Management

In a competitive industry like technology every lead counts. Operatix can help you maximize conversion from MQL to SQL and from lead to pipeline, increasing both your revenue and ROI on marketing activities.

Account Identification

Identifying the accounts that are more likely to buy from you is part of our expertise. We will research the market, identify verticals and industries that can benefit from your solution and set up qualified sales engagements for your teams to kick-off the sales process. 

Cold Prospecting

Our team will identify new sales opportunities within the strategic accounts that you haven’t been successful in penetrating through your sales & marketing efforts. By applying the ‘Challenger Sale’ methodology we use a tailored, multitouch approach to connect with prospects, generating qualified sales engagements for your team and ultimately increasing your pipeline.

Outbound Sales Development

Using a proactive outbound sales approach has been proven to be one of the most effective methods to engage with prospective customers. By applying the ‘Challenger Sale’ methodology we use a tailored, human approach to getting in touch with prospects to increase your qualified sales engagements and ultimately generate more pipeline.

Outbound Sales Development

Using a proactive outbound sales approach has been proven to be one of the most effective methods to engage with prospective customers. By applying the ‘Challenger Sale’ methodology we use a tailored, human approach to getting in touch with prospects to increase your qualified sales engagements and ultimately generate more pipeline.

Partner Concierge Service

Our Partner Concierge Service helps vendors accelerate their channel programs, by engaging and nurturing channel partners and supporting them to get to revenue quicker.

Demand Generation

Whether you need to implement a demand generation strategy or get more results out of your existing demand gen engine, Operatix can work alongside your marketing team to yield better results out of your demand generation programs.

Account-based Marketing

An Account-based Marketing strategy is only as successful as the revenue it generates. At Operatix we will support your 1:1, 1:few or 1:many approach to get your team in front of decision makers in the accounts that matter the most to you. 

Lead Qualification

If your marketing leads aren’t converting, it might be a lead qualification issue. Operatix can help sieve through leads that need further qualification, so they are ready for an AE or sales team member to engage with.

Account-based Selling

At Operatix we will support your 1:1, 1:few or 1:many approach to get your team in front of decision makers in the accounts that matter the most to you. 

Pipeline Generation

Generating Pipeline for our clients is our key-objective. And we do that by using a multi-touch, multi-channel approach to generate qualified sales engagements for our customers’ sales teams.   

Account Intelligence / Deep Dive

Understanding buying centres, hierarchies and relevant personas in strategic accounts is a fundamental step to increase conversion rates. By leveraging account intelligence in a sales conversation your team can tailor their message and provide value to their prospective customer. But sales & marketing teams often struggle to dedicate time and resources to do the deep research and this is where Operatix can help.

DMID – Decision Maker Identification

Finding quality data is an on-going challenge for B2B Tech vendors. The accuracy of data platforms is questionable and that is why Operatix developed a manual process to identify & verify contact details for decision makers within strategic target accounts.

Playbook design

Operatix can develop Sales Playbooks that enable teams to sell more effectively. Your Playbook will be fundamental to get your messaging right, accurately position your solution against competitors, and adapt the communication of your value proposition to different buyer personas.

Recorded Testimonial: RXVantage

Fill in the form below and receive the recorded testimonial of Jeremy Gilman. 

Recorded Testimonial: Qualys

Fill in the form below and receive our recorded testimonial from Joerg Vollmer, the General Manager at Qualys.

Recorded Testimonial: Incorta

Fill in the form below and receive the recorded testimonial of Emily Lewis. 

Sales Playbook Development

Operatix can develop Sales Playbooks that enable teams to sell more effectively. Your Playbook will be fundamental to implementing the correct messaging, accurately position your solution against competitors, and adapting the communication of your value proposition to different buyer personas.

Lead Qualification

If your leads aren’t converting, it might be a lead qualification issue. Operatix can help filter through leads that need further qualification, ensuring that they’re ready for an AE or sales team member to engage with and progress through the funnel. 

Partner Portal / Marketing Concierge Service

Vendors often spend thousands of dollars building multifunctional Partner Portals to help channel partners educate their teams, manage opportunities, and create marketing programs. Still, these portals are often underutilized due to lack of bandwidth and capacity from vendors to offer support in enabling their partner community. Operatix, through their Partner Development team, can support your partners to make the best use out of your partner portal, managing the relationship with your partners and helping them set up co-marketing campaigns to drive more revenue for both businesses. 

Marketing & Sales Alignment

The sales development function is often seen as the “glue” that brings sales & marketing teams together. By working as an extension of your teams, Operatix will be your predictable source of pipeline, sales & revenue.

Optimization of MDF

Market Development Funds are an important component of any channel ecosystem, though vendors believe they are not maximizing the return on investment they should be getting from their MDF programs. At Operatix, we build scalable outbound sales development programs that will give you the visibility of return over the invested spend and will provide clear value for your channel partners.

Increase Partner Productivity

The 80/20 rule is still very applicable to the channel, which means that investing in partner productivity should be a priority for vendors looking to grow their businesses. Operatix can increase partner productivity and shorten sales cycles, by identifying ready to engage sales opportunities for your most valued channel partners.

Virtual Channel Account managers

Our VCAM team is responsible for building, maintaining, and managing sound relationships with current and prospective channel partners. They can get involved in opening up new sales conversations as well as closing small businesses up to $ 10k.

Tier 1 & Tier 2 Activation

Whether your business decided for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 distribution model, Operatix can help your channel partners get to revenue quicker. By providing qualified sales engagements to your channel partners we can accelerate your route to market with tangible and easily measurable results.

Solution Selling Training

Far too often vendors insist on enabling their channel partners to talk about features and technical details of their solutions. Customers don’t buy features; they buy the benefits your solution can bring. Operatix will work with your partner community to train them in articulating your message from a high-level business perspective, enabling them to talk to prospects about the value your solution can bring to their company from a board-level perspective.

Channel Enablement

Enabling your channel partners have measurable wins for your business when done right. Operatix has a proven track record in enabling channel partners from a sales & marketing perspective, providing them the knowledge and tools to successfully pitch your solution and sell the value & benefits of it. 

Partner Recruitment

Recruiting the right Channel Partners is the first step for a successful channel program. Operatix has helped over 350 B2B Software vendors recruit suitable channel partners across EMEA and North America, supporting them to scale and expand their presence in different geographies and verticals. 

Risk/Reward Business Model

To truly work as an extension of our client’s sales & marketing teams, we have also adapted our business models to show how our clients operate, and how their success is measured. With our risk/reward business model your investment is proportional to the results our team delivers.

Sales Qualified Leads

On average, 52.5% of the sales engagements set up by our team progress into a next step in the sale process. That means that 5 out of 10 meetings will progress either into a POC, a Demo or a pipeline opportunity.

Geographical Scale

Trading in different geographical markets not only requires a knowledge of the native language, local rules & policies, but a deeper understanding of the local culture and habits. We have the ability to deliver campaigns in multiple countries with flexible resource allocation. This is through our team of international speakers, who have the ability to sell in 17 different languages across the globe.

Increase Revenue & Decrease Cost

Building an internal sales development team comes with many additional costs and challenges that aren’t always taken into account: recruiting resources, training and enabling them etc. You also need to take into account the need for having the data and tools to make them successful, which in turn requires time, capital and effort. By outsourcing your sales development to Operatix you will see your revenue increasing, while decreasing costs and business risk.

Predictable Pipeline Generation

On average, our clients see a 26X ROI on the programs we deliver. By understanding your revenue targets and sales pipeline gap, we will work on a sales & marketing plan that will deliver tangible results.

Vertical Growth

Entering new industries or launching new product lines? Operatix can accelerate your growth by supporting your go-to-market strategy, and getting your sales teams in front of decision makers in key target accounts.

Reduce Headcount

By outsourcing your sales development and partner programs to Operatix; we reduce headcount and the challenges that come with managing people, technologies, and processes. We take care of your sales development, so you can focus on what matters the most: growing your business.

Revenue Acceleration

Operatix helps your business get to revenue quicker. By providing qualified sales engagements for your direct sales team (to kick-off new sales cycles), or by accelerating the growth of your channel partners, our focus remains on delivering tangible results for your business. 

Persona-based Selling

Operatix team will design specifically tailored messages to influence the different levels of decision makers in the sales process, tailoring the communication according to each job function. Our focus is to sell the value of your solution from a business perspective, not its features.    

Recorded Testimonial: Bitglass

Fill in the form below and receive our recorded testimonial from Aya Fawzy, the former director of Bitglass.