Top Tips For Effective Communication with Your Channel Partners

Your company's channel partners play an essential role: selling the products you manufacture. 

But before they can sell those products, your partners need to have the details. They have to know what they're selling and why. They need to have a relationship with you and your company.

Strong relationships depend on strong communication. To make sure your partners are fully engaged and that you're staying ahead of the competition, you need to become an effective communicator. 

Here's how.

1. Know Who You're Addressing

What type of audience are you trying to reach? More importantly, if you asked your channel partners who the audience was, would their answer align with yours?

Rule one for effective communication is: know who you're tlking to. This goes beyond getting the name right. You need to be sure you and your partners are trying to reach the same target “personas”. 

Give your partners this information upfront. It can be as simple as giving them buyer personas so they see who you're trying to reach. Get as detailed with these personas as possible, creating a picture of a living, breathing person. Tell your partner the following:

• The target audience's role and title

• The type of company they work for (including size and industry)

• How they spend their day

• Their pains

• Their goals

Once you're on the same page, working toward the same goal becomes a lot easier.

2. Share Easily Digestible Info

You know what they say: “KISS”—Keep it Simple! Your partners don't want to get a 100-page handbook from you full of complex jargon and terms they have to look up in a dictionary.

Instead, give them the details they need about your products in bite-sized pieces. Use plain language so they aren't left scratching their heads.

Training programs such as courses and modules help your partners get a grasp on what you offer and make them feel part of your team. 

3. Test Their Knowledge

Do your channel partners get you? Give them a quiz to find out (but make it fun).

A short quiz will show you whether your channel partners understand your product and your target audience. It also boosts engagement, particularly if there's some sort of reward at the end of it. 

As a bonus, you can confirm that your partners are digesting and retaining the information you're giving them.

4. Remember: Communication is a Two-Way Street

Let your partners know that you're there for them, if they have any questions or concerns. But don't assume that no news is good news.

If a channel partner is unusually quiet, take the time to reach out to them and check in. They may have gone silent because they've disengaged and are considering cutting ties. Stepping in and asking if they need anything may be just the push they need to reconnect with you and continue the partnership.

5. Be Consistent With Collateral

Give your channel partners new sales collateral regularly, so that your product stays at the front of their minds. Providing refreshed sales collateral also makes their jobs easier, so they don't feel like they're grasping at straws or having to reinvent the wheel to talk about your products.

So, that makes timing and format pretty much everything when getting new or updated information to your partners: find the right time and digital place to share customizable assets to your partners means they will have what they need, right when they need it, and can further tailor those assets to prospect particulars.

Looking for more helpful tips on channel partner communication? The team at Fielo draws on a wealth of knowledge having worked with some of the world’s leading manufacturers to manage their channel partner relationships through incentives, digital asset management, and training. 

We are always ready to help! Reach out today with your questions, or to take a closer look at Fielo’s market-leading partner relationship management software.