By Pierre da Costa, Business Partner Program Manager

Haven’t heard of Theodore Geisel? You may be more familiar with his pen name – Dr. Suess.

Could I, would I

make a joke?

I would not, could not

make a joke.

Hear me out – I promise not to rhyme anymore.

I was watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas DVD with my kids, the other day, and we discovered one of the extras on the DVD was Horton Hears a Who.

Now this wasn’t the remake of Horton or the Grinch (interestingly enough both remakes star Jim Carey), but the original 2D animated movies complete with Geisel’s characteristic drawing and rhyming style. The famous line from Horton Hears a Who is, “… a person is a person, no matter how small.” – but I don’t want to begin there, that is too obvious. There are two other seeming non sequiturs with which I’d like to begin.

Let me back up a bit and give you a quick plot summary – for those that may not be current on the story line. Horton is an elephant who discovers an entire city of people (“Whos”) on a tiny speck of dust, and he is the only one that can hear them. Horton defends and protects them until such time that they are able to reach a critical mass of voices calling out and therefore loud enough so that people other than Horton can hear them.

Dr. Seuss wasn’t a channel IT person known for his theoretical support of Total Cost of Ownership or his wanton disregard for the reporting required for back end rebates – after all he didn’t write Horton Submits a Deal Reg.

To start us down the right path, let me draw some parallels to the channel ecosystem – think of Horton as the Vendor/Manufacturer, the individual Whos as Resellers, and Whoville as the channel community for that Vendor.

Learning moment #1: Listening

I’m not sure why only Horton could initially hear these Whos on a tiny speck of dust, perhaps it was the oversized ears that come standard on the average pachyderm, or maybe he was just honestly listening to what was out there. Think back to some of your best customer or vendor relationships – I bet that they listened to you when you had something important to say or ask and even sometimes when it wasn’t important. Did they just listen or did they value the relationship enough to do something about it?

Vendor/Manufacturer presentations that begin with, “Here is what you have told us” certainly make channel partners sit up and pay attention more closely. When Vendors/Manufacturers listen to the channel, it is great; but what they do with what they hear is the key.

Programs and offerings rooted in channel feedback tend to get better traction and retention, not to mention a revenue bump for their creators. If Vendor/Manufacturers have to work too hard to get the program off the ground, then they haven’t listened and the program they have built will need to be redone. Program longevity is important to the channel – predictability is something on which you can build a business. The starts and stops of channel programs are very costly to channel partners. You continually need to learn and relearn the details and qualifications of the offering. Not optimal.

Learning moment #2: Have something to say

Okay so Horton listened and valued the relationship enough to do something about it. Is that what saved the Whos? Nope. Horton was not able to convince anyone that the Whos exist – it was only after every single Who in Whoville shouted at the top of their lungs that there was a critical audible level enough to convince others that they existed.

Vendors/Manufacturers tend to listen once a critical mass of their channel partners are saying the same thing. As a channel partner, you need to make sure that your voice is heard – pick your spot: channel representative, surveys, partner portals, etc.

Know your Vendor/Manufacturer’s fiscal cycles and priorities – you will need to understand this to shape your feedback and asks. We all have something to say, but the more you can frame it in the terminology and context that the Vendor/Manufacturer is accustomed to, the more effective it will be. You can’t just mention it once and expect immediate adoption, no matter how good your point is. Don’t stop there – keep saying it. Say it at every listening post available to you. Others will pick up on this and will amplify the point. Make sure you are heard. The better Vendor/Manufacturers out there will listen and have people inclined to do something about it.

Learning moment #3: A partner is a partner no matter how small

Yes, I said it. I know what you are thinking and you are right – it is kind of cheesy. Partners come in all shapes and sizes. Vendors/Manufacturers can prioritize channel partners by revenue, margin contribution, strategic importance and sometimes by more informal means such as contact history or past business success.  The point here is the power of any one channel partner is not only measured by the sheer volume of revenue they are responsible for, but rather by the value they bring to the relationship.

The primary channel ecosystem resells the products (Resellers) and secondary channel ecosystems focus on the services around the reselling motion (Systems Integrators). Progressive channel strategists are trying to solve for tertiary channel markets such as influencers. These take the form of consultants, social network and industry thought leaders, media/bloggers, deal aggregator sites as well as students. All of these influencers transact $0, but provide legitimacy as an independent third party that provides supporting evidence for customers.

Every channel partner, the big and the small, is important to the channel ecosystem. Vendor/Manufacturers that get this have strategies and resources to engage at all levels. Those that do not get this need to begin thinking about why they don’t because long term growth doesn’t happen on the back of momentum – it occurs based on the consistent execution of strategic plans year over year over year.

If the Vendor/Manufacturer doesn’t have a strategic growth plan that they can articulate to you – you have to wonder what the future holds. A merger? A sell-off?A sudden decline in market share?

I am a part of Acrodex’s  Business Partner Management unit and get to work with the best technology vendors in the world. The relationships that we build are not only about the certifications, sales and delivery, but are rather increasingly strategic in nature. Alignment on outcomes between Acrodex and our best Vendor/Manufacturers will determine where we grow the most this year. We get there because we know what value we bring to the table for Vendor/Manufacturers – we have something to say and they are willing to listen.

So does this mean the next major channel shift will be accompanied by rhyming words? It is not likely, but I do encourage you to think about where you fit in your channel ecosystem. What is the value that you bring? Are you getting what you want/need out of your relationship with your Vendor/Manufacturer? If not, get their attention and tell them.

P.S. The rhyming part is optional.