Terms

Channel Partner

A channel partner is a company that partners with another organization to market, sell, and sometimes deliver its products, services, or technologies. Essentially acting as an extension of a vendor's sales team, these partners can include resellers, distributors, service providers, and agents. This relationship allows a company to expand its market reach and sales efforts through a third-party entity.

Benefits of Working with Channel Partners

Leveraging channel partners can be a game-changer for scaling a business, allowing companies to tap into new markets and customer segments without a massive upfront investment. This strategic alliance creates a mutually beneficial relationship that drives growth and expands a company's footprint.

  • Reach: expand into new markets and geographies without building a local presence.
  • Cost: lower customer acquisition costs by leveraging the partner's sales and marketing efforts.
  • Speed: accelerate growth and scale operations faster than relying solely on internal teams.
  • Focus: concentrate on core business functions like product development while partners handle sales.
  • Credibility: enhance brand trust by associating with reputable and established local partners.

Types of Channel Partners

Channel partnerships aren't a one-size-fits-all solution; they come in various forms to suit different business goals. The ideal partner type depends on your product, target audience, and how you want to go to market. Here are some of the most common models.

  • Resellers: Focus on selling a vendor's product as-is to their existing customer base.
  • Value-Added Resellers (VARs): Enhance a product by bundling it with their own services like training or customization.
  • Affiliate Partners: Market a product through unique links, earning a commission on resulting leads or sales.
  • Managed Service Providers (MSPs): Integrate a product into a broader package of ongoing services they manage for clients.

Channel Partner vs. Value-Added Reseller

While both help expand a company's reach, channel partners and value-added resellers serve distinct strategic roles.

  • Channel Partner: This is a broad term for any third party that sells or markets a product. Enterprises use them for rapid global scaling, while mid-market firms leverage them to enter new markets without high overhead. The main drawback is less control over the sales process and brand messaging.
  • Value-Added Reseller (VAR): A VAR is a specific type of channel partner that enhances a product with additional services like customization or support. This model is ideal when a product is complex and requires specialized implementation. The risk is that the vendor's reputation becomes tied to the quality of the VAR's services.

Strategies for Managing Channel Partner Relationships

Managing channel partner relationships effectively is crucial for long-term success. It requires building a strong, collaborative foundation to ensure both parties are aligned and motivated. A proactive approach to communication, enablement, and performance tracking is key.

  • Communication: Establish clear and consistent channels for training, support, and feedback.
  • Enablement: Equip partners with the necessary resources, tools, and training to sell effectively.
  • Alignment: Set mutual goals and use Partner Relationship Management (PRM) software to track joint progress.

Challenges in Channel Partner Collaboration

Losing control over the sales process is a major hurdle. This complicates revenue forecasting and puts your brand's reputation at risk. It also becomes difficult to gather direct customer feedback for product improvements.

Supporting partners requires significant time and resources for training and enablement. Channel conflict is another key risk, where partners compete with each other or your sales team. This friction can easily undermine the entire collaborative effort.

Frequently Asked Questions about Channel Partner

How do you measure the success of a channel partner program?

Success is measured through key performance indicators (KPIs) like partner-sourced revenue, deal registration volume, and partner satisfaction scores. Regular performance reviews and clear goal-setting are essential for tracking progress and ensuring alignment with your business objectives.

What’s the difference between a channel partner and an affiliate?

A channel partner is deeply involved in the sales cycle, often reselling or integrating your product. An affiliate partner focuses purely on marketing, driving traffic or leads through a unique link in exchange for a commission, with less direct sales involvement.

How do you avoid channel conflict?

Avoid conflict by establishing clear rules of engagement, defining sales territories, and implementing a fair deal registration system. Consistent communication and a well-structured partner program help prevent competition between partners and your direct sales team.

Other terms

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Account-Based Advertising

Account-based advertising is a hyper-focused B2B strategy that targets key accounts with personalized ads across multiple channels.

Account-Based Advertising

Open Rate

The open rate is the percentage of recipients who opened an email. It's a primary indicator of a subject line's effectiveness.

Open Rate

Affiliate Networks

Affiliate networks are platforms that act as intermediaries between publishers (affiliates) and merchant affiliate programs.

Affiliate Networks

Call for Proposal

A Call for Proposal (CFP) is a document that solicits proposals, often through a bidding process, for a specific project or service.

Call for Proposal

SEM

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy that uses paid tactics to increase a website's visibility in search engine results.

SEM

Digital Advertising

Digital advertising is the practice of delivering promotional content to users through various online and digital channels like social media or search engines.

Digital Advertising

Pipeline Coverage

Pipeline coverage is a key sales metric. It's the ratio of your total open pipeline value to your sales quota for a specific period.

Pipeline Coverage

Inventory Management

Inventory management is the process of ordering, storing, and using a company's inventory, from raw materials to finished goods.

Inventory Management

Multi-Channel Marketing

Multi-channel marketing uses various platforms—like email, social media, and direct mail—to engage with customers wherever they are.

Multi-Channel Marketing

Retargeting Marketing

Retargeting marketing is a digital advertising strategy that targets users who have previously interacted with your website or brand online.

Retargeting Marketing

Email Verification

Email verification is the process of confirming that an email address is valid and deliverable, which helps improve campaign performance.

Email Verification

Proof of Concept

A Proof of Concept (PoC) is a small exercise to test whether a business idea or project is technically feasible and has real-world potential.

Proof of Concept

Customer Data Platform (CDP)

A Customer Data Platform (CDP) centralizes customer data from all sources to create a complete, unified profile for each individual customer.

Customer Data Platform (CDP)

SAM

Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) is the portion of the market your business can realistically serve with its current products and sales channels.

SAM

Outbound Lead Generation

Outbound lead generation means proactively reaching out to potential customers who haven't yet expressed interest to introduce them to your brand.

Outbound Lead Generation

Customer Relationship Marketing

Customer relationship marketing is a strategy for building lasting connections with customers to foster long-term loyalty and engagement.

Customer Relationship Marketing

Cold Calling

Cold calling is a sales tactic where reps contact potential customers by phone who haven't previously expressed interest in their product or service.

Cold Calling

Customer Lifecycle

The customer lifecycle is the journey a person takes from first becoming aware of your brand to becoming a loyal, repeat customer.

Customer Lifecycle

Intent-Based Leads

Intent-based leads are potential customers whose online actions—like searches or content engagement—signal a clear interest in buying a solution.

Intent-Based Leads

No Cold Calls

No Cold Calls is a sales strategy that replaces unsolicited calls with warm outreach to prospects who have already demonstrated interest.

No Cold Calls

RESTful API

A RESTful API is a web service interface that uses HTTP requests to access and use data, adhering to the constraints of REST architecture.

RESTful API

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are fraudulent attempts to trick you into revealing sensitive data like passwords or financial info by posing as a trusted source.

Phishing Attacks

After-Sales Service

After-sales service is the support provided to customers after they've purchased a product. It includes things like warranties, training, or repairs.

After-Sales Service

Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing creates a seamless, unified customer experience by integrating a company's various communication and sales channels.

Omnichannel Marketing

Predictive Lead Generation

Predictive lead generation uses data and AI to find prospects most likely to buy, helping teams focus their efforts on high-value leads.

Predictive Lead Generation

Deal-Flow

Deal flow refers to the stream of business proposals and investment opportunities that a company or investor receives.

Deal-Flow

Sales Forecast Accuracy

Sales forecast accuracy is a key metric that compares your predicted sales revenue against the actual sales revenue you ultimately achieve.

Sales Forecast Accuracy

Data-Driven Lead Generation

Data-driven lead generation is the process of using data insights to identify, attract, and convert high-quality leads into customers.

Data-Driven Lead Generation

Internal signals

Internal signals are data points from your own systems, like website visits or product usage, that indicate a customer's buying intent.

Internal signals

Escalations

Escalations are the process of moving a customer issue or sales opportunity to a more senior or specialized team member for resolution.

Escalations

Employee Advocacy

Employee advocacy is the promotion of an organization by its staff members, who share positive messages and content through their personal networks.

Employee Advocacy

CPM

CPM, or Cost Per Mille, is a key advertising metric. It's the cost an advertiser pays for one thousand views or impressions of a single ad.

CPM

Sales Automation

Sales automation uses software to streamline and automate repetitive, manual sales tasks, freeing up reps to focus on selling.

Sales Automation

Lead Generation Tactics

Lead generation tactics are the strategies and methods used to attract potential customers and convert them into leads for your sales team.

Lead Generation Tactics

Sales Workflows

Sales workflows are a set of automated actions that streamline the sales process, helping teams engage leads consistently and close deals faster.

Sales Workflows

Sales Dialer

A sales dialer is software that automates outbound calling for sales teams, allowing reps to connect with more prospects in less time.

Sales Dialer

Website Visitor Tracking

Website visitor tracking collects and analyzes data on user behavior to understand their journey and improve the overall user experience.

Website Visitor Tracking

Scalability

Scalability is a company's ability to handle increased workloads or market demands without a drop in performance or a spike in costs.

Scalability

Champion/Challenger Test

A Champion/Challenger test pits a new 'challenger' against the current best-performing 'champion' to see which one performs better.

Champion/Challenger Test

Big Data

Learn about big data, including understanding big data characteristics, benefits of leveraging big data, & challenges in managing big data.

Big Data

Payment Gateways

A payment gateway is a service that authorizes and processes payments for businesses, acting as a secure link between the customer and the merchant.

Payment Gateways

Account View Through Rate

Account View-Through Rate (AVTR) is the percentage of target accounts that see an ad and later visit your website without clicking on it.

Account View Through Rate

Lookalike Audiences

Lookalike audiences are groups of potential customers who share similar characteristics and behaviors with your existing, high-value customers.

Lookalike Audiences

Sales Playbook

A sales playbook is a guide that outlines your sales process, best practices, and tools to help reps sell more efficiently and consistently.

Sales Playbook

Account-Based Sales Development

Account-Based Sales Development (ABSD) is a focused strategy where SDRs target key stakeholders within specific, high-value accounts.

Account-Based Sales Development

Product Champion

A product champion is an internal evangelist who drives a product's adoption and success by ensuring it solves real problems for their team.

Product Champion

Content Curation

Content curation involves gathering, organizing, and sharing the most relevant online content on a specific topic for a particular audience.

Content Curation

Average Customer Life

Average Customer Life is the average time someone remains a customer. It's a key metric for predicting revenue and measuring customer loyalty.

Average Customer Life

Forward Revenue

Forward revenue is the total value of all active, committed contracts that are expected to be recognized as revenue in the future.

Forward Revenue

Precision Targeting

Precision targeting is a marketing strategy that uses data to identify and reach a highly specific audience most likely to convert.

Precision Targeting

Cost Per Impression

Cost Per Impression (CPI) is the price an advertiser pays for each time their ad is displayed to a user, irrespective of clicks.

Cost Per Impression

Spiff

A spiff is a short-term sales incentive, often a cash bonus, paid directly to a salesperson for selling a specific product or service.

Spiff

Product-Market Fit

Product-market fit is when a product meets the needs of a strong market, leading to high demand, customer satisfaction, and organic growth.

Product-Market Fit

Search Engine Results Page

A Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the page displayed by a search engine after a user enters a query, listing results ranked by relevance.

Search Engine Results Page

Sales Enablement

Sales enablement provides sales teams with the necessary tools, content, and information to help them sell more effectively and efficiently.

Sales Enablement

Product Qualified Lead

A Product Qualified Lead (PQL) is a user who has experienced a product's value, signaling a strong potential to convert to a paid customer.

Product Qualified Lead

Predictive Lead Scoring

Predictive lead scoring uses AI to analyze data and rank leads by their likelihood to convert, helping sales teams prioritize their efforts.

Predictive Lead Scoring

Pain Point

A pain point is a specific, recurring problem your target customers face, causing them frustration, inefficiency, or added costs.

Pain Point

Sales Pipeline Management

Sales pipeline management is the process of organizing, tracking, and managing potential deals through every stage of your sales funnel.

Sales Pipeline Management

SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search results.

SEO

Buyer Behavior

Learn about buyer behavior, including understanding the buyer's journey, influencing factors in buyer behavior, & buyer behavior and marketing strategy.

Buyer Behavior

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface

A Representational State Transfer (REST) API is a web service that uses a simple, stateless architecture for systems to communicate online.

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface

Funnel Optimization

Funnel optimization is the process of improving each stage of the customer journey to maximize conversions and drive revenue growth.

Funnel Optimization

Solution Selling

Solution selling is a sales approach focused on understanding a customer's pain points to offer a comprehensive solution, not just a product.

Solution Selling

Sales Development

Sales development is the process of identifying and qualifying potential customers to create a pipeline of sales-ready leads for closers.

Sales Development

Sales Operations

Sales Operations, or Sales Ops, streamlines sales processes, manages tools, and analyzes data to help sales teams sell more effectively.

Sales Operations

Load Testing

Load testing is a type of performance testing that determines how a system behaves under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions.

Load Testing

Business Process Management

Learn about business process management, including benefits of implementing BPM, steps to effective BPM, common BPM mistakes to avoid, & BPM tools and software.

Business Process Management

Data Cleansing

Data cleansing, or data scrubbing, is the process of detecting and correcting inaccurate records from a dataset to improve data quality.

Data Cleansing

Buying Committee

A buying committee is a group of stakeholders within an organization who are jointly responsible for making major purchasing decisions.

Buying Committee

Demand Capture

Demand capture is the strategy of engaging potential customers who are already actively looking for a solution that your company provides.

Demand Capture

Branded Keywords

Learn about branded keywords, including identifying your branded keywords, & strategies for optimizing branded keywords.

Branded Keywords

Sales Calls

A sales call is a real-time conversation between a salesperson and a prospect, aiming to persuade them to purchase a product or service.

Sales Calls

Freemium

Freemium is a business model offering a product's basic features for free, while charging for advanced or supplemental features.

Freemium

Regression Testing

Regression testing ensures that new code changes don’t negatively impact existing features. It's a key step to maintain software quality after updates.

Regression Testing

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the predictable, recurring income a business expects to receive each month from all active subscriptions.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis, or opinion mining, automatically determines the emotional tone behind text—whether it's positive, negative, or neutral.

Sentiment Analysis

Small to Medium-Sized Business

A small to medium-sized business (SMB) is a company whose employee count and annual revenue fall below certain industry-specific thresholds.

Small to Medium-Sized Business

Inside Sales Rep

An inside sales rep sells products or services remotely from an office, using digital tools like phone and email to connect with customers.

Inside Sales Rep

No Forms

No Forms is a method for capturing lead data directly from your website visitors' profiles without requiring them to fill out any forms.

No Forms

Data Hygiene

Data hygiene is the practice of ensuring your customer data is clean, accurate, and up-to-date by removing duplicates and correcting errors.

Data Hygiene

Marketing Attribution Model

A marketing attribution model is a framework for assigning credit to the marketing touchpoints that lead a customer to convert.

Marketing Attribution Model

Commission

A commission is a service charge paid to an agent for a transaction. It's typically a percentage of the sale, rewarding performance directly.

Commission

System of Record

A System of Record (SoR) is the authoritative data source for a specific type of data. It acts as the single source of truth for an organization.

System of Record

SDK

A Software Development Kit (SDK) is a set of tools that allows developers to create applications for a specific software package or platform.

SDK

Workflow Automation

Workflow automation uses rule-based logic to run a sequence of tasks that would otherwise require manual human effort to complete.

Workflow Automation

Dynamic Territories

Dynamic territories are fluid sales assignments that adjust based on real-time data, ensuring reps can focus on the highest-value accounts.

Dynamic Territories

Triggers

Triggers are predefined conditions that, when met, automatically launch a workflow or action, ensuring timely and relevant outreach.

Triggers

Sales Manager

A Sales Manager leads a sales team, setting goals, analyzing performance, and developing strategies to drive revenue and meet targets.

Sales Manager

Data Management Platform

A Data Management Platform (DMP) is a software that collects and organizes audience data from various sources for targeted marketing efforts.

Data Management Platform

Email Deliverability Rate

Your email deliverability rate is the percentage of sent emails that successfully land in a recipient's inbox, rather than bouncing or going to spam.

Email Deliverability Rate

Sales Director

A Sales Director leads a sales team, develops strategies, and is responsible for meeting a company's revenue targets.

Sales Director

Data Mining

Data mining is the process of discovering patterns, trends, and useful information from large datasets to make better business decisions.

Data Mining

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is the set of marketing tools a company uses to sell products, defined by the 4Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

Marketing Mix

Sales Territory

A sales territory is a specific group of customers or a geographic area that a salesperson or sales team is responsible for managing.

Sales Territory

Day Sales Outstanding

Day Sales Outstanding (DSO) is a financial ratio that shows the average number of days it takes for a company to receive payment for a sale.

Day Sales Outstanding

Fulfillment Logistics

Fulfillment logistics is the entire process of getting an order to a customer, from storing inventory to picking, packing, and final shipment.

Fulfillment Logistics

Sales Funnel Metrics

Sales funnel metrics are key data points that track how effectively you're moving potential customers from awareness to a final purchase.

Sales Funnel Metrics

Video Selling

Video selling uses personalized video messages to engage prospects, build rapport, and guide them through the sales funnel to close more deals.

Video Selling

Stakeholder

A stakeholder is any individual, group, or party that has an interest in an organization and the outcomes of its actions.

Stakeholder