Tracking Channel KPIs is Key to Channel Success
There’s a direct correlation between the amount of activity in the channel and the number of deals that will close. A lack of activity is an early indicator that sales goals won’t be achieved. With that in mind, Channel Mechanics have compiled a list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that every channel manager should be closely tracking to ensure their channel is performing at the highest level.
9 Channel KPIs To Track
– Total and Average Revenue Per Partner per Channel Tier
Most organizations intuitively know that 20 percent of partners generate 80 percent of revenue. So identifying that 20% is critical. However, knowing which partners are on their way to joining that 20%, is of equal importance. The sad truth is that only a small percentage of channel partners participate in the top tiers of a program. When one of those partners gets acquired or decides to switch vendors, the impact can be devastating. So vendors must understand why partners are not moving up channel tiers or whether a specific channel tier is serving its intended purpose.
– Revenue Achievement against Specific Products
Not all products are of equal financial value. Most vendors need to emphasize high-margin offerings that drive profitability. It’s all too easy to lose sight of that goal in the channel. Therefore, revenue mix analysis is a critical channel KPI for long-term success.
– Revenue by Geography
Emerging markets are crucial to the success of any vendor in global markets. It may very well be that an IT vendor is enjoying massive success in one geography while finding themselves shut out of another key region that could prove fatal in the long term.
– Number of Deals Registered
Deal registration is a critical channel KPI. It both reduces channel conflict and gains financial visibility in the channel. Without it, most vendors have a difficult time predicting revenue streams.
– Partner Satisfaction
Solution providers often partner with multiple companies selling the same technologies. So measuring partner satisfaction needs to go beyond surveys. Metrics such as the number of times a partner logs into the partner portal, number of channel account manager (CAM) calls or partner account managers (PAMs), number of meetings attended, number of sales and marketing collateral downloads, demo participation rates, and certifications attained are all leading indicators of partner satisfaction. These channel KPIs speaks to how “sticky” your relationship with partners really is.
– Channel Attrition Rate
If there’s considerable churn among your channel partners, ROI isn’t going to be as high as it should. It’s important to understand whether those churn rates are normal, or something more specific to your approach to the channel.
– Market Development Fund (MDF) Effectiveness
Every channel partner wants to know how much money they’re being allocated by vendors to drive leads. But vendors need to keep a close eye on the actual number of leads being generated by those MDF dollars.
– New Customer Logos
New accounts are critical. There’s nothing more indicative of success than landing new customers. They provide an opportunity to expand as typically it’s easier to upsell to existing customers. Ultimately the growth of a business depends on the ability of channel partners to bring in new customers.
– Renewal Rates
The reason an organization might decide not to renew a license could span anything from being unhappy with the product or service to simply not being aware of the renewal date. It’s pivotal for channel partners to be able to discern the root cause of any failure to renew.
There’s an old saying that “things measured are things done”. These are just some of the Channel KPIs savvy channel managers routinely track to ensure their channel is robust and healthy. Of course, it’s not possible to track channel KPIs without having a platform in place that makes it easy to surface that data. And that’s the very reason we built our channel automation platform.
We invite you to demo what’s truly possible to track and manage in your channel. We’re confident you’ll be pleasantly surprised to discover just how easy it is to take advantage of a cloud application that comes with all the critical channel KPIs needed to successfully manage a channel baked into the core platform.