“The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.”
Albert Einstein
Running MDF funds as part of your Partner Program requires efficient management processes, robust reporting, strong audit and compliance support, integration with your financial systems, and collaboration at scale so that you can engage & enable all your ecosystem partners. The idea behind these programs is to deliver a better partner experience, bring more profitability, and ultimately help your business thrive. So, with all these moving parts, can MDF Automation make it easier for partners to do business with their vendors?
This was just one of the topics up for discussion during the Channel Mechanics webinar ‘Forget Surviving, How to Ensure your MDF Program Thrives in 2023″. The webinar provided a unique perspective from esteemed channel leaders Janelle Mertens, Global Director of Channel Operations at Informatica, Dave Jordan, Global Partner Programs and Strategy at Thales, and our CEO, Kenneth Fox. By utilizing an MDF Automation Platform, vendors can deliver a better partner experience, bring more profitability, and ultimately help engage & enable their ecosystem partners. Follow the panel’s simple steps to make the most of your MDF investment.
Keep it Simple
Keep in mind that partners have their own businesses to manage, often engaging with multiple vendors, including your competitors. Consequently, they need to comprehend the intricacies of each MDF program they participate in. As a result, when faced with a wider selection of vendors, they are more likely to opt for those that offer a simplified partnering process. Therefore:
Be Clear: Make sure your MDF Program has clear, easy-to-understand program requirements, rules, and important deadlines.
Accessible and Intuitive: With automation, make MDF a one-click request that is easy to access through your Partner Portal.
Activity Requests: Enable your partner ecosystem to generate and oversee activities. Utilize a dashboard to review and approve proposed activities, providing real-time updates on the approval status of your partners.
Manage Claims: Streamline the process of submitting claims for partners, allowing them to effortlessly complete and submit claims while attaching supporting documentation such as Proof of Performance (POP). By implementing claims workflows, tasks, and notifications, the entire process is expedited, ensuring transparency at every step.
Show me the Money: Through automation, you can streamline the way you pay partners back whilst reducing the auditing process.
Reporting: There are a lot of moving parts in the MDF process. You’ll want to measure, manage, and report across the partner ecosystem, activities, solutions, regions, and countries. You’ll want to look at the program investment returns, identify what activities have the best ROI over one quarter, or multiple quarters, and ensure no fund leakage.
MDF Automation
‘The best investment is in the tools of one’s own trade.’ – Benjamin Franklin
As the partner ecosystem becomes more intricate, a channel automation platform or PRM becomes indispensable. It facilitates seamless connectivity between you and your partners. Performance dashboards offer transparent visibility to both you and your partners, enabling you to access real-time MDF metrics such as funds available, approval status, POP (Proof of Performance), and detailed ROI data. By utilizing an automated platform, you can efficiently manage multiple partner programs tailored to different partner types. Moreover, you can automate program exceptions based on the specific business cases of your partners, reducing the need for spreadsheets and excessive email communication. And by adopting a standardized approach, it will allow for real-time auditing, resulting in shorter SLAs.
Dashboards for Tracking
With a single dashboard for funds and claims, partners will have clear visibility of funds available and their requests/claims status. By engaging directly, you gain better accountability, track partner performance, and ensure compliance.
To Conclude
In summary, leveraging automation in your MDF Program simplifies the experience for all stakeholders involved. MDF challenges come in various forms, making it a complex endeavor. However, with the assistance of a reliable channel automation platform, many of the aforementioned issues can be addressed. By streamlining and optimizing your MDF Program, partners can easily access and maximize the benefits of their MDF investments.
View the full webinar recording to ensure your MDF program not only survives, but thrives in 2023
Looking to implement MDF Automation to be easy for partners to do business with?