The reverse side of the coin is that suppliers need to be sure they really do want to work with specific intermediaries – that there is a strong strategic fit and real commitment from the other side.

Jim Irving told how he inherited an apparently huge partner network at one supplier. "In practice, I found that many of them had done one-off deals with us.  Others had simply made empty promises."

Irving says he resolved the problem by sending out a questionnaire. "It went with a covering letter which said: ‘we want to work with you, but only if you are prepared to fill in this eight page questionnaire.’"

"After the presentation there was a long silence – particularly from the direct guys!"

He expected a high response rate. In fact, just 25% bothered to fill it in. "So we cut right back to the 25% core.  Despite this, or perhaps because of it, next year our channel sales were up 25%!" Irving says it is vital, early on in the relationship to decide whether you want to work with a particular intermediary.  "Ask these questions.  Are they reliable? Are they profitable for you?  Do they perform?  Do they cause damage in anyway?"

Living by clear rules of engagement is also crucial. For example, many relationships have been wrecked by an overly aggressive direct sales-force.

Irving feels that potential areas of conflict need to be resolved early: "At one supplier, a critical area was whether our consulting and services arm would ever take business away from them. We eventually decided to deal with this head on with a cast iron promise that they would never lose service revenue to us."

Know your partners
As VIA director Tarek Sherazee points out, you need to understand the intermediary’s business model and goals, before you can work with it closely and develop real mindshare. "Do you know how it really makes its money?  Do you know where it wants to be in five years’ time?" There is no point trying to build mindshare if your aims do not align.

Philpot says that Oracle has developed a matrix to decide upon the importance of a particular intermediary. "Are they a market leader? Are they closely aligned to us? Are they involved in several countries? The more engaged the intermediary is with our products, the more willing we are to be deeply involved."

Irving reckons that most suppliers consistently underestimate the cost of finding new partners, and also the cost of losing existing partners.

He adds: "It is time to put a lifetime value on each partner.  What do they really generate for you year-on-year? Now multiply that by the number of years you typically do business with intermediaries, and you have a life-time value. Use this to justify investments in the relationship."

By understanding partners’ business models, goals, their value to you and what it would cost to replace them, you are in a much better position to decide how to deploy scarce resources and where to systematically develop strong mindshare.

Joint planning
You will not get mindshare if you simply dictate quotas to partners. Instead, the key is to develop a joint business plan, with commitment and thinking from both parties.

Philpot says Oracle also lays great stress on creating a joint consensus with partners. "We want to agree a level of commitment based on agreed goals and objectives. Ultimately, that means agreeing on a set of numbers in a business plan, but the process starts along way before that and builds organically."