Published: 26 June 2023
Channel partnerships involve a diverse set of indirect sales motions to reach end customers. To support optimal partner engagement and performance, sales operations leaders must design processes in five key areas: foundations, onboarding, relationship management, tracking and enablement (FORTE).
Channel partnerships have become more complex. In addition to the traditional resale motion, modern channel partners engage and influence buyers through complementary products, services and expertise.
Even in mature organizations, sales operations leaders often try to manage channel partners through the same processes used for direct sales, missing key capabilities required for managing partners. Specific challenges to partner productivity go unaddressed.
Outdated and inadequate channel processes result in cumbersome manual workarounds, inability to get useful insights about partner performance and ultimately poor experience for partners and customers. This leads partners to disengage and stop following established processes.
Sales operations leaders
Analysts:
Gartner research, which includes in-depth proprietary studies, peer and industry best practices, trend analysis and quantitative modeling, enables us to offer innovative approaches that can help you drive stronger, more sustainable business performance.
Our independence as a research firm enables our experts to provide unbiased advice you can trust.
Not only is Gartner research unbiased, it also contains key take-aways and recommendations for impactful next steps.
Our research practices and procedures distill large volumes of data into clear, precise recommendations.
We provide actionable, objective insight to help organizations make smarter, faster decisions to stay ahead of disruption and accelerate growth.
We offer one-on-one guidance tailored to your mission-critical priorities.
We work with you to select the best-fit providers and tools, so you avoid the costly repercussions of a poor decision.
Connect directly with peers to discuss common issues and initiatives and accelerate, validate and solidify your strategy.
Gartner clients can log in to access the full library.
Connect with the leading CSOs and sales leaders to get the latest insights on sales technology, sales enablement and more.
©2022 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and its affiliates. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without Gartner’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization, which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Although Gartner research may address legal and financial issues, Gartner does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by Gartner’s Usage Policy. Gartner prides itself on its reputation for independence and objectivity. Its research is produced independently by its research organization without input or influence from any third party. For further information, see Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity.
