Partner Communication

There is a new generation of sales people that have grown up with new forms of communication; the so called ‘MySpace’ generation.

Making use of web 2.0 technologies, AccountMaven helps you communicate with partners in new and more effective ways.

Communication that is:

• not confused with spam
• non intrusive and contextual

The newsfeed on the Home page is a good example of this. Messages that are appropriate to you appear here based on what is happening in your network.

Single Sign On

Password protected portals are barriers to adoption and one of the primary reasons that partner portals don’t get used.

With Single Sign On, identity is authenticated with the AccountMaven login. There is no need for further passwords to corporate portals. Sales partners have access to corporate programs and assets they are entitled to.

AccountMaven does not replace the corporate portal, it just authenticates and provides access through linking.

Team Access

People like to deal with those they trust and have rapport with.

Making your channel team accessible to partners helps create rapport and enables partners to form those valuable relationships.

Each member of your channel team has an easily accessible profile on AccountMaven as well as multiple channels of communication.

Which team members show, can be based on geography, industry, partner tier or other criteria you define.

Partner Requests

Understanding what partners need to be successful is a first step in an active, engaged partner community.

Using ‘Requests’ partners can quickly state what they need, be it an introduction, assistance or other help or information. Any team member can respond and begin a public or private dialog.

Requests are monitored not only by the internal team, but by other partners as well. This encourages partner to partner assistance and problem solving.

Like everything in AccountMaven, Requests are associated with individuals first and companies second. This helps to create essential personal relationship and breaks down corporate boundaries.

Sales Leads

The conventional method of distributing leads is to assign a lead to a particular partner. This motivates that partner, but fails to activate other partners that may be dormant.

The AccountMaven model invites partners to apply for a particular lead by contacting a channel rep. This creates new relationships and activates dormant partners.

You can use the traditional model as well through your integrated partner portal.

Partner Sales Teams

Effectively activating a channel partner requires getting to know the people behind the company.

Too often, partners work only with an assigned contact and fail to create vital business relationships at different levels in an organization.

AccountMaven provides information and access to individuals within a company removing barriers to business relationships. Multiple channels of communication and contextual information create a basis for connections.

Overlapping Accounts

If you ask a sales person which partners are working on their ‘named accounts’ typically they will not be able to answer.

The Match Report is a quantitative tool which immediately informs you of the accounts you have in common with any partner, or other sales person.

The report can be sent to that partner and used as a basis for conversation. If there is a high degree of account overlap, then there is a good basis for discussion and potentially new business.

Understanding Relationships

If you were focused on penetrating a specific account, would it be helpful for you to know who in your partner organization has existing relationships in that account, and at what levels?

AccountMaven can tell you exactly that about any account you are interested in. Tap into your network of partners and others to exchange mutually warm introductions.

Maintaining your own relationship information is easy and does not compromise those relationships. Only give out specific information with prior consent, and only to those you trust.

Partner to Partner

Partners working with other partners is critical to an engaged and active partner community.

AccountMaven is multi-dimensional in that relationships are formed between many different companies and individuals.

Within your own partner program, you can foster partner to partner collaboration by practicing transparency of information, requests, solutions, individuals and companies.

This way so called ‘networking effects’ begin to scale revenue even without your involvement.