Channel Partner Training – Benefits And Challenges

A channel partner is a business that collaborates with another organization to promote or sell the organization’s services, goods, or technologies. The channel partner can range from anything, such as a service provider, reseller, vendor, retailer, or agent.

And as you probably already guessed, training for channel partners includes training the distributors, resellers, wholesalers, franchisees, all businesses, and individuals involved in reselling your items.

These partner training initiatives help the partners close more sales. The training initiative accomplishes this by assisting them in showcasing the products to clients in the best possible light. From onboarding partners to continuing training to match your partners with product releases and upgrades, partner training covers it all.

But do your channel partners need training? Yes, they do! And let’s see why by looking at these benefits of channel training-

Benefits Of Channel Partner Training

It Helps In Making Your Brand Grow.

Long-standing, trained, and approved partners help a brand grow. They have more brand awareness and can increase your business’s visibility, benefiting both of you. You will get brand recognition, while your channel partners will get the sales up owing to the brand recognition.

It Creates Scope For Receiving Feedback From Partners.

You can get input on your training program, products, and services from your channel partners during and after training. You can use this information to enhance your training curriculum and develop improved goods and services.

It Improves The Performance Of The Partner. 

Channel partners receive training to fine-tune their understanding of the product or service you offer. A qualified partner can explain the advantages and values to customers in a better way. They can sell more, which significantly enhances their performance.

It Also Helps You Save On Support Costs.

When things don’t go as planned, a trained partner doesn’t need constant support. They know how to solve problems on their own. It lowers the price of the assistance resources you would otherwise offer in such circumstances.

It Leads To Improved Customer Retention.

Training in channel partner management helps in motivating partners to perform better. It creates an environment that enables them to focus more on increasing sales. They become more proactive and attentive to client’s requirements as a result. Customers’ happiness levels skyrocket when they associate with such qualified partners, and satisfied customers patronize a company for longer.

These reasons must have compelled you to start your channel partner training program! However, you must know that there are specific challenges associated with channel partner training. You need not worry, however, as it is easy to address these challenges! 

So the challenge and their solution are-

Challenges Of Channel Partner Training

Lack Of Recognition For Partner Training’s Importance

The biggest challenge is typically persuading the company to accept and value the benefits partner training could bring. It is well-acknowledged how crucial product knowledge is to a company’s sales strategy. However, there is negligence noticed pertaining to extracting the benefits of providing a training program to boost the effectiveness of your partner.

Solution:

Recognizing the benefits partner training might provide for your sales is essential. Your clients and partners can be equipped with the product knowledge, sales know-how, and toolkit they need to succeed through partner training with an LMS. An LMS can provide relevant facts and statistics that emphasize the significance of partner training. The management may use these reports to justify shifting support in favor of partner training.

Lack Of Partner Engagement 

Once the channel partner training has been acknowledged and started, partner participation is the next vital challenge to address. Even with the most robust platform and training, it will fail relatively soon if there is a lack of partner involvement.

Solution:

Since they have the most in-depth familiarity with your company’s partners, the LMS and your sales or partner engagement team are the most suitable candidate to handle this issue. You may speak with your partners quickly and easily using an LMS. You can find out what information would be helpful to your partners, what kind of training they need, and how they would like to receive it through these group talks with your partners. You can then modify your training to meet the preferences and requirements of your partners.

Loss Of Focus On The Part Of Your Partner

Your partners can handle several products from many companies simultaneously. Your relationships might become strained as a result of this, as the partners might not devote enough time and attention to your company.

Solution:

You can keep your collaborators engaged by providing regular praise for a job well done. Tell them how important they are to your company. You can also recognize and celebrate accomplishments together. You can even consider implementing incentive programs to hit sales goals.

The Issue Of Funding And Budget

Choosing whether your program will use various training techniques, such as classroom instruction, virtual reality training, an LMS platform, etc., is appropriate and fair. Finding funds, though, is a challenge.

Human resource departments typically control the training budgets, but they are unlikely to be eager to spend that money with outside partners. The lack of options stems from sales teams’ reluctance to reveal their spending plans and the difficulty in persuading senior management to approve a new financial allocation.

Solution:

Many business owners think traditional HR learning and development initiatives hide or overshadow partner training. However, we cannot emphasize the importance of having a specific partner training program. The cost of partner training shouldn’t be a concern with LMS. The LMS offers training at a substantially lower installation and maintenance cost than alternative techniques. The added expense for instructors’ travel and lodging is minimal. It is a cost-effective option as a result.

Conclusion-

Channel partners are essential to promoting and selling a product. Given this, it is necessary to continually train them to improve their performance following your branding requirements, shifting market trends, and consumer wants. Start training your partners as soon as you’ve determined their training needs. You can train them in business standards and sales goals using practical training courses. The most effective tool for teaching a sizable network of dispersed partners may be an LMS.