Connexions Process

Here it is all together. If you are interested in more information you can contact me at jeff@channelconnexions.com or visit http://www.channelconnexions.com/.

I like this process because it is a system that is flexible and applicable to many different situations.

Learning

The last step in the Channel Connexions Process is "learning", which is really based on the measurements used to gauge the relative success of each channel campaign. I think it is important to understand that the ways in which marketing measured is changing. It used to be that we used "Awareness, Consideration, and Purchase" as the success measurements in a marketing campaign. The approach is fine with a mass marketing campaign, but with a true, targeted 1:1 relationship management initiative, we should be focused on customer attraction, retention, extension, and loyalty. This holds true from a channel perspective, as well.

Today, it is fairly common practice to use SEO measurments and targeted advertising to "attract" new business. Retention (engagement) and extension require newer metrics and involve the examination of data over a period of time. For example, revenue growth is good know, but it is more useful to understand the change in revenue growth velocity. This information offers additional insight into each customer/channel, and enables you to make better decision about future marketing campaigns. By managing channel attraction, engagement, and extension, you will increase channel loyalty and accelerate the positive rate of change in loyalty.

ACT

It is pretty evident that mass marketing is rapidly being replaced by more targeted communications. As discussed in the previous blog post, the application of "active" data analytics is enabling companies to focus their messaging to a very well defined community. There are many benefits to this, not the least of which is a better ROI on your marketing spend. This is extremely important especially when dealing with a large channel ecosystem which potentially thousands of indirect sales representatives.

While some of your channel partners might be exclusively sell your products or services, it is more likely that will multi-source from a number of vendors. Your challenge is to position your portfolio effectively as the lead solution. To accomplish this you will need to win the mindshare battle. Mass marketing (spray & pray) will not provide you with the mindshare needed.

The hierarchy in the image is a great way to look at your communication strategy. Your goal should be to establish a unique relationship with each of your channel partners and, even, each of the channel sales representatives. By engaging each of them in interactive conversations with your channel marketing programs you can build an emotional connection with the individuals. This, in turn, creates loyalty and switching costs, well beyond what can be accomplished with mass marketing.

While this is difficult and will take time to develop, the emergence of new technologies is making Stage 5 communications much more realistic, even for smaller organizations. Social networking is enabling new business relationship management applications and variable data management techniques for email and print-on-demand solutions are more readily available.

The channel management reality is that you have to be better and more creative in your channel marketing strategy. A "me-too" approach will not adequately differentiate you from your competitors and make winning mindshare very challenging. Channel executives should be willing to push the envelop with a focus on building relationships through unique communication strategies.

Strategic Targeting

Now that you, and the rest of the leadership team, have identified strategic goals and objectives, it is up to you (as the channel leader) to identify the best channel opportunities to contribute to the achievement of those goals. Market segmentation is a natural place to start. I think that most companies - even very large and sophisticated organizations - start with demographic data. It might be geography, SIC codes, or some other demographic classification. This is a fine place to start, but your analysis shouldn't stop there.

Demographic data is passive, and therefore a poor predictor of future behavior. Just because you are a white male living in Illinois, doesn't provide any indication that you will buy a new router, does it? Your goal should be to use "active" data like historical transaction records that will provide a much more accurate predictive model and enable you to target and customize your marketing campaigns.

While the population may be smaller, the yield should be much greater.

After all, it is the yield that you are after.

Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning seems like a logical place to start, but it is too often limited to just a few key stakeholders, and often does not consider the full suite of available data.

Channel Connexions looks at strategic planning as a holistic cycle that starts with the application of market analytics. By continuously examining the data (quantitative and qualitative), you will be able to proactively identify new opportunities.

I think the most common mistake that channel marketing managers make is that once an opportunity is identified there is an immediate push to develop a campaign and execute. While the intent is correct, there are other considerations. Ensuring that back-end business processes are in place to support the campaign is extremely important. Can we track and measure the campaign? How will we deliver training and customer/channel communications? There are countless other considerations, but establishing the business processes is an important next step.

Considering and selecting the appropriate financial performance goals is extremely important. Your goals can revenue growth, profitability, product/service attachment, share of wallet gains, or some other measurement. Make sure you select the right goal and have the business process to measure.

As you review your business process needs, it is likely that you will identify technology needs to support your campaign. For example, call center queues may need to be established or you might need a variable data management system for your multi-channel needs. This should be coordinated and established before the campaign launch.

After all of these considerations, you will now be ready to launch and manage your campaign. A strong channel marketing team is required to coordinate the strategic planning process and provide continuous oversight and management of the program(s). It should be noted that it is common for multiple campaigns to be in different stages of the planning process at any one time. Adherence to the process will help with the overall coordination of the efforts.

As you may have guessed, the effective planning of channel marketing requires the active participation of many different functional teams including Sales, Marketing, Finance, Product Management, Service, Operations, and the Executive team. You must be willing and able to engage each of these functional teams and build a collaborative effort to execute effectively.

Channel Connexions Process

As I have previously mentioned, I like systems. They help organize and enable consistency. Systems need to be flexible in order to adapt to different environments, so please keep that in mind as I introduce the Channel Connexions process.

At the heart of the process is a model that I have adapted from the SAS Institute. I like this model because it is very flexible and yet offers a clear path to effective channel program execution.

In upcoming posts, I will elaborate more on each of the components, but let me start by stating that it is incredibly important as a channel marketing professional to engage a wide constituency in the development and execution of an effective channel program. Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Finance, Operations, Service, and the Executive team all provide the necessary functional expertise required with a great channel program. Additionally, these constituents will be of great value during the launch and execution stages of the program.

In simple terms, the Channel Connexions Process is:

• Planning: Alignment with the company strategy and individual functional teams
• Target: Find your audience and adapt your message accordingly
• Act: Effectively deliver your program
• Learn: Measure and adjust your program for effectiveness

Customer and channel data is an important part of this process. Both qualitative and quantitative data should be used in each part of the process.

PLAN --> TARGET --> ACT --> LEARN

Connect, Collect, Revive

I was just made aware of a new blog...and eventually a new company that has developed a marketing methodology that I think is worth taking a look at. Clearly they understand the need for an effective blend of marketing art & science to take advantage of the changing marketing landscape. While Channel Connexions specifically focuses on go-to-market challenges and channel execution, the ccr method offers a more holistic approach to marketing challenges. Keep an eye on these guys...

http://theccrmethod.wordpress.com/