In today's business world, an old saying is probably more true than ever before: "You can't go it alone."
No matter how self-sufficient a business is, they still need partners. Whether those partners are in transportation, or finance, or telecommunications, or sales outlets, or in any of a variety of specialty fields, no single company can handle every aspect which is required for success. They need partners, and those partners need to be able to work together as a cohesive whole to see all their respective ventures succeed.
And those most likely to succeed in a big way are those who can fine-tune the efficiency of their partner relationships in exactly the same way they fine-tune their internal business structure. This is especially true when it comes to indirect selling partners.
This is precisely what Partner Relationship Management (PRM) software can achieve: A collection of interconnected partner businesses run as a single cohesive whole, for the sake of larger business goals. PRM software overcomes the challenges traditionally associated with managing large clusters of partnerships, with a stable and standardized platform linking those partners and channels together.
Partner Relationship Management Brings It All Together
Disconnected Partners
Traditionally, one of the biggest difficulties in managing a large set of channel partners was maintaining effective communication. Before online connections were common, this was largely taken on faith. You partnered with a retail sales outlet, for example, and hoped they could live up to their end of the bargain. All you saw were weekly or monthly reports unless you took the effort to send in an overseer.
Today's PRM software changes all that. Every partner can be on the same page, with every partner channel aware of what everyone else is doing, because they're linked through a single communications network which is shared throughout the nested organizational structure.
Incompatible Platforms
Another major challenge Partner Relationship Management software overcomes is that of incompatible software platforms. When everyone has their own database systems and their own CRM platforms and their own messaging systems, it becomes a nightmare trying to get all these software suites to talk to each other.
PRM centralizes and standardizes all of these. It integrates all the features partner channels need for success, from scheduling to sales databases. One shared software platform standardizes workflow across multiple businesses and industries, allowing them to truly work together.
READ MORE: PRM or CRM - The Right Choice for the Indirect Sales ChannelLost Information
One of the biggest challenges in managing partners has been managing the data flow. How do you guarantee that everyone has access to the materials they need for success, and how do you deal with the troubles that arise when these materials get lost in transit, get mis-classified as spam, or otherwise simply don't arrive?
Partner Relationship Management software provides a central repository of every piece of information which is vital for cross-channel success, including marketing materials, sales and customer data, timetables, organizational diagrams, and even future plans. Rather than risking data loss -or theft- by sending the materials directly, PRM becomes the only resource needed to keep the data flowing smoothly.
Standardizing Training and On-boarding
How do you bring new partners up to speed, when you've formed a new relationship? And how do those partners then ensure that every member of their team is also fully onboard and ready to contribute to success?
PRM can host all needed training materials in one central location, along with necessary testing and per-employee skills tracking. These systems are fully SCORM\Tin Can compatible and can utilize the training records that your partners already have. It's a true one-stop-shop for employee training and partner on-boarding, smoothing out a process that can often be a significant hurdle for growing organizations managing a large number of partner companies.
Time Delays
Like they say, money never sleeps. We're in a business environment which is truly 24/7/365, and any delay at any level of a channel partner system ultimately slows down everyone else - costing everyone money.
All the above problems cost money and time, and that more than anything else is what superior Partner Relationship Management suites address: Every aspect of partner relations becomes smoother, easier to manage, and less costly in terms of both time AND money.
Simply put, PRM makes you easier to do business with. For many potential partner channels, that's a far more compelling reason to join in than any number of more specific inducements.
LogicBay offers the most feature-complete and customizable solution for Partner Relationship Management on the market, one which can save time and money for both you and your partners at every organizational level. Companies like Caterpillar, UBS, Texas Instruments, and Mercedes-Benz have already seen just how effective Logic Bay can be in managing their partner relations and so can you, with our free demo.
