Path to profits
Profitability Priorities
As usual, almost a third of channel partners intend to hire more technical and sales people. But, surprisingly, 30% plan to invest in more marketing and offer higher-margin services.
Keys to Profitability
Quality products that don’t require a lot of support was rated No. 1 by 30%. Revenue and margin was a close second at 29%.
Top Channel Partner Pain Points
More than half identify relationship issues such as channel conflict as a top pain point. Ease of doing business comes in second at 45%.
Importance of Revenue and Margin
Well over half cite front-end margin as important while just under half cite overall revenue.
Additional Revenue Opportunities
Only 21% say vendors do a good job on back-end incentives, and 27% say they do well with special incentives.
Services Pull-Through Rate
On average, the ratio of services to software revenue tends to be close to 3:1, while hardware services are about 2:1.
Top Solution Provider Requirements
43% cite pre-sales support from vendors, followed by incentives at 40%. Market development funds came in a distant fourth.
Biggest Source of Partner Regret
Conflict with vendors’ direct sales force leads, at 33%, followed by not enough margin, at 29%.