Q&A: Why B2B Tech Buyers Need the Channel Now More Than Ever

Mark Mangelson is the Chief Revenue Officer for Skillable, managing the global Revenue and Services teams. In this Q&A with Channel Insider, he breaks down why tech vendors need to keep channel partners top of mind as they navigate new buying habits and expand customer bases.

This Q&A has been lightly edited for grammar and clarity.

Why MSPs are increasingly crucial to end-users in their buying journeys

Can you describe a little how, in your experience, partners like MSPs are playing a critical role throughout the buying process?  

MSPs are crucial in the modern-day buying process because it is getting increasingly difficult to navigate and choose the best option. Buyers, particularly of complex software and hardware, have an overwhelming number of choices, and many can suffer from the ‘fear of messing up’. For good reason, a failed software implementation can cost millions. 

Buyers can mitigate this by working with an MSP to find the solutions that uniquely fit their needs, budget, goals, and existing technology infrastructure. There’s a confidence boost that comes from having an expert opinion on what technology you should consider. Post-sale, MSPs remain a critical and trusted partner for organisations, keeping leaders up to date on new solutions and trends that are relevant to them and providing ongoing support.  

Vendors who partner strategically with MSPs can open doors to new customers and revenue opportunities, plug skill and capability gaps, and increase their brand awareness and authority through the third-party validation that an expert MSP provides. Indeed, 75% of buyers trust brands more if they have a connection with an industry expert. MSPs definitely fall into that category given their breadth of knowledge and experience of an industry, different customer organisations, and technology options.  

How can vendors who are unfamiliar with working with channel partners get aligned on a strategy for this sales approach?  

Top-performing companies approach managed services in a strategic way, not solely partnering with MSPs for cost savings, but also to grow revenue opportunities, improve customer experiences, increase thought leadership and brand authority, and drive innovation. That requires a more active two-way relationship between a channel partner and a vendor.  

For a partner to be effective, they need to understand a vendor’s product fully, including its capabilities, limitations, roadmap, and positioning. Vendors need to proactively communicate every new feature and service, any change in strategic direction, and even senior team changes that could impact current customers acquired via the MSP and new deals. Transparent and open communication will help an MSP provide the best solutions to its customers, building their authority and trust. Likewise, fostering a relationship where the channel partner feels that they can feed back to a vendor about messaging, product releases, market opportunities, and so on, can give valuable outside perspectives to a vendor that influences strategic and product innovation.  

Regular meetings between a partner and vendor team will help keep everyone updated on joint initiatives and opportunities, opening up communication between the different companies. Setting formal joint goals and success measures can keep efforts on track. Highly engaging, accessible partner enablement is also needed to give channel partners deep knowledge of a vendor’s solutions and how they apply to different uses. Hands-on training in the product, through a virtual lab, simulation, or sandbox (depending on the complexity of the solution), will help an MSP understand how a customer will use and experience the software or hardware.  

Research indicates that the efforts in actively partnering with an MSP will be worth it. Companies that use MSPs in a strategic way are 2.4 times more likely to be more innovative than companies that solely see MSPs as a cost-saving strategy and 1.6 times more likely to be faster to market.  

How technology vendors can build long-term channel success

How can vendors leverage the trust that partners build with customers to increase adoption of their own products?  

Partners build trust with customers through long-standing relationships, successful implementations, and authentic industry expertise. Vendors who help partners achieve these three characteristics will then benefit de facto from the trust built between a partner and customer.  

Deep industry and product expertise is the backbone of a strong MSP and customer relationship, across many different solutions and vendors. A vendor who is proactive in sharing their roadmap and training in the latest features will always stand out more than a vendor with a less proactive approach. MSPs who can tailor product options to a customer’s goals, budget, and existing infrastructure will build a lot of trust and loyalty. Product enablement from the vendor is crucial to this, not just as a one-time onboarding activity, but also as an ongoing process, with every major product update. Enable partner teams to explore your product, including all its features, in various applications and scenarios, so they feel better equipped to sell and support it with their customers.  

Collaboration on value-adding activities, such as joint research, innovation sessions, and speaking engagements, benefits both partners and vendors while providing much-needed clarity and perspective to customers. Social proof is increasingly sought after by buyers, with 92% of B2B buyers stating that they are more likely to purchase after reading trusted reviews. Vendors can work with partners on joint customer success stories and sourcing quotes that can be published across both companies’ marketing and sales channels.  

Where do you see the market headed in terms of partners playing an increasingly important role? 

It’s not an understatement to say that B2B technology buying has become increasingly confusing and convoluted. Partners are a panacea for this, providing tailored advice to buyers as they try to navigate deals worth potentially millions of dollars. The technology landscape is only going to become more complex, particularly with AI features being added to many solutions and also accelerating development cycles.  

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a partner involved in every major enterprise technology investment in the future, because buyers often lack the deep industry knowledge and time to confidently understand the numerous software and hardware options available to them, as well as how to integrate different solutions to achieve their goals. Market volatility and budget pressures will increase the need for MSPs, helping buyers decide on the best combination of technology for their needs and budget, while coaching them to uncover and communicate ROI back to stakeholders.  

GTIA’s July research digs into SMB buying habits. Read more about how MSPs can use AI-driven demand in the market to their advantage.