Channel organizations have been slow to adopt the use of business intelligence and analytics tools to drive decision making about channel investments. The high-tech industry lags behind other industries with significant channels such as packaged goods or consumer products with regard to best practices in analytics. In fact, many technology companies still use Excel spreadsheets as their primary reporting tool. In these industries, customer behaviors are tracked and analyzed throughout the buying cycle and little is left to chance.
Effective execution of channel programs requires robust capabilities in channel analytics to measure partner and program performance. Typically, companies define their reporting and analytics requirements based upon their business model, market strategy and essential criteria determined by their executive team. There is not a “one size fits all” for this type of analysis but there are certain best practices companies should adhere to. Best practice requires that your channel analytics platform be capable of:
- Providing real-time, actionable and contextual data analysis
- Easily creating statements, dashboards, intelligence and modeling
- Delivering compelling visualizations and tools to help manage channel data
Delivering compelling visualizations and tools to help manage channel data
Channel analytics provide insights into partner and program performance and inform management regarding channel strategies that optimize channel investments. Channel analytics include the following elements:
Partner Performance
Partner value scoring identifies high value partners & their future potential
Incentive Performance
Identify individual incentives and partners with high incentive ROI
Market Performance
Track market goals & trends to optimize partner & incentive performance