Differentiating yourself in the channel
In any consumer industry, you need to stand out and offer something different. The same goes for the channel. With so many people drawn to the channel and the growth we’ve witnessed over the past few years, competition is high.
What may have differentiated your services in the past may no longer be enough. Kameron’s example is offering a “white glove” service where you focus on “the quality of service” as the key selling point. This is something that people naturally tune out now.
“If everyone has white glove service, nobody has white glove service.”
Kameron’s advice is to learn how to differentiate yourself in the channel and do it quickly.
Communication is essential when things go wrong
Sometimes technology fails. It’s expected at this point. However, how you deal with that technology failing is what will make or break your product/service.
Kameron highlights how important fast and clear communication is from suppliers when things go wrong. If there’s an outage, it shouldn’t be on the advisor to get in touch and lead the conversation. Suppliers should be the ones to inform all invested parties and reassure them that they’re working on a solution.
This goes a long way in maintaining a trusting relationship between suppliers and advisors, which spills into the end-customer relationship as well.
Predictions for the future of the channel
Private equity is impacting the channel more and more, to the point where most TSDs now have some sort of private equity money. In the next three to four years, Kameron predicts that the channel is going to become so different that we’ll barely recognize it. By that point, the second round of funding is going to come in for a lot of partners that were bought two or three years ago.
Another prediction from Kameron is that advisors will still be as valued as ever. Even with lots of choices and information on different solutions, it’s still valuable to have an advisor who knows the ecosystem well and can make an objective decision. If customers go directly to the supplier, they will only get information about that supplier. Instead, a channel partner can give an overview of all the options available to help them make the best choice.
In terms of technology trends, the top areas that Kameron recommends advisors dig into are AI tools and security solutions. As the risks of cybercrimes rise, good security solutions are essential to any type of business, big or small. AI is impacting just about every software solution today, so it pays to be in the know of any trends and changes in the AI world as well.
For more predictions, insights, and takeaway tips, tune in to the full episode today.
