Though it’s hard to remember a time without the Internet, its movement into the mainstream had to actually overcome several factors over a long period of time. While all things social media are currently all the rage, that doesn’t mean the lessons that history has taught us over and over can now be ignored if proponents of its deliverables expect them to take hold in any meaningful way.
Over the past couple of years, a number of suppliers have posted blogs, delivered podcasts and built community sites to drive awareness, many of which have fallen on deaf partner ears. In this brief, we discuss why, and what can be done to turn the tide.
Six hurdles, one big problem
Thinking that partners should flock to social media offers that promote better communication, especially given the negative feedback vendors receive on their lack of channel support? Think again. To wit: A major supplier’s effort launched in early 2008 to set up a community site and then invite partners from various regions of the world to participate has attracted a grand total of 19 individuals and two posted comments. What’s more, this supplier is often touted as one of the leading users of channel social media! Houston, we have a problem and it’s rooted in six key areas, including:
Poor response to initial negative feedback.
Suppliers should expect that initial partner participation will tend to be negative as is the case whenever the channel – just as it was with customers
Is given a forum to provide feedback directly to company representatives.
Based on our work with leading suppliers, be assured that this will change over time; if, of course, the company is question has the fortitude to stay the course and use the feedback to fix legitimate problems. Should a supplier go into a shell, ignoring comments or – even worse – turning off comment functionality within blogs or community sites, it can expect partners to quickly come to the conclusion that participation is a waste of time.
Lack of time and understanding.
Many partners simply haven’t participated in social media due to a lack of bandwidth and knowledge of how the deliverables offered to them should be used. As an example, while both podcasts and wikis can be valuable partner training tools, suppliers have neither positioned them as such nor woven them into the normal workflow of partners. In addition, a lack of setting partner expectations in advance on any new effort generally results in low adoption; social media certainly hasn’t been immune to this.
Competitive issues.
As a general rule, channel partners competing with one another don’t like to share what they perceive to be trade secrets. Just because suppliers have opened up community sites doesn’t mean they will all of a sudden be rushing to share win reports, case studies and new developments. For these suppliers, this means that they must devise a strategy for how partners will communicate; specifically, how they will retain anonymity when sensitive information is being discussed and offering access to “gated communities” that keep key competitors away from one another.
Perceived lack of value.
Most partners weigh their investments in resources and training against potential returns; for example, many have spent the time and money to become vertical specialists due to strong positive reaction in their marketplaces. As few companies have been able to make the connection between social media and revenue generation, partners have hesitated to devote any resources to it; making things worse in some cases is the fact that many suppliers have positioned social media as an operationally focused cost reducer for themselves. Any channel-focused social media effort must be accompanied by a strong blitz of specific examples of partners that have used it, proactively pushed out to the community by managers and marketers alike.
No coherent strategy.
Suppliers that haven’t come to market with an organized social media strategy have often found that individual employees have picked up the baton and embarked on a personal quest to get involved, using everything from Facebook to LinkedIn on behalf of their employers. Without clearly defined policies, procedures and guidelines for these employees to follow, channel partners have grown quickly confused when suppliers try to disavow themselves from the mistakes in communication these individuals will inevitably make. When partners see this, they realize that social media vehicles are not to be given any real credence, affecting a supplier’s efforts and overall reputation in the channel.
Lack of executive sponsorship.
In the early stages of development, the responsibility to post a blog or set up a LinkedIn site on behalf of a company is seen as a marketing responsibility, usually assigned to someone already familiar with various community tools. Yet when a recognizable leader is involved, it sets the tone for the company’s efforts to build communities around their solutions. Channel leaders should take note that community sites offer a unique opportunity to deliver and reinforce messages that may make the difference in driving partnerships. As these executives gain popularity, they also gain acceptance from resellers who may be following them. Channel leaders often fail to take advantage of social media to communicate upcoming changes in their channel programs, causing confusion among partners as one vendor recently experienced when a failure to communicate important payment policies resulted in low adoption for a new financing program.
The Sirius Decision
Used correctly and communicated properly, social media can be of significant help to suppliers, building partner awareness and collaboration between partners and customers, and getting vital feedback from the channel. Over the long term, it can even help partners create demand more effectively and enable partner sales forces through more consistent delivery of knowledge, tools and access to a variety of sales specialist esources. It isn’t, however, a magic set of deliverables that can merely be set in front of partners with little care and feeding. Ensuring your organization hits negative feedback head on and reports the outcomes; clearly develops a strategy and delivers it to the partner base; works to avoid natural friction between partners; and teaches partners how to use what’s been given, a supplier will reap a number of benefits. Otherwise, consider yourself merely supporting another flavor of the month.