Building your own channel starts with a simple idea: look beyond the people you want to sell to and consider who already has relationships with them.
But what can that actually look like?
A business contact may have a relationship with an association whose members could benefit from reducing technology and telecom costs. A fractional CIO may have a network of MSPs serving customers with needs that extend beyond their core capabilities.
Neither relationship starts with traditional prospecting.
Instead, each creates a path to opportunities through relationships that already exist.
Here are two examples of how that model can work.
Opportunity 1: One Association Relationship Can Open Multiple Doors
Consider an association representing state and local government organizations.
The association already has something a Technology Partner would otherwise have to build from scratch: established relationships with its members.
Now consider a business professional who already has a relationship with that association.
That relationship can become the starting point.
The Introduction Opens the Door
The referring partner makes an introduction to the association.
Their role does not have to be selling technology, developing the solution or supporting the end customer’s technology needs. They are simply creating access through a relationship they have already earned.
From there, EnVision Shared Savings can provide a reason to start a conversation.
Rather than leading with a new product or forced migration, the discussion begins with the organization’s existing technology and telecom spending.
Could there be an opportunity to reduce those costs?
The initial analysis is free, and there is no obligation to move forward.
EnTelegent analyzes the current services, contracts and spending to identify potential savings opportunities. Recommendations may involve optimizing existing services and agreements or considering alternatives where they make business sense. The customer decides what, if anything, to implement.
No savings = no cost—with no forced migration or obligation to implement recommendations.
The Opportunity Can Extend Beyond the Association
The first engagement may be with the association, but the larger opportunity is the relationship it has with its members.
If Shared Savings creates value for the association, that experience can help open conversations with individual member organizations facing similar challenges.
One introduction can therefore create a path to multiple potential opportunities.
There can also be a financial benefit for the person who helped create the relationship. In this type of referral model, the referring partner can earn residual commissions from Shared Savings engagements and associated services generated through the relationship.
The result is a model in which each party has a reason to participate:
The association can bring additional value to its members.
The referring partner can create a recurring revenue opportunity from a relationship already in their network.
The Technology Partner gains access to potential customers that may have been difficult to reach through traditional prospecting.
And EnTelegent provides the technology expertise, services and support to help develop and deliver the resulting opportunities.
Opportunity 2: A Fractional CIO Turns a Network Into Opportunity
Now consider a semi-retired CIO working as a fractional CIO for mid-size and enterprise organizations.
Over the course of a career, that executive may have developed relationships not only with business and technology leaders, but also with MSPs and other technology providers.
That network can become another kind of channel.
Start With the Relationships the Fractional CIO Already Has
In this example, the fractional CIO brings a network of MSP relationships to EnTelegent.
Those MSPs already own their customer relationships. What they may not have are all the capabilities required to address every technology need they uncover.
That creates an opportunity to complement what they already do.
For example, an MSP may uncover an opportunity for Shared Savings, network services or Lifecycle Management but may not have the resources, carrier relationships or operational infrastructure to deliver those capabilities independently.
EnTelegent can help fill those gaps while the MSP remains at the center of its customer relationship.
You own the customer relationship. EnTelegent optimizes, delivers and supports the technology.
Shared Savings Can Help Start the Conversation
Shared Savings can be especially useful because the MSP does not have to begin by asking its customer to buy another product or make a major technology change.
Instead, the conversation can start with what the customer already has and what it is already spending.
If savings opportunities are identified, the customer can decide whether to pursue them.
That initial conversation may also reveal broader needs.
There may be services that are no longer competitive. Contracts may be approaching renewal. Locations may have inconsistent connectivity. The customer may lack visibility across carriers and services. Or reducing existing costs may free budget for other technology priorities.
Shared Savings can therefore do more than identify potential cost reductions.
It can create a reason for a broader technology conversation.
Different Relationships. The Same Growth Principle.
An association and a fractional CIO may appear to have very little in common.
From a channel-growth perspective, however, they share something important:
They already have relationships with people and organizations a Technology Partner may want to reach.
The opportunity isn’t to turn them into traditional technology salespeople.
It’s to recognize the value of those relationships and create a model that gives them a reason to make an introduction.
In the association example, one relationship can potentially create access to an entire membership base.
In the fractional CIO example, one relationship can potentially connect a Partner to a network of MSPs and, through them, additional end-customer opportunities.
The structure is different.
The principle is the same.
One relationship can create more than one opportunity.
Who Is Already in Your Circle of Influence?
These examples don’t require you to abandon traditional prospecting or change the customer relationships you’ve already built.
They add another question to your growth strategy.
Instead of asking only:
Who should I be selling to?
Ask:
Who already has relationships with the people and organizations I want to reach?
Think about the people and organizations already in your network:
- Fractional CIOs and CTOs
- Associations and membership organizations
- Private equity relationships
- Business consultants
- Professional advisors
- Other people with established enterprise relationships
Some may have access to one potential opportunity.
Others may have relationships that create access to dozens.
The goal is to identify where those relationships intersect with the capabilities you can bring to the table.
Turn the Introduction Into an Opportunity
An introduction alone doesn’t create value.
What happens after the introduction matters.
That’s where EnTelegent Partner Enablement can help.
You bring the relationship and remain at the center of the opportunity. EnTelegent helps evaluate the environment, identify potential opportunities and provide the services and operational support needed to move the conversation forward.
Shared Savings can provide an especially effective starting point because the conversation begins with the customer’s current environment rather than a predetermined product or migration.
And when that initial conversation uncovers additional needs, the opportunity can expand from there.
You own the customer relationship. EnTelegent optimizes, delivers and supports the technology.
EXPLORE REFERRAL OPPORTUNITIES
Your next opportunity may be one relationship away. Explore how the relationships already in your circle could create new paths to opportunity.
Explore Referral Opportunities →
PARTNER GROWTH SERIES
Continue the Partner Growth Series
01 — EXPAND YOUR CIRCLE
Your Next Opportunity May Be One Relationship Away
Trusted relationships may provide a more direct path to the customers you want to reach.
02 — GO DEEPER
One Customer Relationship. More Technology Conversations.
Look beyond the initial request to uncover more of your customer’s technology needs.
03 — BUILD YOUR CHANNEL
Build Your Own Channel: Look Beyond the CIO
Fractional CIOs, associations and private equity relationships can create new paths to opportunity.
04 — YOU’RE READING THIS ARTICLE
From Introduction to Opportunity: Two Ways to Build Your Channel
See how trusted relationships can create introductions—and how those introductions can develop into new opportunities.
