ST. LOUIS (May 12, 2011) – In marketing and channel sales, vendors who connect with their partners in meaningful ways can foster stronger relationships that, in turn, drive business results. On May 3, Melissa Fruend, solution vice president for channel loyalty at Maritz, and Mark Alt, vice president, technology sector, at Maritz, presented to senior channel sales and marketing executives at Baptie’s Channel Focus North America with Channel Focus Latin America 2011 conference. For attendees, who hailed mostly from information technology and telecom industries, Maritz explained how vendors can encourage partner loyalty by better understanding their partners as people and use innovative engagement techniques in order to create a stronger “community” of trusted partners.
“Increasing engagement with partners and their sales reps through a community is a way for vendors to connect with partners in a more meaningful way,” says Fruend. “We believe there are five key tenets to increasing partner engagement in this way:”
1. See your partners as people first
2. See your community as an extension of your brand
3. Move beyond engagement to enrichment
4. Utilize both virtual and face-to-face events to bring the community together
5. Make the community site a “go to” place through the use of game science.
Vendors can also use community tools to connect partners with one another, enabling them to share best practices and ask each other questions, said Alt. These tools allow for greater collaboration among partners through group dialogue, and can introduce new opportunities for vendor business.
Now in its 14th year, the Channel Focus North America with Channel Focus Latin America 2011 conference introduces the marketing strategies and tactics leading channel sales and marketing vendors are using to grow their business. The 2011 conference ran from May 3 to May 4. For a copy of Fruend and Alt’s presentation, please visit Maritz’ Slideshare page.
About Maritz
Maritz is a sales and marketing services company, which helps companies achieve their full potential through understanding, enabling, and motivating employees, channel partners and customers. Maritz provides market and customer research, communications, incentive initiatives, rewards and recognition, effective meeting, event and incentive management services and customer loyalty programs.
For more information, visit www.maritz.com or call 1-877-4MARITZ. Follow us on Twitter @ Maritz_LLC.