Here’s How to Maximize Your Vendor Relationship

John Muscarella

One of my top priorities is to ensure everyone on my team is fully focused on partners, from understanding each partner’s key growth objectives to getting to know the target markets so we can help drive business outcomes for their clients. We want to “think like a partner”. It’s a process we’re working to refine and we invest heavily in training, listening to partners and time to maximize growth for both partners and Cox Business.

With this focus, I particularly enjoy when new partners ask how best to work with us and get more attention/mindshare from my channel team. I’m always happy to answer that question because at the heart of any effective strategic partnership is a two-way street. I tell my partners what I tell my teams about our partners: “Think like us. Think like a salesman. What do we want? What are the main goals we are trying to achieve?” And I always tell them, “Feel free to ask us and any of your vendors. When we as a vendor are doing our job right, we turn to you and ask these questions. We would appreciate if you would ask us the same.”

Answering these questions, and what you do specifically after receiving the answers, is at the heart of how partners can maximize supplier relationships. It’s about understanding what the other side is trying to achieve.

Of course, growth in the form of higher sales volume is a simple answer. But that’s not the whole picture. What needs to happen as a leading indicator of future revenue upstream? Depending on the provider, you have the following options:

• It is important to them that they increase the number of accreditations or certifications.
• They’re missing opportunities in their funnel, and they really need partners who are more focused on lead generation.
• Within overall sales, they look for higher sales of specific products.
• The seller has completed an acquisition and expects to aggressively grow sales volume of the acquired company’s products.
• The provider is looking to increase post-sale coverage and reach to expand its own support center.
• The provider is trying to slow down the process of hiring more people for its own professional services team by allowing partners to do that work.

In the end, if the partner or provider is genuinely interested in maximizing the relationship and reaping the benefits that come with it, you need to make the effort to understand what’s important to them and adjust your approach to focus on focused on these very important results.

As Vice President Channel Sales at Cox Business, John Muscarella is responsible for the overall readiness strategy for the indirect business sales channels. His team has primary responsibility for designing, implementing and selling solutions that leverage Cox Communications’ network across the country. John has over 25 years of corporate leadership experience that includes sales and leadership roles at companies such as Polycom, Sprint and EDS.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.