Tips from the Chief

Make nice with back office staff, sell to expectations and feel their pain: Seven top Channel Executives share these and other tips that have brought them sales success.

Focus only on the A players and the up-and-comers within a business. Point the others toward the Web and dont let them eat up your time… Dont forget the tech/engineering staff and the admin staff. They can make you or break you.

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Put yourself in your competitors shoes… what weaknesses would you exploit if you were them… then close those gaps.

— Chuck Robbins, vice president of U.S. and Canada Channels, Cisco Systems

At Websense, we encourage our partners to think about what their customers see as a win–how they define success. Thats what partners should shoot for. Delivering ROE [return on expectations], as well as ROI.

— David Roberts, vice pres

Always put yourself in the customers shoes, and take an outside-in approach to solution selling. Customers dont want to hear product specifications; they want to know that a problem will be solved, or an opportunity realized.

— Alliso

Partners that have the best relationships and get the most from vendors are those who share leads. If you want to get leads and sales opportunities from vendor organizations you need to provide them with leads and sales opportunities.

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Its essential that VARs have their sales teams believing they can achieve success and to highlight individuals who are successful. This will help others know its possible to achieve and surpass their goals. Its also critical to communicate the c

When you attend manufacturer and industry events, connect with the marketing program managers. They can offer suggestions on what programs are available to support your sales needs… [and] provide early insight into new programs and product introd