Top 3 Strategies to Free Up Time for Channel Managers - Cut Through the Clutter

Earlier this year we released the HopperBlue 2024 IT Channel Outlook Study. It provides an in-depth analysis of the prevailing challenges faced by channel sales and alliance leaders. The study quantifies what many of people already feel, the huge amount of time wasted on non-productive and administrative activities hurts productivity and can even impact morale.

This article takes a deeper look at the findings of the study in an attempt to provide you with an actionable plan, mistakes to avoid, and a few best practices.

What’s Consuming All of your Time?

The burden of activity tracking and the tedium of account alignment doesn’t merely feel like a time waste, it truly is; for you and your organization. These manual tasks are likely detracting from activities that could contribute to revenue generation. In particular, the study highlights:

  • Activity Tracking consumes 6.6 hours per week

  • Account Alignment comes next with weekly average of 4.5 hours.

Tackling the Challenge: A Step-by-Step Guide

Identifying Burdensome Administrative Tasks

  1. Conduct an Audit: Start with conducting a comprehensive audit of all administrative tasks using simple techniques like time trackers to get exact data on where time is spent.

  2. Survey Your Team: Take opinions from team members regarding which administration services they find most demanding.

Evaluating Impact

  1. Assess Time Consumption: Use collected data to identify which responsibilities take up most time.

  2. Analyze Impact on Productivity and Morale: Judge how these tasks affect overall productivity and team morale.

Implementing Best Practices

  1. Automation: Apply technology in automating repetitive and tedious tasks like activity tracking or account alignment.

  2. Prioritization and Delegation: Find out some jobs can be delegated or need prioritizing,

  3. Training and Resources: Give your employees training in time management plus tools that can assist them boost their efficiency levels.

Key Takeaways

Mitigating administrative tasks’ impact on channel partner managers is all about recognizing the huge cost they impose on productivity and developing strategies that can effectively manage them. According to the HopperBlue study, this calls for:

  • Streamlined Processes: Adoption of tools and methods that simplify administrative tasks.

  • Strategic Allocation of Resources: Channeling time and money into activities that drive growth and revenue.

  • Continuous Evaluation and Adjustment: Regularly assessing processes and making required adjustments in order to maintain efficiency.

Next Steps

Our 2024 Study shares an all-encompassing perspective on the administrative challenges faced by channel partner managers. More importantly, you'll discover detailed strategies and best practices for overcoming these obstacles, enabling you to focus more on growth-driving activities. Equip yourself with the knowledge to enhance your productivity and operational efficiency, ultimately leading to more successful channel partnerships and increased revenue.

For additional deep-dive articles from our 2024 IT Channel Outlook Study, visit our guide on Exploring Today’s Challenges for Channel Sales Leaders: Key Insights from Our 2024 Study

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How can channel partner managers effectively measure the ROI of their administrative activities?

Start by identifying specific, quantifiable outcomes they aim to achieve through these tasks. It may include setting standards for better efficiency, higher sales or improved partner happiness. Implementing a tracking system to monitor the time spent on these activities and their direct impact on KPIs is essential. Leveraging analytics tools to assess the correlation between administrative efforts and business outcomes can provide valuable insights into their ROI.

2. Can leveraging AI in channel management help reduce the administrative burden? How?

Making use if AI in channel management can greatly decrease your administrative expenditure by automating repetitive tasks or being predictive on future states before decisions are made. By using AI-powered tools, you will delegate activity tracking roles that were initially done manually by humans including lead scoring among others. Also, predictive analytics using artificial intelligence can enhance sales projections for channel managers as well as identify promising resellers besides optimal resource channels allocation. AI also helps in accurate data analysis and detecting inefficiencies in areas that need improvement within the channel.

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