7 Tips For Effective, Rewarding CAM Relationships

By Lawrence M. Walsh, president and CEO of The 2112 Group

If you want an effective, profitable, and sustainable relationship with your vendor, you have to get close to your channel account manager, according to new research by The 2112 Group.

Vendor channel organizations have an array of managers and specialists that provide support and guidance to partners, all with the aim of stimulating sales and revenue. Solution providers, in the annual 2112 Channel Perceptions Survey, say none of these positions is more important to their success than the channel account manager, or CAM.

Channel account managers’ importance to partners isn’t a shock, as these are the people on the front lines of channel operations and partner relationships on a daily basis. What is surprising, though, is the degree of importance partners place on CAMs relative to other channel management and operational positions.

According to the Channel Perceptions report, produced by channel strategy and research firm The 2112 Group, solution providers rate the importance of channel account managers three times that of a vendor’s executive team and channel chief, and nearly double that of regional sales managers. Moreover, CAMs rate roughly one-third higher in importance than channel training and communications teams, respectively.

Solution providers say CAMs are essential to the success of their vendor relationships. In the Channel Perceptions study, 75 percent of solution providers gave CAMs a passing rating for their effectiveness in building and maintaining productive and profitable partner relationships. Of those giving a passing rating, 47 percent gave CAMs an excellent rating for their effectiveness.

Underscoring the importance of the CAM-partner relationship is the benefit of mutual business planning to growth and profitability. Sixty-eight percent of solution providers say mutual business planning is essential to the sustainability and value of their vendor relationship. More than one-third rate mutual business planning as essential.

Mutual business planning, which often starts and ends with the CAM, isn’t a strength for most vendors, however. While 52 percent of solution providers say vendors make an effort to develop mutual business plans with their partners, only 23 percent say vendors are making a sincere and effective effort. Only one-quarter of solution providers say vendors are truly reliable in fulfilling their mutual business plan obligations.

No two channel account managers are the same in their approach, effectiveness, or results in cultivating and sustaining a productive partner relationship. Unfortunately, solution providers rarely have a say in the channel account manager assigned to their company. Complicating the equation further is the fact that solution providers need to work with multiple CAMs across the breadth of vendors whose products they resell and support.

What’s a solution provider to do to cultivate and maintain productive relationships with its vendors? The following seven tips will help solution providers craft a winning relationship with your vendor with and without your CAM.

1. Program Your CAM Relationship

Business relationships just happen. As much as your CAMs need to develop relationships with you and your team, you need to do the same with them. Don’t leave this to chance. Program the relationship by setting regular meetings with CAMs to discuss mutual performance, opportunities, sales pipelines, challenges, and resource needs. Through regular contact, you’ll get exposure to vendor initiatives, and support. Moreover, you’ll gradually build a stronger bond between you and the CAM, who will act as your champion the vendor organization.

2. Share Business Structure And Objectives

Vendors readers. In fact, many vendors have one-track minds, in that they care most about product sales. up to you, the solution provider, to share with your CAM how your business operates, what your target market is, who represents your target customer, your core capabilities and value proposition, and short- and long-term objectives. Helping CAMs and other vendor representatives understand your business will put them in a better position to relate their product and goals to your operations.

3. Take The Initiative On Business Planning

A business relationship works best when there’s a plan in place guiding activities and marking objectives. Vendors vary in their willingness to work with partners to develop and execute mutual business plans. You should take the initiative and open the conversation about mutual business planning, including roles and responsibilities, needs and allocation of resources, and objectives. A planning session that results in a documented plan is also a good opportunity to plot your company’s success within the vendor program, such as determining how to earn greater rewards and status.

4. Develop Contacts Throughout The Vendor Organization

While channel account managers are important, they the only people you should interact with inside a vendor’s channel organization. You should make contact and develop relationships with the regional channel and sales managers, channel marketing and communications, channel operations, management, and senior executives. These relationships have to be as deep as the one with your CAM; it’s enough that the lines of communication are open. The point is to ensure continuity, not circumvent channel account managers. CAMs tend to change jobs frequently, and having alternate contacts ensures you’ll be able to communicate and maintain a productive relationship with the vendor once the CAM departs.

5. Market To Your Vendor

Many solution providers believe their marketing efforts need to be directed only at end customers. But it’s important to market to vendors as well. You can get their attention by letting them know about your company, its and its success stories. Marketing to your vendors helps them better understand what you do and how well you do it, which often leads to reciprocal resources to help extend your success record. The added benefit is that communicating your success makes your CAM look good, which will also reinforce that bond.

6. Participate In Vendor Activities

Vendors are constantly looking for feedback on their channel programs, and initiatives. They have groups, advisory boards, surveys, Webinars, and events, all designed to convey information and receive feedback. While these vendor activities are resource- and time-consuming, they’re also tremendous opportunities to foster a strong relationship. Best of all, these forums and platforms give you the opportunity to voice your opinions and share ideas to improve the vendor’s performance. Solution providers that partner in these activities get greater levels of access and more expeditious response to their needs. Participation also helps CAMs, who are constantly under pressure to sign up partners for different activities.

7. Deliver Results

Nothing fosters a stronger relationship with a CAM and vendor than results. Complaints by underperforming partners. If producing strong and consistent sales and hitting or exceeding growth targets, not going to wait long for a vendor to knock on your door. They’ll seek out strong solution providers because they need reliable, bankable partners to help them meet their goals.

Solution providers are right that the starting point for all activity is usually a channel account manager. Partners that give their CAMs high ratings are also the most satisfied and loyal in their vendor relationships, and report the highest perceived value in their vendor relations. Solution providers shouldn’t leave their CAM relationship to chance; they should take the initiative to cultivate and foster a strong bond at the most important link.

Lawrence M. Walsh is the CEO and chief analyst of The 2112 Group, a channel strategy and research firm. You can follow Larry on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook: @lmwalsh2112 or @the2112group.com.