So while everyone else has a top 10, I decided to go one better...behold:

The 11 Deadly Sins of Channel Incentive Program Planning

Why to I refer to them as "deadly sins?" Because violating any one of these can diminish the effectiveness of your program and waste time and money. Yet, I often see more than one of these sins violated in the manufacturers rush to put a program in place-and then wonder why the program didn't work as well as they hoped after the fact.

11. Not targeting the right level of the demand chain. Incentive programs can target the consumer, the reseller sales rep (and/or sales engineer), or the reseller entity. Any one or combination of these may be viable depending on your objectives. Targeting any one has different merits, and challenges.

10. Not having the appropriate terms and conditions in place--or, "Ts & Cs" if you prefer. This is an official legal document that defines the eligibility, terms and parameters of the program which participants must agree to early in the process-not merely marketing hype that provides a program overview.

9. Not requiring acceptance and understanding of the aforementioned Terms & Conditions. Such acceptance should be done via positive acknowledgement in advance of participation.

8. Having overly complicated business rules to earn the reward. Like all things in life, "KISS" is the guideline here (Keep It Simple Stupid). Program understanding should be both compelling and easy to understand for those of us with a short attention span.

7. Ambiguous proof-of-performance requirements. In this case, by "ambiguous" I refer to "difficult to validate" through other means. The bigger the reward, the more there should be an audit trail in place that validates the transaction details.

6. Not validating that the program is actually "legal" in all the jurisdictions targeted. Many countries and even some states regulate how program may be conducted (or not). This topic could fill a book. If you're planning a global program, this can get real complicated in a hurry.

5. Not targeting the right channel segment or partners. Surprising as this sounds, I can't tell you how many programs "required the ‘buy-in' from X partners" to be successful, only to find after the fact that those very partners don't sell the particular product or the program didn't correlate with their go-to-market strategy. Many resellers may not even permit vendor-developed SPIF programs as it interferes with their own sales policies and practices.

4. Not considering advanced registration. If it is expected that more than one claim may be submitted by any one participant, then pre-registration offers many advantages. Among them, advanced registration provides metrics on participation levels early in the program period, and streamlines the claiming process for the user by not having to re-key personal information with each transaction among them.

3. Stacking incentive programs. A lot has been written about how many vendor companies have as much as 40-50 different promotions and incentive programs targeting the same partners concurrently....need I say more to justify why this qualifies as a "deadly sin?"

2. Thinking short-term and not optimizing your investment. Many programs are launched to attain a tactical need supporting a short term sales goal. Websites are built, infrastructure is put in place. The program is then dismantled after the program period is over in a few months. Then, six months later, the whole thing has to be rebuilt when a new tactical need is established. This lengthens time to market, is inefficient, and often doesn't leverage any of the key learnings from the prior program. It's most efficient to construct a single conduit that may conform to your promotional needs as they occur.

And the #1 reason why incentive programs fail.....

1. Ill-conceived communications strategy.....yep, you heard it right. As hard to believe as it is, in the post program analysis we conduct we find that the number one reason participants don't support the program is that they didn't know the program existed or didn't effectively understand the program attributes and how it fits with their business model. So, for instance, it's not enough to tell your primary contact about the program when it's a SPIF program targeting reseller sales reps, you have to make sure the reps themselves know about the program and understands the benefits to them.

So, these are the facts kids---I can't make this stuff up. Each one has enough content behind it to support an article on its own. In the meantime, if I've missed one or if one of you would like to share your horror stories, we'd love to hear it.

Craig DeWolf is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for CCI.

Craig's extensive experience spans over 20-years, across a variety of industries and distribution models. This background has given Craig an excellent perspective of the issues facing marketers and their distribution partners, and the solutions that will make them mutually successful.

In these challenging economic times where every business expense is under scrutiny, the cost for running a channel program is also under the microscope. Every aspect from headcount to administrative processes to partner funding is being assessed for value and ROI. In some cases, whole channel programs are being sacrificed to preserve other mission critical functions within the company.

Outsourcing -- the practice of using outside firms to handle operations normally performed within a company -- is a familiar concept to many businesses. Companies routinely outsource their payroll processing, accounting, distribution, and many other important functions - so what about channel management programs?

From experience in serving our own clients, we have determined five compelling benefits for outsourcing channel program management:

1. Controlling costs
Cost-cutting is arguably the most significant factor in outsourcing a channel program. Companies can realize savings in two functional areas: funding budgets and operational efficiency. Reducing errors in payment calculations alone can often justify the investment in outsourcing.

2. Increasing efficiencies
Companies that do everything themselves have much higher rates of interaction between their marketing, administrative, financial, and executive departments. The time spent on communications and manual processes among program stakeholders can be cut in half through outsourcing.

3. Reducing labor costs
Adding and training full-time staff can be very expensive and temporary employees don't often live up to expectations. Outsourcing channel experts such as account managers, creative consultants, and compliance auditors can reduce time to perform administrative tasks and their associated labor costs.

4. Focusing on core business
Every business has limited resources, and every manager has limited time and attention. The outsourcing of management services can help companies shift their focus from peripheral task-related activities to strategic actions that better serve the channel partner and ultimately their customers.

5. Reducing risk
Markets, competition, government regulations (including Sarbanes-Oxley), financial conditions and technologies all change very quickly. By outsourcing to subject matter experts with strategic and tactical knowledge in managing channel incentive programs and their funds, companies can avoid unnecessary risks and maximize opportunities for program success.

A necessary first step to begin your evaluation of outsourcing is to identify each existing channel program process and assign a time (how long does it take?) and cost factor (how many dollars spent in labor and materials?) to it. Even if you ultimately choose not to outsource, this benchmarking step will consolidate all costs associated with your program and ideally illuminate processes where savings can be realized. In my next blog, we will discuss these processes and offer examples of how you can estimate time and cost.

Michael DeBarros is the Business Development Manager at CCI. He is a veteran of 22 years in technology sales and has held channel management positions at two leading software companies. Michael's experience in working for both partners and vendors offers unique insight into today's channel challenges.

by Mike Dubrall, Gilwell Group

Social media is big. Really big. If you doubt me, goggle it and you will get more than 100 million hits in less than a second. Already, there are thousands of web sites blogging about social media and hundreds of web services measuring it, and an unlimited number of consultants trying to help clients with it. Most important, there are more than 300 million users of social media tools. And these numbers will continue to grow because there are compelling reasons for using social media at every level of the value chain.

Today, when you look for a job, employers check the obvious social media spaces for information about you. The same thing happens when you are working on a big sales opportunity with a reseller or when you are trying to set up a meeting with an important decision-maker. These people want to see who they are dealing with and they make quick judgments based on your ability to effectively represent yourself on-line.

Moreover, it takes time to build your presence to the point that its actually impressive enough to get you the deal, job, or meeting that you need. At the point anyone is interested enough to Google you, it's too late to update your profiles or open a Facebook account. Your social media presence must already be in place.

Here are five basic steps channel managers can take right away. (Hint: send them off to your resellers and take the steps together.)

1. Get a good and current digital photo of yourself. No one wants to see your prom picture or an old photo of you in a suit. But everyone does want to see what you look like when they check your profile in LinkedIn or read one of your postings/comments in a favorite group. Your social media photo is the new "handshake" and people draw many conclusions from it. (Some experts call your picture a "personal brand.")

2. Bring your LinkedIn profile up to date.

• Add your picture and fill in your employment history.
• Search on the names of your last two companies and find everyone you know - then add them to your network.
• Find at least one Group to join (I recommend the "Channels of the Future" Group).
• Get your best friends to write a recommendation - and return the favor.

Wouldn't hurt to do the same thing on Facebook or MySpace. Employees of the fastest growing IT resellers also use LinkedIn and either Facebook or MySpace on a regular basis.

3. Create a Google Alert to follow the topics that are most important to you and your channel partners. You can follow as many key words as you want, so include the name of your company, biggest resellers, products, and competitors. Sometimes you have to experiment with the key words until you get good data, but it's all free. This will lead you to the most active and relevant on-line communities.

4. Bookmark the top five blogs or communities in your space. Resellers and Customers regularly read important blogs by industry luminaries and experts -like the company CEO , the head of the Reseller Council, or the CEO of a major distributor. (You can also set up an RSS feed from these blogs so you get updates and can potentially forward them to your top partners quickly.)

5. Commit yourself to at least one post or comment a day. If you read a blog by a reseller, post a positive message at the bottom. If you visit a Forum discussing an interesting question, weigh in with your opinion. If you are in a partner community, be as visible as possible. (Don't try to sell anything - just contribute something useful.)

Being a social media couch potato is no longer an option for successful and upwardly mobile channel managers. Get active and take control of your on-line presence before it's too late. Social Media is not going away!

If you are already active in social media, do you have advice for other channel managers?

Mike Dubrall is the Community Director of the Gilwell Group "Channels of the Future" Community. He is a regular blogger on social media and its impact on channel relationships.

The CCI Sales Performance Rebate Application was designed to reward a manufacturer's channel partners for achieving specific sales targets during a pre-defined time period. Version 2.0 enhances the original version by providing greater flexibility to adapt business rules in support of complex multicurrency and multilingual program and channel structures -- allowing manufacturers to modify existing programs and create new reward programs on-demand. Plus, in addition to cash rebates, rewards may take the form of loyalty points, MDF funds, other "soft" incentives, or any combination thereof. "In this economy, we are seeing a growing interest in incentive management solutions for manufacturers to maintain sales momentum within a target range through their sales channels." said Craig DeWolf, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at CCI. "Motivating and rewarding partners to achieve sales goals and real-time ability to track progress towards those goals is more vital than ever for our clients. The CCI Sales Performance Rebate Application will enable channel marketers to manage very complex reward scenarios for their partners with greater ease and improved flexibility."

The CCI Sales Performance Rebate Application accommodates multi-tiered channel models offering differing reward structures. This allows manufacturers to set individual sales goals by partner, as well as provide additional rewards for incremental attainment. Rewards may be configured across a combination of variables, including: reseller classification, sales period, specific products sold, units (value or quantity), and reward type (cash rebate or other). Additionally, rewards may be "stacked" allowing any partner to work toward multiple rewards simultaneously. Partners can then benefit from combinations of awards such as a tiered reward structure or the assignment of different rewards per product line or product type.

"This Sales Performance Rebate Application is an integral part of a comprehensive incentive solution suite CCI offers manufactures to motivate each level of the sales and demand chain", says Mr. DeWolf. "Depending on our client's objectives, they can combine stretch goals with end-user rebates, opportunity management programs and other incentive types to help assure an efficient and active sales pipeline. And because CCI offers both professional and administrative services, we can provide clients with an end-to-end solution including front end program design, and ongoing program management, including compliance auditing, reward distribution and user support."

Like all CCI solutions, the Sales Performance Rebate Application runs on the CCI SPECTRUM Platform, so reporting and business process for all incentive programs may be managed through a single interface. Management can easily keep track of current and prior reward earnings for their partners through in-depth reports and handy dashboard tools. Partners can track progress through their own set of reports allowing them to quickly access up to date information on sales targets, attainment to date, rewards earned and their requirements to reach the next earning level.

For more information, please visit: http://www.channelmanagement.com/solutions_incentive.html
http://www.channelmanagement.com/solutions_incentive_salesperform_app.html

Click Here to download the data sheet.

by Dale Taormino, CCI

One of the most common - and age-old - challenges in international business management is finding the right balance between global objectives and needs and local (regional) objectives and needs. This is a particularly acute issue when it comes to channel management and channel marketing programs. Given that the needs and objectives to consider are not just those of your own global organization - but those of the multitude of partner organizations whose engagement and commitment is needed to achieve your organizations goals.

In the 15+ years that I've worked internationally, I have rarely seen an organization find true balance. Like a pendulum swinging, we tend to ere on one side or the other. In one case I witnessed 6 separate partner co-op programs designed and executed on an individual country basis. The localization of these programs into 30+ languages resulted in significant inefficiencies. And then on the other extreme-a one-size-fits-all approach that resulted in a ‘USA only' fit and usage.

There can be advantages to each:

GLOBAL
• Centralized platforms
• Roll-up reporting & ROI measurement
• Consistent branding & messaging
• Better goal alignment
• Program admin efficiencies & economies of scale

LOCAL
• Greater partner awareness
• Higher adoption rates
• Tied to local market challenges & opportunities
• Targeted branding & messaging
• Local/Regional program ownership
• More flexibility & speed in making program changes

So what's the right balance? First, look to the program objectives and timeframe. Second, look at the program elements themselves and how they touch and impact your partners.

Partner Programs with their longer lifecycles and key objectives of being a framework your partners operate within can ere on the Global side. However, as you dive into the specific program elements - partner education for example - regional needs become increasingly important.

Shorter-term SPIF programs are a good example of where to ere on the Local side. Short term incentive programs typically require higher engagement and responsiveness by partners and must be closely tied to local market conditions, behaviors, etc. However, even with such programs there are elements that can be global - payment processing or the back end platform that manages claims for example.

So what's the answer, Go Glocal!