From attending to past mid-night tantrums of the partners to handling mushrooming of channel journals and army of journos, the role of the channel managers for various vendors has come a full circle.
Over the years, there has been a perceptible change in the functioning of the channel chief to work as the company’s face before the IT channel.
The compulsions of the nature of the job have been such that lately, they ought to have cultivated in them the acumen of glib talkers who can wax out eloquently even on much uncomfortable issues like a blanket ban by the resellers in a city.
I have been trying to follow some of the channel heads in reputed IT companies and harbor no hesitation in my mind to state that a handful of them are worth calling “channel watchers” in the strict sense of the word.
A few have all the rich experience and anecdotes that can undoubtedly be transmitted into books for ready reference by partners, vendors and perhaps even the people of my tribe who want to follow the channel shenanigans minutely.
Taking a closer look, what are the essential qualities of a good channel head?
To start with, one should have the business and technology acumen put together with a good grasp on various issues confronting the partner community.
I have been floating this question to a few. Some like Rajesh Gupta of Intel calls his chair a “hot seat” while another one in a much jovial mood said he would often describe himself as “a learned fool”. “We know many a things but we cannot speak up and often we ought to speak up many a thing, entertain the tantrums from partners or grilling questions from journalists when we know pretty well that the other side is wrong,” my friend had remarked adding that often the complaints are wild allegations and resellers have developed a bad habit of shifting blame either to vendors or distributors.
Moreover, he said channel scribes also look for stories in the wake of growing competition and often there is risk of overdoing on an issue that could be best ignored.
Given various pros and cons of partners’ complaints and the pressure from the company to deliver, these channel heads get through the harrowing time by preparing before hand for any training or media session besides keeping themselves always abreast of vital going-ons in the market. A few vendors have already thought of revamping the channel chief’s role with a focused approach on walking a tight rope by striking a balance between vendor’s own interest without unnerving partners and at the same time satisfying the thirst for news from channel journos, like us.
Some channel managers are already reading a few odd papers and don’t fail to visit relevant websites or look for printed magazines. A few others are trying to master the gift of the gab and also the flexibility both in their body language and mindset to ably befriend the channel partners and the journalists. The shoes they are in should be pinching; but a well-informed and receptive channel manager is definitely an asset to his vendor and advantageous for the partners, as well.
This underlines the need for healthy communication channel at all fronts. The partners should also move beyond their parroted lines that they less understand. They must take exchange notes on this from vendors and their channel heads as good communication can only help them stay ahead in the race.