Channel Partners Conference & Expo is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

What's next? Channel Futures MSP Summit in Atlanta, September 16-19, 2024. Sign up to get a special deal when registration opens! >> 

These Companies Learned How to Measure the Value of Your Partnerships

By James Anderson | October 8, 2021
Partnership

Is it possible to quantifiably measure how good of a partner you are?

That’s what consultancy AchieveUnite set out to discover through a partnership with Notre Dame and Arizona State University. They created a method of empirically measuring productive partnerships — dubbed “PQi.”

AchieveUnite founder and CEO Theresa Caragol be talking about PQi, Wednesday, Nov. 3, at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo. Richard Murray, chief operations officer at Telarus, and John Muscarella, executive director of indirect channel sales for Cox Business, will join her on stage.

We chatted with Murray and Caragol about their panel.

Channel Partners: What is PQi, and why does it matter? 

Richard Murray: PQi is a measure of partner involvement and relationships in the channel. It matters because we can better serve our partners if we know what motivates and drives them. We believe this is a relationship business, but why? PQi can help us measure that and determine what successful partners have that we need to look for in future partners. 

Theresa Caragol: PQi is a system measuring an individual’s ability to effectively partner. This research, developed in conjunction with leading business schools, enables companies involved in partnering to make data-driven decisions around their partner-facing teams. This is the first academically verified measure to determine the likelihood of someone's ability to foster effective, trusting partnerships. 

Telarus' Richard Murray

CP: Could you give us an application example of PQi?

TC: A technology vendor, struggling with their channel success, cannot understand how their partner programs, incentives and coverage model are failing. They have done all of their homework but can’t quite seem to achieve their growth goals. Upon employing a PQi baseline, it became clear their processes, programs and policies weren’t the problem; it was their people. Following the assessment, the vendor left with a clear perspective and plan to rebalance their personnel through hiring, training and reassignment. After doing so, vendors experienced growth, successfully hitting their goals. 

A high-growth MSP is looking to ramp their sales team headcount and wants to ensure they’ve got the most effective people assigned to their client development and client service roles. As part of the interview process, candidates are asked to take a PQi assessment. The resulting information helps the organization make a data-driven decision for each candidate. As a result, the MSP was able to employ highly effective client development and client service individuals, building trusting relationships with their assigned clients and maximizing business growth. 

Achieve Unite's Theresa Caragol

RM: The higher a partner’s PQi, the better we can determine how successful they will be. 

CP: Can you think of an example of a partnership that would score well in PQi?

RM: In terms of a partner relationship, we have partners who have integrated Telarus into their business. They use our account management to serve the day-to-day needs of their customers so they can continue selling into new accounts.

In terms of suppliers, we have suppliers who have designated specific channel representatives to support Telarus. We believe this builds trust and ensures success.

TC: Organizations that have created high-trust cultures, notably with their partnering strategy, tend to score well on PQi baselines. PQi measures an individual, and organizations can aggregate scores across their channel team to identify areas of improvement. 

CP: What do you hope partners will take away from this session?

TC: Partners no longer need to speculate on how effective their channel teams are at driving lasting relationships with their partners. Of course, MBOs, trainin, and enablement efforts can upskill individuals, but without a way to measure progress on individual relationship-building, channel leaders are left blind. Perhaps a CAM does exceptionally well for a quarter — was this luck of the draw or a direct result of a channel managers ability to partner effectively? PQi assessments allow channel leaders to assess, plan, execute and measure on a new dimension.

RM: I hope partners will realize the success they enjoy can be directly tied to the relationships they have built — with their technology solutions brokerage, with suppliers and with their customers.

Tags:
Telarus, Channel Partners Conference & Expo