In the world of B2B sales there are different types of distribution partners, and each one plays a distinct role in reaching and servicing customers. Value-added resellers, for example, are high-touch partners that sell goods and services as part of a complete solution. At the other end of the spectrum are direct market resellers (DMRs), distributors that sell directly to businesses online or via telephone orders. DMRs maintain catalogs of goods to sell through online storefronts or by taking phone orders. DMRs can be an important part of any vendor’s value chain if you know how to provide the right support.

Titus, current MarketStar President and COO, to replace Dave Treadway who is retiring December 31, 2018

Late in 2017, three ambitious female coworkers and I took a 12-hour drive straight up I-15 to Calgary, Alberta in Canada to attend a women-in-leadership conference. On the drive up, we talked about our futures —how we envision success and what it takes to achieve what we’re after. We talked about our past, including experiences we’ve had in the workplace and what changes we’d like to make; and we talked about our present—all the things that bring us joy, and how we should spend more time appreciating it.

When the best partners have countless companies vying for their attention, how do you stand out from the rest and build a mutually beneficial relationship? The answer lies in well-executed partner marketing programs and tactics, which happen at the intersection of sales enablement, to-partner marketing, and through-partner marketing.

How do you stand out and make yourself known in the AdTech space? This ebook delivers four best practices to gain success.

AdTech is a broad term that references various solutions to help target, deliver, track and analyze digital advertising efforts. Before you develop your company’s strategy, it’s important to clarify the differences between Digital Media and AdTech. Let’s start by defining the two terms and exploring how they are different.

Software-defined data centers (SDDCs) continue to become an attractive option for organizations looking to maximize versatility with their data environments. According to a report from Allied Market Research, the market for SDDCs will grow to an impressive $139 billion by 2022. Organizations that get on board with this trend will be well-positioned for this expansion.

To succeed in channel sales, it’s essential to emphasize thought leadership as a way to enable existing partners and attract new ones. According to Forbes, thought leadership takes marketing to a new level. It increases the visibility of your organization by accelerating marketing efforts to accomplish goals and generate new leads.

Complex technologies, products, and offerings require more than traditional sales reps to close a deal. As easy as it is to think you are ahead of the curve when it comes to sales innovations, we often find ourselves reinventing the wheel—to make things more efficient, affordable, and scalable. Currently, that proverbial wheel is worn with field sales reps that are focused purely on dollars, and not on solutions, which you’ve probably already seen in your own programs with flat sales. Unfortunately, this seems to get worse with each new product launch. Sales get bogged down in an endless loop of "I don't know,” “I'm not sure,” or “I'll need to look that up."

My leadership philosophy is a combination of my own experience and that of watching and being mentored by key contributors at MarketStar. What have I learned? A sales leader is an individual who isn’t afraid to roll up their sleeves to accomplish goals and lead their team to success. But we all know leadership takes more than barking orders!  I try to lead my teams with empathy, performance, and transparency as my guideposts. I don’t want to scare new hires away after their first week on the job!