5 Reasons Why Rep Surveys Should Be a Key Part of Your Channel Communication Program

What if you could see into the minds of individual channel reps, establish one-to-one communication with them and build unprecedented engagement that can’t help but drive revenue? Well, it’s possible. And we’re not just talking about reaching your top performers – the 5% that already love selling your products – we’re talking about increasing engagement for the other 95% to drive untapped revenue gains. How can this feat be accomplished? Through segmentation and personalization to ensure relevant, highly targeted communications, backed by smart, strategic and engaging surveys.

Partner rep surveys have the power to open up the lines of channel communication, build loyalty, capture timely data, influence and reinforce desired behaviours and ultimately drive revenue. Surveys are a highly effective sales rep engagement tool because they encourage reps to become part of your community. They learn that their voice has value and consider themselves a partner in your mutual success. And that’s when the sales magic happens.

Here are 5 reasons why rep surveys should be a key part of your indirect sales channel engagement program. Channel rep surveys have the power to:

1. Drive double-digit revenue gains

Regular rep surveys are a powerful channel communication tool, which give you a clear, timely and accurate picture of your channel’s performance. They can be customized to influence the 95% of reps who aren’t performing as well as they could be. That’s when surveys can really make a difference to your bottom line. A small positive shift in that huge 95% rep base can bring you double-digit revenue gains!

2. Eliminate channel noise and increase engagement

Channel reps have much more on their plates than just your brands. There are a multitude of companies vying for their attention. Surveys allow you to stand out, by turning rep focus on you, maximizing their engagement, eliminating outside noise and showing that you are there to listen.

3. Open a direct line of channel communication

Unlike channel surveys that only poll management, partner rep surveys remove the many layers of management from the conversation and allow you to gain insights directly from the reps. By surveying individual reps directly, you can understand and influence how they feel about your organization and your brand. This is also your opportunity to gain insights into the sales funnel, understand your positioning in the marketplace, glean competitive data and more. Plus, surveys can supplement your sales training programs, by asking questions that reinforce and validate concepts introduced in training.

4. Quickly address issues

Frequent surveys catch problems while they are still actionable. Whether the issues have to do with individual reps, the entire channel, your products or external market forces such as your competition, surveys gather up-to-the-minute data, allowing you to react swiftly rather than months after issues have emerged.

5. Increase your channel coverage

A good survey campaign drives channel coverage by creating brand champions. By showing reps you value their opinion and are there to listen, they become more invested in your company, your product and your mutual success. The result is highly engaged advocates who lead with your brand and give you more coverage.

Channel rep surveys allow you to measure engagement by channel and by individual, so you can ensure sales programs are in place to increase engagement. Remember to keep your surveys brief and snappy, and add tactics like gamification, recognition and incentives to maintain rep attention and ensure their participation. Since 80%¹ of channel reps say incentives strengthen their relationships with vendors, make sure you offer a wide variety of incentives to appeal to your multi-generational rep base. We can help you with all of this. At ChannelAssist, we’ve developed the Optimize95™ program, a sales program to connect you one-to-one with channel reps through custom surveys, education and incentives.

Channel communications are proven to increase engagement and drive revenue. To keep information flowing both ways, in addition to surveys we also employ segmentation strategies and personalization to ensure your emails are highly targeted and speaking directly to each channel rep. From communications associated with deal registration to portal messaging to the ongoing sharing of sales successes and customer data, our program is always working to help you engage and influence that powerful 95%. Optimize95™ shows reps you’re listening and gives them the targeted training and flexible sales incentives they need to sell your products above all others.

If driving double-digit revenue gains are part of your business plan then watch our webinar for great tips!

Sources:
1.Maritz, Insights from 2013 Maritz Channel Market Study.  https://www.maritzmotivation.com/~/media/Files/MaritzMotivationSolutions/White-Papers/White_Paper-Do-Channel-Rep-Incentives-Work_Rev2014.ashx