The metrics that actually show partner program health
Most channel dashboards measure activity because activity is easy to count. Four measures tell you whether the program is working.
Channel Maven
The blog
Real-World Insights for High-Growth Channels.
Points of view from our team on modernizing partner programs, activating the long tail, and putting agentic AI to work in the channel.
Latest posts
What is an agentic channel account manager?
An agentic CAM is software that does the recurring work of channel management (reading partner data, choosing the next play, producing the material) and escalates the close calls to a human.
Channel Maven
Why half of MDF goes unspent, and it is not your content
Partners are not disengaged, they are out of capacity. The translation tax explained, and what changes when material arrives finished.
Courtney Acuff
Activating the long tail of your partner ecosystem
Most vendors have a coverage problem, not a recruitment problem. The partners who never activate were never reachable with the model you are using.
Channel Maven
Why component-based programs outperform tiers
Tier models pay partners for what they were last year. Component design pays them for what they do this year, and it changes who invests in you.
Channel Maven
What partner enablement actually means
Partner enablement is the operating discipline that moves a partner from signed agreement to independent selling. Most programs mistake it for training, and stall.
Channel Maven
How to build partner enablement for faster partner revenue
Onboarding, role-based training, and content a partner can find when they need it, tied to revenue milestones rather than seat time.
Heather K. Margolis
Designing a SaaS partner program that scales revenue
Clear partner types, a focused value proposition, and outcome-based tiers. Where to start, and the three numbers that tell you it is working.
Heather K. Margolis
What a sales enablement consultant actually does
Diagnosis before prescription, training built for your team rather than off the shelf, and a measurement loop that keeps the strategy honest.
Heather K. Margolis
The three C’s of coaching: clarity, courage, and commitment
A framework for executive coaching that is as much a mindset as a method, and what a coach actually does to support each part of it.
Heather K. Margolis
Collaborative consulting, and why it outperforms the hand-off
Consulting that works alongside the team rather than delivering to it, and the components that decide whether it produces anything durable.
Heather K. Margolis
Reaching the right audience at the right time
A four-step channel strategy: identify the audience, choose the channels, get the timing right, then measure and adjust.
Heather K. Margolis
The four P’s of channel strategy
Product, price, place, and promotion, applied to a channel rather than a direct business, and why the four have to be read together.
Heather K. Margolis
How channel marketing drives growth
What channel marketing is, the benefits that make it more than a distribution tactic, and the challenges that decide whether it works.
Heather K. Margolis
Ecosystem transformation, and why channel organizations should get with the program
Customers want outcomes rather than products. What that asks of a channel organization, and when it is worth bringing in help.
Heather K. Margolis
Five challenges facing the partner ecosystem
Program adaptation, revenue growth, integration complexity, the pace of technology, and the trust between vendor and partner.
Heather K. Margolis
Marketing in online marketplaces
Marketplaces are a demand generation engine rather than a listing. Brand presence, search, and a multichannel motion that treats them as one.
Heather K. Margolis
The conference trend that is hurting everyone involved
Event agendas have turned keynotes into sales pitches. It does not serve the organiser, the sponsor, or the room.
Heather K. Margolis
Library
Guides, tools, and the archive.
Point of viewWhy half of MDF goes unspent, and it is not your contentPartners are not disengaged, they are out of capacity. The translation tax explained, and what changes when material arrives finished.Open →GuideHow to build partner enablement for faster partner revenueOnboarding, role-based training, and content a partner can find when they need it, tied to revenue milestones rather than seat time.Open →ServiceKeynotes, workshops, and executive coachingSix signature talks, live alignment workshops, Partner Advisory Council facilitation, and coaching for channel leaders.Open →ServicePartner program assessmentA time-boxed diagnostic of program design, partner experience, and coverage, ending in a prioritized roadmap.Open →
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The thinking here is what an engagement starts from, not what it ends with.