In the category of "why are so many things in the sales profession messed up", a new survey by Blueroads and Sirius Decisions has found that most executives running channel programs in large companies need to focus more on helping their partners sell?!

It seems most channel executives have been spending their time and money on things like partner portals and have just realized that maybe it is time to focus on actually generating leads that their partners can close. I doubt this is much of a surprise for their partners! Of the channel executives who did focus on sales effectiveness 62% reported...an increase in revenue...

Reading between the lines, it's my opinion that channel executives are not fighting the tough fights in their own companies to get the resources they need to actually help generate business for their partners. Hopefully this report will help to change that. The channel team has often been treated as the "poor cousins" in many sales organizations I have seen. I hope they will stand up for themselves more in 2009 and help their partners drive some big revenue gains. With the way the economy looks partners surely need it!

Here's a few extracts from the report:

Top channel executives do not focus enough resources on driving sales effectiveness, suggest the results of a new survey released today by Blueroads and Sirius Decisions. In fact, 80 percent of the channel investments by the vendors that were surveyed are focused around tactical issues such as training, partner portals, and partner communication tools – all activities that automate partners, but fail to help them drive top-line revenue growth.

The Channel Survey: 2009 Priorities, which polled an audience of over 1000 high ranking vendor channel leaders, also indicates that vendors are seeking to drive revenues, but didn’t always know how, and resorted to brute force tactics including channel partner recruitment in their existing markets rather than focusing on programs that increase the productivity and yield of their current resellers and partners. The survey covered a variety of channel-dependent industries--including software, telecommunications, computer hardware, and information services--on their channel plans, investments, and expectations.

“Too many channel chiefs are engaged in low-risk, low-return activities,” said Charles Watson, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Blueroads. “Too few are ready to drive fundamental changes that help them achieve greater equality with direct sales and enable increased visibility, empowerment and accountability in the channel.”

Nearly sixty percent of respondents recognize they need to spend more on sales effectiveness programs in 2009. However, their intended actions don’t necessarily support that goal. For example, training and partner content portals were among the top technology investments, yet these are often simply easy-to-implement infrastructure investments with limited return.