We are working with a client that is very focused on driving down their global channel costs, but wants to see a simultaneous increase in channel revenues. So, how is that going? Amazingly, it's going well.

What I will share with you is partially the strategy of our client and partially input from us. The program hinges on two major points:

1) Developing and nurturing a Partner Ecosystem,
2) Providing an outsourced concierge service.

(I'll use "we" here, and acknowledge that many third-parties can play the role of "we". My objective with this post is to show you what can be done.)

Like most of our clients, they have thousands of Partners already. They even talk about an existing Partner Ecosystem. What we are doing is building out this ecosystem so that they have what they need to really work well together. It's quite easy to have a Partner program that you call an ecosystem, it's another thing entirely to have a real ecosystem. By that, I mean Partners who can, and do, work with each other and with the vendor to create a 2 + 2 = 5.

How are we doing that? Via the concierge service.

The concierge service profiles, matches and connects (via social networking) a global group of Partners. The service manages the planning, execution, management and reporting of:

• Co-development, funding and execution of demand generation programs,
• Partner business plan creation,
• Consultative guidance on brand usage, partner program benefits, offerings, promotions, etc.,
• Partner-to-Partner enablement via social tools,
• Revenue creation through connecting Partners and our client on opportunities (where the rubber meets the road).

How are your channel costs and revenues doing?