Revitalize Your Partner Advisory Board

A significant ‘event’ — the debut of a new channel chief, a product launch, or something else — can remind you to get your PAB back on track.

By Bryn Nettesheim

Partner advisory boards (PABs) bridge vendors and their partner communities, allowing them to exchange valuable insights, collaborate on go-to-market strategies, and drive mutual success.

But it’s not uncommon for advisory boards to fall into the background. After all, they require extensive planning and resources for both vendors and their partners. When their value goes unrecognized (often because channel leaders are too mired in day-to-day activities to sit down and assess their PAB programs), they’re at risk of becoming just another item on the to-do list.

How do you know your PABs are going stale? A number of red flags may pop up.

You may find yourself relying on the same partners over and over for press quotes or feedback. Those same partners may be slow getting back to you and/or they’ve been on the advisory board for more than two years. Or their goals no longer align with yours. Perhaps your PAB members are meeting only once a year; and when they do, there are no actionable items on the docket. Maybe it’s a challenge to determine the benefits or outcomes of the PAB. Or has it been a while since you reassessed the PAB’s mission?

Sometimes, a triggering event — say, a newly hired channel chief, a new offering, a merger or an acquisition, or a significant program change — can be just the reminder you need to get your PAB program back on track.

Let’s consider a few scenarios.

A new channel chief has joined the company. One of the most important things for that chief to do in the first 90 days is to become familiar with partners and the dynamics of the partner program. Given that regularly scheduled PABs are viewed as markers of successful partner programs, a channel chief will likely want to stand up a new PAB program or reinvigorate the current one to gather information and set a course forward.

When launching a new product or service, a vendor can benefit from partners’ perspectives on customer and market needs. Through a PAB, vendors can gain information about product fit and value propositions, adjacencies, and pricing. They can also collect data about what the competition is doing and what partners need in the way of enablement.

When M&A activity takes place, risk exposure is top-of-mind for both vendors and their partners. Typically, M&A events herald a resource allocation shift, can have an impact on the availability of products and services, and may signal a change to a vendor’s financial model — all potentially affecting partner program stability and, ultimately, partner status and profitability.

For the duration of a merger or an acquisition, PABs can prove key to understanding partner concerns and allowing a vendor to put its best foot forward in meeting community needs and creating messaging, policies, and program elements that resonate with stakeholders.

Partner program changes pose yet another opportunity to engage the partner community through an advisory board meeting. Vendors can leverage a PAB to gauge partners’ sentiment around changes and measure their performance after some time has passed (year over year, for example). And advisory boards work both ways, of course, providing valuable feedback to vendors and giving partners the chance to express their concerns.

So, what can a channel chief or program manager do to revitalize a PAB program?

Here are some possibilities:

1. Step up as a leader: Channel leaders must be proactive in listening to their partners and working collaboratively. Re-commit to forging a deeper level of partnership with these select partners and set a precedent for recognizing their value to your organization.
2. Educate yourself on PAB value: Understand the potential impact of a well-run PAB. Establish metrics to quantify its contributions and value, and then invest in a plan to refresh the board with renewed intent.
3. Refresh your partner lineup: Replace partners who have been on the board for more than two years. Bringing in new members means introducing fresh perspectives.
4. Reassess partner fit: Evaluate the types of partners on your advisory board. Ensure that their attributes and firmographics align with your current channel goals.
5. Conduct third-party interviews: Engage an external party to interview current and prospective members. This will provide an unbiased view of the status of your partnerships and highlight areas that may be out of alignment with your company’s goals and direction.

Ultimately, PABs play a central role in helping vendors engage with and manage their partners. Their benefits are too important to ignore, so if the daily grind has forced them to the wayside, it’s worth the effort to bring them back into the spotlight, especially if significant changes are in the works at your organization.

For more information on PABs, read our guide on the topic. And don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@channelnomics.com. Our expert consultants can help you polish or kick-start your own PAB program.

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VP of Professional Services Bryn Nettesheim heads up the consulting practice at Channelnomics and also acts as a consultant. She provides strategic direction on client projects and creates processes to ensure operational efficiency and a positive client experience.