The Importance of Channel Software in 2020: Mark Herbert Contributes to Jay McBain & Forrester Research’s Q2 Report

Another proud moment for Incentive Solutions as President and CEO Mark Herbert is highlighted in this PR for his contributions to Forrester Research’s latest report. Titled “The Forrester Tech Tide: Channel Software, Q2 2020,” and written by principle analyst Jay McBain, the report takes a deep dive into the importance of channel software for today’s B2B channel marketing and sales professionals.

Channel Sales Thought Leader Jay McBain

When it comes to the latest insights into channel enablement, Jay McBain is one of Incentive Solutions’ most trusted sources for the latest B2B channel trends. Serving as the keynote speaker at our annual BThruB Leadership Summit back in October of 2019, his dedication to ongoing research and the resulting wealth of knowledge has earned him the title of channel sales thought leader.

Keynote speaker Jay McBain from Forrester Research at the Incentive Solutions BThruB Leadership Summit, October 2019.

Being asked to contribute to Jay’s latest findings becomes that much more of an honor for our very own Mark Herbert, who’s role in the development and execution of hundreds of channel incentive programs has helped solidify his status in the world of channel marketing.

The Importance of Channel Software in Data Collection

When it comes to the B2B sales channel, properly leveraging channel partnerships can mean incredible business for manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers alike. Fostering relationships with channel partners, however, is notoriously elusive as the channel forces products through many hands before they meet their end user. Organization and collection of data on these channel partners has become a key focus for B2B businesses in order to ensure their product is properly promoted at the time of sale. This is where the importance of channel software comes into play.

The report is organized around the analysis of seven technology categories that are prominent aids in customer and product relationship management. Here at ISI, our channel incentive programs are geared with the latest advancements in channel technology, sporting twelve different modules for clients to build their ideal channel partner program.

Using a variety of rewards to encourage desired behaviors, B2B companies can integrate their existing online platforms with their partner reward program for a seamless participant experience. They can also organize and set specific promotions for their variety of channel partners, be it by role or region of sales. Valuable customer data has never been easier to maintain or collect, meaning easy-to-access insights for your channel sales and marketing teams.

Closing Thoughts on Channel Software

As Jay explains, “the effective use of real-time channel data improves a vendor’s speed-to-market, provides actionable insights for making in-flight adjustments, develops a new level of location intelligence to better understand their customers, opens up data accessibility to reduce payment errors, and helps quantify the return on invested capital (ROIC) in the channel.” Collecting this data is made possible with the help of channel software providers, and Incentive Solutions has got your incentive software covered.