How to Win Over Your Channel Partners’ Sales Reps

Over lunch recently, one of our client’s sales executives mused about how challenging it has become for his channel account managers to build strong relationships with their channel partners’ sales reps. With fewer face-to-face meetings and more virtual interactions, creating trust and momentum isn’t as easy as it once was.

By “channel partners,” we mean the full spectrum from value added resellers (VARs) to solution providers to managed services providers (MSPs), and global systems integrators. Turns out this is a common challenge that many of our clients face when they rely heavily on indirect sales: how do you win more deals through partners when your product is just one of 40+ vendors they represent?

This is the core of understanding how to win over channel partners. Your solution must be the easiest path to revenue for partner reps—or it risks being deprioritized. That’s why a strong channel marketing strategy that aligns sales, marketing, and partner incentives is critical to long-term success.

So what works? Based on best practices from vendors that rely heavily on channel partnerships such as Atlassian, VMware, Cisco, and HP Enterprise, here’s our short list of proven ways to strengthen channel partner engagement and drive better results through your indirect sales model.

Show You Genuinely Care

Seems like an odd statement in a business context. But recognize that your channel partner’s sales rep probably has at least 10 other vendors clamoring for attention. Many vendors approach partner reps with a single goal: sell my product. A more effective approach is to show genuine interest in the rep both as a professional and a person.

That means taking time to understand:

• Their territory and quota target
• Their customer base and vertical focus
• Their sales process and selling challenges
• Their favorite “hooks” to get an appointment

Then, just as importantly, get to know them personally. What motivates them? What do they like to do for fun? What’s new in their family? What are their career and personal aspirations?

This human-first approach is foundational to winning over channel partners because trust drives attention, and attention drives revenue.

Deliver Deals, Not Just Decks

Another aspect of understanding how to win over channel partners is learning to stand out from other vendor reps. You want to make money for your partner reps quickly by delivering deals. That means owning the end-customer sales process, taking deals all the way to a purchase order, then handing fulfillment to the channel partner rep so they get paid with almost no effort.

When you can deliver two or three “golden platter” deals, you immediately differentiate yourself from other vendors competing for mindshare. This approach works best when paired with strong sales enablement that equips partner reps with the tools, messaging, and confidence they need to close.

Aim to:

• Deliver at least one high-quality lead per week
• Book the initial appointment on the rep’s behalf
• Reduce friction so the rep can close faster

This is one of the most effective tactics for understanding how to support channel sales reps while strengthening long-term channel partner engagement.

Check in Often With Purpose

Consistency matters. Proactively call or email channel partner reps at least twice a week with something useful that adds value. Check-ins might include:

• Sharing new leads or opportunities
• Passing along company/product updates
• Highlighting recent wins or customer stories

Some reps even appreciate when vendors request a dedicated one-hour block of time to make joint calls to prospects and current customers. It may seem intrusive, but they actually value a structured, productive use of their time.

Regular, value-driven communication is a critical component of understanding how to win over channel partners in crowded partner ecosystems.

Schedule Short Virtual Visits

Too many sales managers working with channel partners rely on phone and email to maintain communications. While no one wants yet another Zoom meeting on their calendar, you can still book a 30-minute session once a month to share meaningful content, best practices, and any new tools that would help your channel partner seller.

These conversations are even more impactful when tied back to a clear go-to-market plan, ensuring your team and your partners are aligned on priorities, messaging, and target accounts.

We’ve even seen account managers schedule informal sessions, such as a comedy hour or improv, to humanize the relationship and lighten up their channel partners’ day with fun and humor. These moments strengthen rapport and improve channel partner engagement without feeling transactional.

Mentor and Educate

Most partner reps have neither the time nor the patience for long vendor training sessions. But if you have expertise that the channel rep values, make it your job to pass that along. Bring them up to speed on your domain knowledge or a specific product in a manner tailored to their learning style.

For example,

• Learn by doing? Bring them into a live customer call and lead the pitch.
• Learn by reading? Share short, targeted resources like customer case studies, selling hooks, value propositions, competitive news, industry trends, etc.
• Learn by watching? Provide brief demo videos or recorded walkthroughs.

This personalized approach, supported by strong product marketing fundamentals, demonstrates that you understand how to support channel sales reps in ways that respect their time and priorities.

Make Them Look Good

Recognition is a powerful motivator for sales reps and plays a critical role in winning over channel partners. Clearly, some of the practices above, like handing them deals or quality leads, help improve the partner rep’s scorecard before their sales management. Anything you do to help a partner rep succeed—and be recognized for it—builds loyalty.

One client made it a personal mission to make one of his channel partner reps a “showcase” within their organization. After closing a couple of quick deals together, they wrote up a case study featuring the channel rep and highlighting how the deals were won. That PDF quickly made its way around the internal sales force, elevating the rep’s profile and strengthening the vendor relationship.

Sharing success stories like these—similar to other product marketing examples—helps reinforce your value not just to the rep, but to the broader partner organization.

Value Accountability

VARs and distributors value vendors who are responsive, easy to work with, and reliable. Set the tone by quickly following up on the promises you make to the channel rep. Equally important, respectfully hold partner reps accountable for their commitments to you. Strong relationships are built on mutual trust, transparency, and follow-through.

It’s this balance of give-and-take that strengthens credibility and keeps channel partner engagement strong over time.

Final Thoughts

We hope you found these tips helpful as you support your channel sales team in forging tighter bonds with your channel partners’ sales organizations.

Winning in indirect sales isn’t about pushing your product harder; it’s about building trust, delivering value, and making your partners successful. Apply these best practices, and you’ll strengthen your relationships, increase mindshare, and master how to win over channel partners in a competitive arena.

For more on the topic, check out our ​​#AventiLive Chat: “Channel Sales – What Really Works to Drive Successful Partnerships” featuring Sridhar Ramanathan, Aventi Co-founder, and Steve Cross, formerly Atlassian Channel Sales Manager.

Let us know if you’d like a quick assessment of your channel partner enablement strategy. We’d be happy to schedule a 30-minute session with you. Let’s talk about how to support your channel sales reps better and drive stronger results together.