Recently there was a discussion thread on the ASAP (Association of Strategic Alliances) LinkedIn Group about the differences between folks who manage channel partners vs. folks who manage alliances. In my experience, Alliance Managers that are successful managing channel/reseller partnerships (typically called Business Development Managers) generally have a sales background. Channel relationships, by design, are more tactical relationships. The basic job here is blocking and tackling, managing the sales cycle, tracking pipeline, managing sales conflicts etc.
Alliance Managers covering strategic relationships, where joint collaboration and innovation are the raison d'etre of the alliance, need a different skill set. The ability to think strategically, high emotional intelligence, and an entrepreneurial mindset, are all key attributes of successful strategic alliance managers.
Both jobs require people with fundamental sales skills, it's really a question of degree. I believe Channel Managers need to have stronger skills in this area, but Strategic Alliance Managers also must have very good sales skills, and not just because of the amount of internal selling the job entails! SAMs need to have a clear understanding of the selling process and sales engagement process in order to successfully build and execute initiatives with the Partner. At IBM we used to say "nothing happens until you sell something" - all the great strategy work in the world is meaningless unless it can be translated into a selling proposition that two sales teams can assimilate and sell!!
- Donna Peek
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