Maximizing Channel Sales Performance in 2025: AI Outreach, ABM, and Partner Enablement

Major Takeaways: Channel Sales

AI Outreach Drives Sales Efficiency

• Leveraging AI for outreach and lead qualification improves partner productivity and delivers higher win rates, with AI users seeing up to 1.7x market share growth.

ABM Strategies Amplify Channel Wins

• Account-Based Marketing enables vendors and partners to co-target high-value accounts, increasing deal size and accelerating close rates by over 58%.

Partner Enablement Increases Revenue

• Companies with structured partner enablement programs report up to 6x more revenue from trained partners versus untrained ones.

Omnichannel Engagement Boosts Conversions

• B2B teams using multichannel outreach (email, calls, LinkedIn) see 287% higher engagement, helping partners close more deals with less effort.

Strong Channel Sales Management Prevents Revenue Loss

• Managing KPIs, incentives, and partner relationships proactively is essential; 23% of companies lack visibility into partner performance, risking missed targets.

AI-Powered Lead Distribution Increases Deal Velocity

• Vendors who use AI tools to route high-intent leads to the right partners help accelerate pipeline and reduce the sales cycle by weeks.

Sales Channel Strategy Minimizes Channel Conflict

• Companies with defined sales channel strategies—territories, deal registration, and clear channel tiers—experience better partner alignment and fewer internal disputes.

Introduction

Channel sales – the practice of selling products through third-party partners rather than directly – is surging in importance as companies seek faster growth with lower overhead. In fact, more than half of B2B companies report increased revenue from channel partnerships, and channel sales account for roughly 75% of global sales (2). Yet despite its potential, maximizing channel sales performance in 2025 comes with new challenges. Buyers demand seamless, omnichannel experiences and increasingly prefer digital self-service options. Gartner projects 80% of B2B sales interactions will occur via digital channels by 2025 (4), raising the bar for how we support partners and engage customers. Meanwhile, emerging technologies like AI and data-driven strategies such as ABM (Account-Based Marketing) are changing the game for outreach and partner management.

For sales and marketing leaders, the question is: How do we empower our channel partners to drive revenue growth in this evolving landscape? In this guide, we’ll tackle that challenge head-on. You’ll learn what channel sales is (and how it works), why a robust channel strategy matters, and concrete strategies to improve channel sales using AI-powered outreach, targeted ABM campaigns, and strong partner enablement. We’ll also explore the key roles in channel sales (from development managers to channel reps) and best practices for managing and motivating partner networks. By the end, you’ll have a roadmap to transform your channel program into a high-performing growth engine.

Let’s dive in with a clear understanding of channel sales basics, then explore how to take your channel performance to new heights in 2025.

Channel Sales Definition and How It Works

What is channel sales? In simple terms, channel sales (also known as partner sales or indirect sales) is a B2B sales model where a company sells its products or services through third-party partners rather than selling directly to end customers (1). These partners can take many forms – common examples include resellers, distributors, value-added resellers (VARs), agents/brokers, systems integrators, and more. In a channel sales model, your partners handle prospecting, sales conversations, and closing deals with customers, effectively acting as an extension of your sales team.

How does channel sales work? Typically, the vendor (your company) recruits and enables channel partners who then market and sell the product to their own customer base. For instance, a software company might rely on regional IT service providers and consultants to resell its software to local clients. The vendor supplies the product, training, and often marketing support, while the partner provides the customer relationship and sales effort. When a sale is made, the partner earns a commission or margin, and the vendor gains a customer it might not have reached on its own. This indirect sales approach is mutually beneficial: the partner earns revenue, and the vendor expands its market reach without the cost of hiring more direct sales reps.

It’s important to understand that channel partners in sales are essentially any external organizations or individuals that help bring your product to market. This could include large wholesale distributors, smaller niche resellers, consulting firms, retailers, affiliates, or even other technology companies in an alliance. For example, Microsoft’s vast channel of VARs, MSPs, and OEM partners contributes an estimated 95% of Microsoft’s commercial revenue (3) – a testament to how powerful a well-run channel program can be.

Channel sales vs. direct sales: Channel sales is often contrasted with direct sales (where your internal team sells straight to the customer). Many companies use a mix of both models. The key difference is who interfaces with the customer – in direct sales, your company does; in channel sales, your partner does. This means less control for the vendor but greater scale and reach by leveraging partners’ customer relationships. We’ll expand on direct vs. channel sales differences in the FAQ, but the core idea is that channel sales trades a measure of control for broader distribution. Done right, it’s a win-win: you gain revenue from markets you couldn’t easily access directly, and partners gain commissions or an expanded product portfolio to sell.

Why channel sales matters in 2025: Companies are increasingly adopting channel sales to accelerate growth. A Zendesk industry report noted that 63.5% of companies saw increased annual revenue from their channel partners (2). And in some sectors, the majority of sales happen via partners – one study found channel sales drive ~75% of worldwide business sales (2). Clearly, a strong channel strategy can be a game-changer for revenue. Moreover, in today’s global, digital-first market, partners can help you reach geographies and customer segments that your direct team might miss, all while keeping customer acquisition costs lower. Channel partners often come with built-in trust and existing client relationships, giving you instant credibility in front of new customers (1). It’s no surprise that software vendors, manufacturers, and even service firms are heavily investing in partner programs to scale efficiently.

However, success in channel sales requires careful management. You must enable and motivate partners to sell your product (since they likely have other offerings to focus on), and you need strategies to avoid channel conflict (e.g. when your direct sales compete with partners for the same customers). Let’s next discuss the types of sales channels and their respective benefits – especially distinguishing physical vs. digital channels – as a foundation for building an effective channel strategy.

Different Types of Sales Channels (Physical & Digital)

Not all sales channels are created equal. In a modern go-to-market, companies typically engage across multiple channel types – combining direct and indirect methods, and operating both in the physical world and online. Here we break down the major categories of sales channels and their characteristics:

• Direct Sales Channels: These involve selling straight to the end customer with no intermediary. Examples: your in-house sales team (field sales or inside sales), your company’s website or e-commerce store (if you sell directly online), or a retail storefront owned by your company. Direct channels give you full control over branding, pricing, and customer experience, but are resource-intensive to scale.
  
• Indirect Sales Channels: These are channel sales in the true sense – using third parties to reach customers. Channel partners can include:
  
  • Resellers – companies that purchase your product to resell to end buyers (often at a markup). They handle customer transactions. 📌 Example: IT value-added resellers who bundle your software with their services.
    
  • Distributors – intermediaries that buy in bulk and distribute your product to numerous downstream resellers or retailers (1). They expand geographic reach. 📌 Example: A distributor buys your electronic components and supplies local electronics stores.
    
  • Agents/Brokers – individuals or firms that find customers and facilitate sales on your behalf for a commission (1). They typically don’t buy inventory, but connect buyers and sellers. 📌 Example: An insurance broker selling policies from various insurers.
    
  • Affiliates/Referral Partners – partners who promote your product (often online) and refer customers to you for a referral fee. 📌 Example: A blogger or industry consultant sends business your way via a tracked link.
    
  • OEM/White-label Partners – companies that integrate your product into their own or rebrand it as their own product to sell. 📌 Example: A software company OEMs your API within their platform and sells it to their clients.
    
  • Franchisees – in retail/franchise contexts, independent owners who operate stores under your brand and sell your products (1).
    
• (There are many more nuanced partner types, but these are some of the most common in channel programs.)
  
• Physical Sales Channels: These refer to in-person or brick-and-mortar avenues of selling. It could be physical retail stores, showrooms, face-to-face reseller sales, trade distributors, etc. Physical channels excel at providing tangible customer experiences – shoppers can see and touch products, get immediate service, and enjoy instant fulfillment. We’ll discuss benefits shortly.
  
• Digital Sales Channels: These are online and electronic methods for selling. They range from your company’s website or online store, to e-commerce marketplaces (like Amazon, Alibaba, or industry-specific marketplaces), to social media storefronts and ads (Facebook Shop, Instagram shoppable posts), to mobile commerce apps, and even emerging channels like chatbots or live chat sales. Essentially, any channel where the customer can research and purchase online counts as a digital sales channel.
  

Let’s address two key questions to clarify the extremes of this spectrum:

What channels are examples of digital sales channels?

Digital sales channels encompass any platform that allows a customer to complete a purchase online. Common examples include:

• Company Websites & Online Stores: Your website serves as a digital storefront where customers can learn about products and buy on their own time. For many companies, the online store is a core digital channel (especially in B2C, but increasingly in B2B as well.
• Online Marketplaces: E-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Etsy (and B2B platforms like ThomasNet or industry exchanges) are digital channels where multiple vendors sell products. These give you access to large audiences searching for solutions.
• Social Media Commerce: Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok have shopping features or ads that let users discover and buy products without leaving the app. For example, an Instagram ad might show a product and link directly to an online checkout.
• Email and SMS: Direct digital outreach like personalized email marketing can be a sales channel – customers click an email link to purchase or schedule a demo (1). Likewise, SMS text offers or messaging apps (WhatsApp, WeChat) can facilitate sales conversations digitally.
• Chatbots and Live Chat: AI-driven chatbots on your site or messaging platforms can engage visitors, answer questions, and even guide them to purchase pages (1). Live chat with sales reps online also counts as a digital selling channel.
• Mobile Apps: If your company or a partner has a mobile app through which customers can browse and order products (think food delivery apps, B2B procurement apps), that’s another digital channel.
• Digital Partner Portals: In a channel context, even a partner’s online portal or e-procurement system could be considered a digital sales channel if customers transact through it.

In short, any channel where the sales interaction and transaction occur electronically – without face-to-face interaction – is a digital sales channel. These channels offer global reach and 24/7 availability. Buyers increasingly favor them for convenience: as McKinsey notes, B2B customers now use 10 different interaction channels on average during their buying journey (up from 5 in 2016), and over half want a seamless omnichannel experience blending digital and human touchpoints (5).

What are the benefits of physical sales channels?

Despite the digital boom, physical sales channels (in-person sales via stores, offices, or field reps) provide unique advantages that digital channels can’t fully replace. Key benefits include:

• Hands-on Product Experiences: In a physical store or demo, customers can see, touch, and try products directly. This sensory experience builds confidence. For example, a shopper might sit on a chair to judge its comfort or test electronics in-store. Nothing beats an in-person trial for certain products, which is why 70% of Gen Z consumers say product samples influence their purchases (8).
• Instant Gratification: Physical channels offer immediate fulfillment – customers walk out with the product in hand. There’s no waiting for shipping. This instant delivery satisfies customer desires quickly (think of the launch day lines at an Apple Store – people want the new iPhone now). In B2B, a local distributor can deliver parts same-day, minimizing downtime for the buyer.
• No Shipping Hassles: Because the product is already on-site, buyers avoid shipping costs or delays, and sellers avoid logistics issues like lost packages. The transaction is completed on the spot.
• Personal Sales Assistance: Trained sales staff in a store or on a site visit can provide consultative guidance, answer questions in real time, and upsell or cross-sell related solutions. Many customers value this human interaction and expertise, leading to a more personalized buying experience than a self-service web purchase.
• Local Presence & Trust: Physical channels allow you to build local relationships and community. A reseller or retailer in the customer’s region brings credibility – they understand local needs and have face-to-face rapport. Vendors can also host in-person events, trainings, or user groups via partners, deepening customer engagement.
• Impulse Purchases and Visual Merchandising: In retail, attractive in-store displays and promotions can spur impulse buys – something that’s harder to replicate online. A physical showroom can showcase your product’s quality in ways a webpage might not convey.

Of course, physical channels come with higher overhead (rent, inventory, staffing) and geographic limitations, whereas digital channels offer cost efficiency and unlimited scale. This is why an omnichannel marketing strategy – blending digital and physical – is ideal for many businesses. Customers often like to research online and then buy in store, or vice versa, so integrating the two is key. We’ll discuss omnichannel sales later on, but first, let’s talk strategy: how do you create an effective sales channel strategy and manage your channel program?

Channel Sales Strategy and Management

Launching a partner program or expanding channel sales requires a well-thought-out strategy. Channel sales strategy refers to your game plan for using different channels to reach customers – which channels to use, what mix of direct/indirect sales to deploy, and how to align them for maximum coverage and minimum conflict. Channel sales management is the ongoing practice of managing those partner relationships and sales activities to hit your targets. In this section, we’ll define these concepts and outline best practices.

What is a sales channel strategy?

A sales channel strategy is a strategic plan for how your product will go to market through various channels. It involves deciding: will you sell direct, via partners, or both? What types of partners or channels are the best fit for your business? How will you prevent different channels from stepping on each other’s toes? A solid channel strategy typically includes:

• Channel Selection: Identify the channels that make sense for your product and customers. For example, a small SaaS startup might use direct inside sales and partner with referral agents, whereas a hardware manufacturer might rely on distributors and resellers in each region. Analyze where your target customers prefer to buy – do they go through integrators, online marketplaces, big retail chains? Your strategy should meet customers where they already shop or get advice.
• Channel Mix & Territories: Define the mix of direct vs. indirect sales. Many firms assign certain segments to channel partners (e.g. small/medium businesses through resellers, enterprise accounts handled direct). You might use geographic territories – e.g. partners handle international markets where you lack presence. The goal is to expand reach without channel conflict. Clear delineation ensures your direct team isn’t competing with partners for the same deals.
• Value Proposition for Partners: Your strategy must address why partners should sell your product. This includes partner incentives (discounts, margins, deal registration protection, marketing funds) and the support you’ll provide. Essentially, you need a compelling answer to “what’s in it for the partner?” to attract good channels.
• Enablement Plan: Plan how you’ll train and equip partners – we’ll cover enablement in depth soon. Strategy-wise, decide if you’ll have formal certification programs, a partner portal for resources, co-marketing campaigns, etc. For example, Salesforce’s channel strategy includes a robust partner training & certification ecosystem, which has helped its partners drive $70B+ in software revenue (1).
• Channel Goals and Metrics: Set targets for your channel sales (e.g. “25% of total revenue via partners in first year”) and define lead generation KPIs to monitor (number of partner-sourced deals, partner pipeline, quarterly sales by partner, etc.). This is crucial for measuring success and ROI of your channel program (7).
• Conflict Resolution Policies: Strategize how you’ll handle scenarios like a lead coming in via a partner vs. direct, overlapping territories, or discounting wars. Many companies implement deal registration (the first partner to register an opportunity gets credit and support, preventing multiple partners or your direct team from poaching it). A clear policy keeps the channel motivated and minimizes disputes.

Ultimately, a great channel strategy aligns with your overall sales goals and customer needs. It’s not static – you should revisit it regularly. For instance, if certain partner types are thriving (or struggling), you may adjust which channels to invest in. Channel strategy is about selecting the right routes to market and giving each the best chance to succeed.

What is channel sales management?

Once your channels are in place, channel sales management refers to the day-to-day and strategic management of your partner relationships and channel sales performance. It’s the art and science of making your channel program run smoothly and profitably. Key aspects include:

• Partner Recruitment and Onboarding: Finding and signing the right partners, and getting them up to speed. A Channel Development Manager often leads this effort (more on that role shortly). It’s not just about quantity of partners, but quality – identify partners with customer bases or expertise that complement your product. Some channel leaders are now applying ABM-style tactics to partner recruitment, targeting ideal partner candidates with personalized outreach and data-driven pitches (13) (sometimes called partner-based marketing (PBM)). The idea is to treat recruiting a great partner with the same focus as landing a big customer account.
• Training and Enablement: Providing education, sales training, and marketing resources so that partners can effectively sell and support your product. This is critical – an enabled partner is a productive partner. Training might include online courses, webinars, playbooks, demo equipment, etc. According to a PartnerStack survey, partners who completed training or certification earned 6x more revenue on average from those partnerships than untrained partners (12). (Translation: if you invest in training your partners, they sell a lot more for you!) We’ll dive deeper into enablement in the next section.
• Incentives and Motivation: Managing commission structures, discounts, and rewards to drive partner behavior. Channel sales management often involves administering incentive programs – e.g. tiered margins (higher-performing partners get better discounts), bonuses for exceeding quotas, market development funds (MDF) for co-marketing, spiffs for sales reps, etc. The effort is worth it: companies that implement channel incentive programs have seen a 32% increase in overall brand revenue on average (3). A well-designed incentive plan aligns the partners’ goals with yours (when they win, you win).
• Relationship Management: Maintaining strong communication and support. Channel managers serve as the point of contact for partners – answering questions, resolving conflicts, and advocating for partner needs internally (6). Regular business reviews (QBRs), feedback sessions, and a responsive helpdesk are part of good partner relationship management. The closer and more trust-based your partner relationships, the more committed those partners will be to selling your solutions. (It’s often said that partner experience = customer experience in channel sales – if you give partners an excellent experience, they’ll pass it on to customers (1).)
• Performance Monitoring: Tracking partner sales metrics and ROI. This involves using tools (like PRM – Partner Relationship Management software or CRM dashboards) to monitor deal registrations, pipeline, closed sales, and other KPIs by partner (6). By analyzing performance, you can identify which partners are doing well and which may need more help or pruning. It’s noted that 23% of companies don’t even know how well their partners are performing (3) – a gap you’ll want to avoid with proper data. Insightful analytics also help in optimizing your channel strategy over time (e.g. focusing on the partner types or activities yielding the best results).
• Channel Conflict Management: Balancing your direct sales and different partners to prevent competition for the same business. Effective channel managers set rules of engagement (as mentioned in strategy) and act as referees if disputes arise. For example, if a direct rep accidentally starts pursuing a lead that a partner brought in, a good channel management process will credit the partner and realign the sales efforts. Keeping the peace ensures partners trust the program and remain engaged.

In summary, channel sales management is about enabling partners, driving their engagement, and holding them (and yourself) accountable to targets. It requires both people skills (relationship building, communication) and analytical skills (data-driven decision making). Strong channel management can dramatically improve partner productivity – for instance, one study found that companies with structured, programmatic partner management allocate resources more efficiently and drive more revenue than those with ad-hoc approaches.

Now that we’ve covered strategy and management fundamentals, let’s get practical: How can you improve channel sales performance? The next section outlines concrete tactics you can implement to boost your channel results, from leveraging new technology to investing in partner success.

How to Improve Channel Sales Performance

If you already have a channel program (or are starting one), you might be asking, “What can we do now to drive more sales through our partners?” Improving channel sales often boils down to two themes: empower your partners to sell more effectively, and coordinate your efforts with modern tools and strategies. Here are some high-impact ways to improve channel sales performance:

• 1. Double-Down on Partner Training and Enablement: The more knowledgeable and skilled your partners are, the better they’ll sell. Provide ongoing training on product updates, customer use cases, and effective sales tactics. Consider formal certification programs to encourage mastery. Data shows that well-trained partners significantly outsell untrained ones – for example, Gusto found its certified accounting partners brought in 40% more clients within 90 days than those not certified (12). Enablement should also include ready-to-use sales materials (battle cards, brochures, demos) and a user-friendly partner portal to access them. Essentially, make it easy for partners to educate customers and pitch your solution.
• 2. Leverage AI and Automation for Partner Outreach & Support: In 2025, AI-driven tools can massively boost channel productivity – both in finding new partners and in generating sales leads for existing partners. Use AI to analyze your best partners’ traits and identify lookalike companies to recruit (account-based targeting for partner acquisition). Deploy AI in marketing automation to deliver leads to partners: for example, intent-data services can alert you when a potential end-customer is researching your product category (3), and you can pass that lead to the appropriate partner instantly. AI chatbots can also assist partners and their customers with 24/7 support on common queries. According to McKinsey, nearly 19% of B2B sales teams are already using generative AI for tasks like prospecting and customer insights, and those using data+AI report 1.7× higher market share growth than peers (5). In short, embracing AI in your channel processes can yield faster, smarter selling.
• 3. Implement Account-Based Marketing (ABM) with and for Partners: ABM isn’t just for direct sales – it can be a powerful approach in channel sales as well. Work with your partners to identify a set of high-value target accounts (perhaps large enterprises or strategic logos) and coordinate personalized marketing/sales campaigns at those accounts. For example, you and a key reseller might jointly target a Fortune 500 prospect: your marketing team runs tailored ads and sends content to the prospect, while the partner’s sales rep works their contacts at the account. This one-two punch can penetrate big accounts more effectively than generic outreach. ABM is proven to increase deal size and ROI – 81% of organizations say ABM delivers higher ROI than other marketing (10). By extending ABM to channel, you ensure partners are focusing on the right opportunities with your active support. You can also use ABM principles in partner recruitment (as mentioned, treating top prospective partners as accounts to win). Overall, ABM fosters tighter alignment between you and your partners on shared goals: landing specific high-value customers.
• 4. Embrace Omnichannel Outreach Strategies: Help your partners adopt an omnichannel sales approach – meaning reaching customers through a mix of email, calls, social media, events, etc., rather than relying on one channel. The data is compelling: businesses using multichannel outreach see 287% higher customer engagement rates than those sticking to a single channel (9). As a vendor, you can encourage and enable this by providing content and tools for various platforms (email templates, LinkedIn outreach sequences, webinar support, etc.). Martal Group’s own experience as a sales agency echoes this: combining outreach via B2B cold email, cold calling, and LinkedIn yields far better results than single-threaded effortsfile-dgahbquzj5dydwhrqafnbgfile-dgahbquzj5dydwhrqafnbg. For channel partners, an omnichannel strategy might look like this: they email a prospect, then follow up with a phone call, connect on LinkedIn sharing a case study, and later meet the prospect at a trade show – all coordinated with consistent messaging. Such an approach keeps your solution in front of the customer in different ways, building familiarity and trust. In 2025, buyers often move fluidly between online and offline info sources, so partners who excel across multiple outreach channels will close more deals.
• 5. Strengthen Partner Incentives and Accountability: Sometimes improving channel sales is as straightforward as sharpening your incentive structure and performance management. Analyze whether your current margins and commissions truly motivate partners. If not, consider increasing rewards for desired behavior (for instance, a higher commission percentage for registering new deals in your CRM, or bonuses for exceeding quarterly sales targets). Many vendors institute tiered partner programs – e.g. Silver/Gold/Platinum tiers – where top-tier partners get the best benefits, which drives partners to aspire upwards (7). On the flip side, don’t hesitate to prune underperforming partners or reallocate leads to those who demonstrate results. By holding partners accountable (through regular QBRs, pipeline reviews, etc.), you create a culture of performance. Interestingly, over 60% of companies see better partner engagement and revenue when they have a clear onboarding process and defined partner SOPs (standard operating procedures) (3). In short: set clear expectations, reward success generously, and address low performance – this will uplift your overall channel output.
• 6. Provide Lead Support (and Consider Outsourced Help): One major way to boost channel sales is to feed your partners more (and better) sales ready leads. Many partners, especially smaller ones, struggle with consistent lead generation – which is an area you can assist through marketing campaigns or vendor-generated leads. If your company can afford it, funnel a portion of marketing budget to run outbound campaigns that drive leads which you then distribute to partners (ensuring they follow up). Additionally, if your direct sales development team uncovers opportunities that are a better fit for channel (e.g. a very small deal or a region you don’t serve), pass those leads to partners rather than letting them languish. This shows partners you’re invested in their success. Some vendors even hire an outsourced sales agency to generate B2B leads and appointments, which are then handed to partners to close. For example, Martal Group provides sales outsourcing and B2B appointment setting services – acting as an on-demand SDR team to fill the pipeline. Vendors engage such services to ensure their partners are busy with qualified meetings, not just cold prospecting. By outsourcing inside sales and parts of the top-of-funnel work, you and your partners can focus on what you each do best (your partner focuses on closing deals and servicing customers, while the outsourced lead generation team or vendor marketing handles prospecting). This kind of vendor-partner teamwork can significantly accelerate channel sales.

Each of the improvements above ties into our core themes: better enablement, smarter outreach, and stronger alignment. In 2025, achieving channel sales excellence means investing in partners’ capabilities (training, tools, leads) and leveraging technology + data to coordinate efforts. The next sections will delve deeper into three transformative areas mentioned – AI outreach, ABM, and partner enablement – which together form a powerful triad for maximizing channel performance.

AI Outreach: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Channel Sales Success

We live in an age where artificial intelligence can turbo-charge outbound sales and marketing – and channel sales is no exception. “AI outreach” refers to using AI-powered tools and platforms to automate, enhance, and personalize sales outreach at scale. For channel sales, AI can be a game-changer in two broad ways: 

(1) helping you recruit and manage partners more effectively, and
(2) enabling both you and your partners to engage end-customers more intelligently. Here’s how AI is reshaping channel sales in 2025:

• Intelligent Partner Prospecting: Finding high-potential channel partners used to be a manual, network-driven process. AI can dramatically improve this by analyzing data to spot ideal partner profiles. For example, AI tools can scrape thousands of company websites and profiles to identify businesses that sell to your target customer but don’t yet carry your product – prime candidates for partnership. You can feed your successful partner data into a machine learning model to predict which other firms are likely to succeed selling your product (based on firmographics, industry focus, etc.). Instead of relying on guesswork or who you meet at conferences, AI-driven prospecting pinpoints partner leads who match your criteria across the globe. This significantly widens your partner funnel.
• Automated Outreach and Lead Nurturing: AI can also conduct initial outreach to prospective partners or customers with personalized messages. For instance, AI email tools (often powered by GPT-like language models) can draft custom emails to partner prospects, highlighting specific opportunities relevant to that prospect’s business. These emails read as if written by a human, but can be generated and sent at scale. AI chatbots on your partner recruitment page can answer common questions and schedule follow-up calls. On the customer side, AI-driven email sequencers and LinkedIn automation can help your partners scale their demand generation efforts without hiring more SDRs. An example is using an AI sales platform to send personalized cold emails to hundreds of prospects for each partner, with tailored hooks for each industry. Such tools can even optimize send times and email follow-up cadence based on engagement patterns – essentially acting like a tireless assistant that boosts volume and relevance of outreach.
• Enhanced Lead Qualification (Signal Analysis): The best AI systems don’t just blast messages – they also analyze buying signals to prioritize efforts. For channel sales, an AI platform might monitor intent data (e.g. companies searching for terms related to your product, downloading whitepapers, or experiencing trigger events like new funding) and alert you and the relevant partner when a potential customer is “warm.” Martal Group, for example, leverages an AI engine that scans over 3,000 intent signals to build ICP-specific lead lists and optimize messaging in real timefile-dgahbquzj5dydwhrqafnbgfile-dgahbquzj5dydwhrqafnbg. This means partners get call lists of prospects who actually have interest or pain points now – dramatically increasing efficiency. By integrating such AI-curated insights into your partner portal or CRM, you empower partners to focus on the best opportunities first, rather than cold calling blind. It’s like giving them X-ray vision into the market.
• Personalization at Scale: One of AI’s superpowers is quickly tailoring content to each recipient. In channel sales, think of all the sales collateral and proposals that go out via partners. AI tools can help generate personalized sales pitch decks, product demos, or proposal documents for each customer scenario, saving partners time and ensuring high-quality consistency. For instance, an AI system could create a custom slide deck for a partner’s big sales meeting, pulling in only the product features and case studies most relevant to that client’s industry. This kind of support makes partners more effective and professional in front of customers. On the marketing side, AI can dynamically personalize your joint vendor-partner campaigns – e.g. adjusting email copy or website content based on each prospect’s profile. Studies show personalization pays off: buyers are far more likely to engage with content that reflects their specific needs (9).
• Forecasting and Performance Insights: AI isn’t just for front-end outreach – it can assist in predictive analytics for channel management too. Machine learning models can analyze your pipeline and past performance to forecast channel sales more accurately, detecting patterns humans might miss. For example, AI might reveal that certain partner activities (like attending a training or co-hosting a webinar) lead to a spike in sales 60 days later – helping you double down on what works. AI can also identify at-risk partners by analyzing engagement data (e.g., a drop in deal registrations or portal logins could trigger an alert to your channel manager to intervene before the partner disengages). In essence, AI can function as a smart monitoring system, sifting through tons of data to surface actionable insights to optimize your channel program.
• Scaling Customer Support and Success: After the sale, supporting customers is vital (whether direct or via partners). AI-powered chatbots and knowledge bases can be extended to your partners and end-customers for 24/7 assistance with common issues or FAQs. This reduces the support burden on partners (and on your team) and keeps customers happy with quick answers. Additionally, AI can help parse through customer feedback or support tickets across the channel to identify common pain points, which you can then address proactively (through partner training or product improvements). A well-supported customer is more likely to renew and buy more, feeding back into higher channel sales over time (especially for subscription or repeat purchase products).

The bottom line: AI is a force multiplier for channel sales. It helps you and your partners work smarter, not just harder. By automating repetitive tasks (like initial outreach and lead research), AI frees up human salespeople to focus on relationship-building and closing. By crunching data at scale, AI uncovers opportunities and insights that would otherwise remain hidden. Companies embracing AI in sales are already reaping benefits – as noted, a significant chunk of B2B sales teams are implementing gen AI use cases, and those data-driven teams are far more likely to outgrow their competitors (5). In the channel context, leveraging AI means your partners get more leads, better intel, and efficient tools, which directly translates to more sales. If you haven’t yet integrated AI into your channel strategy, 2025 is the time to start – those who do will have a formidable advantage in reaching and converting customers through their partner network.

(One caveat: ensure that AI tools are used thoughtfully. The human touch is still crucial, especially in B2B relationships. The goal is to assist and enhance your people and partners, not replace genuine partner engagement.)

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) for Channel Sales Growth

Account-Based Marketing has taken the B2B world by storm in recent years – and for good reason. ABM is a strategy that focuses sales and marketing resources on a defined set of target accounts (usually high-value prospects) and tailors personalized campaigns to engage each account. Instead of casting a wide net, ABM is about laser-focus on the accounts that really matter. So how does this apply to channel sales? Quite directly: ABM can align you and your channel partners to go after the most lucrative opportunities together, resulting in higher win rates and bigger deals.

Here’s how to leverage ABM principles to drive channel sales performance:

• Identify Priority Accounts (Jointly with Partners): The first step of ABM is selecting the accounts to target. Work with your partners to define what an “ideal customer” looks like for your solution and which specific companies fit that profile. Often these will be enterprise or strategic customers that would be game-changers if won. You might provide partners with data – for example, a list of the top 50 target accounts in their region or industry, generated from your market research or intent data. Conversely, ask partners to nominate accounts they’ve been trying to break into that align with your product’s sweet spot. This collaborative target account list is the foundation of partner-enabled ABM. By agreeing on a set of named accounts, you ensure both vendor and partner are rowing in the same direction, concentrating firepower where it counts.
• Coordinate Personalized Campaigns: Once target accounts are set, plan tailored campaigns to land those accounts, combining efforts from both you and the partner. This can include:
  • Customized Content and Messaging: Develop account-specific collateral that the partner can use – e.g. a case study that references the target account’s industry and challenges, or a dedicated solution brief addressing that company’s known pain points. Personalize communications as much as possible (“We understand Company X is striving to improve Y…here’s how we can help”). Such personalization makes your outreach far more compelling than generic sales pitches.
  • Multi-Touch, Multi-Channel Outreach: Orchestrate a sequence of touches across channels. For example, your marketing team runs a hyper-targeted LinkedIn ad campaign that only employees at the target account will see (perhaps featuring thought leadership on a topic relevant to them). Meanwhile, the partner’s sales rep emails their known contacts at the account referencing that content (“I saw you might have interest in improving X…”). Then maybe you jointly host a lunch-and-learn webinar specifically for that account’s team, or invite them to an exclusive roundtable. ABM is often described as “surrounding” the account with relevant messages on every side. Partners can amplify this by leveraging their existing relationships and local presence to reinforce the message.
  • Executive Alignment: At the high-end, ABM might involve aligning executives from your company, the partner, and the prospect. For instance, your CEO and the partner’s CEO might co-sign a personalized letter to the target account’s CIO addressing how together you can solve a specific problem for them. These top-to-top engagements show the prospect that they are getting a unified team ready to invest in their success. Partners bring credibility here (“your peer in the local market is backing this solution with us”).
    
• Leverage Data and Insights for Personalization: ABM thrives on deep insight into each account – their organizational structure, strategic initiatives, current vendors, pain points, etc. As the vendor, you might subscribe to intent data or have analytics that signal when an account is researching solutions like yours. Share those insights with your partner to refine the campaign. For example, if you see that Target Account A has been surging in intent around “cloud security,” make sure your joint messaging speaks to that and maybe highlight how your product integrates with their current cloud stack. Encourage partners to share any intel they have (maybe they worked with the account before on another project). The richer the account intelligence, the more tailor-made your approach can be. According to Momentum ITSMA, leaders in ABM are far more likely to leverage account intelligence fully to customize their programs (10). Even small touches – like referencing the account’s recent merger, or a quote from their CEO’s latest earnings call – can demonstrate that you’ve done your homework and are committed to their specific context.
• Execute Together and Share Feedback: As ABM campaigns roll out, maintain tight communication between your marketing team, the partner’s sales team, and your channel manager overseeing the account pursuit. Treat it as a unified account team. If a certain tactic isn’t resonating, adjust quickly. For instance, maybe the target account’s stakeholders aren’t responding to emails but engaged on the webinar – that’s a clue to shift more effort to webinars or direct calls. Use a shared account plan document to track actions and outcomes. Many organizations set up bi-weekly account strategy calls with the partner to discuss progress on each ABM target account. This level of coordination ensures nothing falls through the cracks. It also makes the partner feel supported – they see you investing alongside them, not just saying “go sell”.
• Celebrate and Expand Wins: When ABM pays off and a partner lands a big fish, recognize and reward that success. Highlight it as a case study internally and externally. Often, winning a key account in an industry opens doors to others (referenceability). You and the partner can double down by using the win as proof to approach similar accounts (“we just helped Company X achieve Z, and we can do the same for you”). This creates a flywheel effect. Also, post-sale, ensure the account is well-served (perhaps involve a dedicated partner account manager from your side to co-manage the customer). A hallmark of ABM is focusing on lifetime value – after winning, you want to expand the account. Continue the teamwork with your partner in upselling/cross-selling more to that customer over time (making the partner more money and you more revenue).

The impact of ABM in channel sales can be substantial. Instead of many partners chasing many small deals haphazardly, you orchestrate a few important pursuits with precision and muscle, increasing the odds of success. ABM tends to produce larger deal sizes and higher close rates – Forrester found 58% of marketers saw larger deals from ABM and significantly faster revenue growth (11). In channel terms, that could mean your partners close bigger contracts than they ever would alone, thanks to your joint efforts. Furthermore, ABM tightens the vendor-partner bond – you essentially become true allies in selling, not just a vendor pushing product. This can boost partner loyalty and preference for your line.

It’s worth noting that ABM requires commitment – it’s resource-intensive to do all this personalization and coordination. You likely won’t do it with every partner or every account. Reserve ABM for your most strategic partners and targets (the top 5-10% that could move the needle). When used selectively, ABM in the channel is a potent tool to drive exponential growth that traditional one-size-fits-all marketing can’t achieve. As one channel expert put it, “Partner ABM isn’t about scaling to thousands of accounts; it’s about landing the whales by teaming up with your best partners in a very focused way.”

In summary, an ABM agency helps bring alignment, focus, and personalization to channel sales, ensuring you and your partners win the deals that matter most. It exemplifies the idea that quality beats quantity – a handful of big, well-coordinated wins can far outweigh dozens of scattershot small deals. With 90% of B2B organizations now running ABM programs (10), make sure you extend this modern approach to your channel strategy so you’re not leaving those big wins to chance.

Partner Enablement: Empowering Your Channel Partners

Even the best strategy and coolest tech won’t deliver channel success if your partners aren’t capable and motivated to sell your product. This is where partner enablement comes in. Partner enablement is all about equipping your channel partners with the knowledge, tools, and support they need to effectively represent your company and drive sales. Think of it as treating your partners’ sales teams as an extension of your own – you want them to be as confident and skilled in selling your solution as your internal reps (if not more!).

Let’s break down key components of partner enablement and how to implement them for maximum impact:

• Comprehensive Training Programs: At the heart of enablement is training – educating partner reps on your product, value propositions, target markets, and sales process. Start with a solid onboarding training for new partners (covering product demos, pricing, competitive positioning, etc.). Then provide ongoing training as your product evolves or new marketing messages emerge. Many vendors create online partner academies or certification programs. For example, Martal Group’s B2B Lead Generation Academy offers structured courses in outbound prospecting and omnichannel outreachfile-dgahbquzj5dydwhrqafnbg – a resource that could be extended to train partners’ SDR teams in effective lead gen techniques. Likewise, technical training for implementation partners is crucial if your solution requires deployment or integration. The goal is for partner personnel to achieve mastery: they should be able to confidently handle customer questions and objections, perform demos without hand-holding, and articulate your product’s ROI.
  
  Crucially, don’t view training as a one-off event. Encourage continuous learning – e.g. regular webinars for partners on new features or quarterly updates, and an easily accessible knowledge base or learning portal. According to a Forrester study, mature partner programs (with ongoing training and certifications) can lead to 2× revenue growth and contribute up to 28% of company revenue (12). The investment in training pays for itself in higher sales. One striking stat: partners who complete certification courses earn six times more revenue from those vendor partnerships on average than those who skip training (12). That’s an incredible uplift – essentially, training multiplies partner productivity.
  
• Sales and Marketing Tools for Partners: Beyond head knowledge, partners need tangible tools and content to facilitate sales. A robust Partner Toolkit might include:
  
  • Sales Collateral: Slide decks, product brochures, whitepapers, ROI calculators – all branded for your product but perhaps co-brandable with the partner’s logo. Make these available in template form so partners can easily personalize if needed.
    
  • Demo Accounts or Units: If applicable, give partners access to demo environments or loaner units so they can showcase the product live. Nothing beats a hands-on demo to build customer confidence.
    
  • Competitive Battle Cards: Equip partners with cheat sheets on how to handle competitors’ products they might encounter. This includes key differentiators and rebuttals to common objections. It ensures partners don’t feel at a loss when customers say “But what about Competitor X?”
    
  • Case Studies and Testimonials: Especially ones relevant to the partner’s customer base (e.g. by industry or region). Partners can use these to build credibility with prospects (“Look, VendorCo and our firm helped a company just like yours achieve A, B, C – here’s a published case study.”).
    
  • Proposal and Quote Templates: Simplify the process for partners to draft proposals and quotes for your product. Provide editable templates with all the essential sections, so partners can plug in client-specific info and pricing. This not only saves time but ensures consistency and accuracy in how your solution is presented.
    
  • Partner Portal/PRM System: All the above should be organized in a user-friendly partner portal, ideally a PRM software platform. The portal is a one-stop hub where partners can download materials, register deals, track their opportunities, and maybe even take training modules. Modern PRMs also integrate with CRM for deal tracking and can automate certain processes (like deal reg approvals). Keeping resources centralized and updated in a portal makes it far more likely partners will use them. As an example, one vendor reported that after rolling out a new PRM with easy content access, partner engagement increased significantly and sales went up 20% in the next quarter – because partners finally knew where to find what they needed, when they needed it.
    
• Technical and Pre-Sales Support: Sales enablement isn’t just about collateral – sometimes partners will need live support during their sales cycles. This can include:
  
  • Solution Architects or Sales Engineers on Call: Make your technical experts available to join partner sales calls or answer detailed questions. For instance, if a partner’s prospect has a tough technical integration question, your SE can jump on a meeting to address it. This backstop gives partners confidence to pursue deals that might be complex. Some vendors even assign specific overlay SEs to support partners in certain regions.
    
  • Pilot/POC Assistance: If your product requires proofs-of-concept or trial deployments, offer services to help partners execute those quickly. Maybe your team can remotely assist in setting up a trial for the partner’s customer or provide a trial checklist kit.
    
  • Quote/Proposal Assistance: When partners are working on a big deal proposal, your channel or pricing team should be ready to help with custom pricing, ROI analysis, or proposal reviews to increase the win probability. Basically, treat a partner’s big deal like your own – swarm it with support as needed (this overlaps with the ABM approach we discussed).
    
  • Responsive Helpdesk: Ensure partners have a clear avenue to get help for any issue (sales, technical, or logistical). Whether it’s a dedicated partner support line or an email alias with quick SLAs, responsiveness is key. If a partner has to wait a week to hear back on a question, that delay could kill a deal or erode trust. Show them you’re committed to their success by being there when they need you.
    
• Partner Community and Best Practice Sharing: Sometimes enablement comes from peers, not just from the vendor. Facilitate a partner community where partners can share success stories, tactics, and even leads in some cases. This could be done via annual partner conferences, regional partner meetups, or online forums/groups. For example, a partner might present how they successfully sold your solution into the manufacturing sector, walking others through their approach – inspiring other partners to replicate that playbook. A community fosters a sense of belonging and loyalty to your “ecosystem.” It also provides you feedback; listening to partner roundtables can uncover common challenges they face in the field, which you can then address (maybe your pricing is confusing, or a certain feature request keeps coming up). Many top channel programs have formal Partner Advisory Councils composed of representatives from a cross-section of partners who provide input on product roadmaps and program improvements. Involving partners in shaping the future makes them feel valued and heard – a big win for morale and retention.
  
• Incentives and Recognition: Enablement goes hand-in-hand with incentives (as we touched on earlier). Make sure you incentivize engagement with your enablement efforts. For instance, give partners extra margin or rebates for completing training milestones, or a spiff for the first deal closed after certification. Publicly recognize partners who invest in enablement – e.g. an award for “Partner Sales Champion” to an individual seller at the partner who led the most deal wins, or “Rookie Partner of the Year” for new partners who ramped up fast. Recognition is a powerful motivator, often as much as monetary reward. It feeds the competitive spirit in a positive way. The goal is to create a culture where partners want to learn more and want to use your tools because they see clear benefits (deals and accolades).
  

To appreciate the impact of partner enablement, consider this real-world insight: HubSpot’s 2022 report on partner programs found that companies who allocate resources programmatically to partner success generate more revenue than those with ad-hoc approaches, yet many cited scaling partner enablement as their #1 challenge (12). In other words, everyone knows enabling partners is vital, but not everyone does it well – which is an opportunity for you to outshine competitors. Also, as partners get more enabled, you can gradually handle more complexity through the channel. For example, a few years ago you may not have trusted partners to sell to enterprise accounts or handle certain verticals – but after investing in training and joint selling, now you do. That means you can scale your business further via partners than initially thought.

One more angle: partner enablement can include providing direct services to augment partner capabilities. We discussed earlier sales and marketing outsourcing to feed partners. Similarly, you might provide them with B2B sales training programs (delivered by your team or an external expert) to sharpen their general sales skills – for instance, Martal Group offers B2B sales training that covers prospecting, pipeline management, negotiation, etc. You could also embed some of your own personnel within a partner on a temporary “ride along” basis – e.g. a channel manager spending a week at the partner’s office helping them set up campaigns and sitting in on sales calls for coaching. This level of hands-on enablement really demonstrates commitment.

In summary, partner enablement is about empowering your channel to succeed independently. When done right, your partners become self-sufficient sales machines for your product: they know it inside-out, they have leads and marketing air cover, they feel supported on deals, and they’re motivated to win (because they see the rewards and recognition). The payoff is enormous – enabled partners drive far greater revenue. One channel chief summed it up well: “We realized our partners’ success is our success. So we stopped treating enablement as a cost center and started treating it as a growth investment – and the numbers prove it was the right move.” By enabling your partners, you essentially clone your best sales efforts across dozens or hundreds of external teams. In 2025’s competitive market, that leverage can vault you ahead of peers who leave their partners under-resourced and underprepared.

Conclusion: Driving Channel Sales Performance to New Heights

Channel sales can be one of your most powerful growth engines – if you fuel and tune it correctly. As we’ve explored, maximizing channel sales performance in 2025 requires a multifaceted approach. You need the right strategy (choosing the best channels and aligning goals), the right lead generation software (AI and data-driven outreach to scale opportunities), and most importantly, the right partner support system (ABM focus on big wins, and robust enablement so partners can execute).

The common thread is closer collaboration and smarter working with your channel partners. Gone are the days of simply signing up a bunch of resellers and hoping for the best. Today’s top-performing channel programs are proactive and hands-on: using AI to feed partners quality leads, teaming with partners on account-based lead generation campaigns, and continuously training and empowering partner sales teams. The result is a channel that behaves as an integrated extension of your own salesforce – multiplying your market reach and revenue potential.

As a busy CMO, CRO, or sales leader, you might be thinking this is a lot to manage on top of everything else. That’s true; building a high-achieving channel program does take effort and expertise. The good news is you don’t have to do it alone. This is where Martal Group can help. We specialize in supporting B2B companies with exactly the services and strategy we’ve discussed – from AI-powered prospecting and omnichannel outbound lead generation to sales team training and fractional SDR and BDR support.

Ready to turbo-charge your channel sales in 2025? Take the next step toward accelerated growth by booking a free consultation with Martal Group. In a brief, no-obligation call, we’ll discuss your channel sales goals and challenges, and share personalized ideas on how to leverage AI outreach, ABM tactics, and partner enablement best practices to boost your indirect revenue. You’ll come away with actionable insights specific to your business. And if it makes sense, we can explore how Martal’s services – whether it’s providing skilled SDRs to fill your partners’ pipelines, training your team in omnichannel outreach, or running targeted ABM campaigns – can serve as a force multiplier for your channel program.

In an increasingly complex B2B landscape, companies that build high-performance partner ecosystems will have a decisive advantage. By applying the approaches in this guide, you can empower your channel partners to not only meet expectations but exceed them – contributing significantly to your growth. Martal Group is here to assist you on that journey and ensure your channel sales truly reach new heights. Contact us today for a free consultation and let’s unlock the full potential of your channel sales together.

References

1. Salesforce 
2. Zendesk 
3. ChannelAsAService 
4. UpLead 
5. McKinsey 
6. Kiflo PRM 
7. Close.com 
8. Business.com 
9. Outplay 
10. ABM Leadership Alliance / ITSMA 
11. The CMO 
12. Intellum 
13. Forrester blog