Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Lead generation for tech vendors is an expensive, inefficient process. Tech marketers who want their value-added reseller (VAR) and systems integrator (SI) partners to shoulder some of this burden will find that these partners rarely understand the value of marketing, are reluctant to invest in marketing programs, and generally require a lot of handholding when performing marketing activities. To boost partner marketing effectiveness in the short term, tech marketers should work with partners that have a record of generating their own leads or have full-time marketing staff. Tech vendors should insist on defensible marketing plans with clearly stated goals and formal lead tracking and nurturing processes. To increase the pool of partners that can do marketing in the long term, tech vendors should invest in partner education and build marketing incentives into their channel programs.