The course, the first of its kind in the industry, will be taught online on five Fridays in October by SaaSMAX CMO and Chanimal CEO Ted Finch.
Dina Moskowitz, SaaSMAX’s CEO
San Diego-based channel-focused SaaS marketplace SaaSMAX is announcing a Channel Management Certification Course with content specific to the SaaS sector, the first of its kind in the industry. The course will be presented in five online 90-minute classes by SaaSMAX CMO and Chanimal CEO Ted Finch on Fridays, October 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, 2015.
The certification is an extension of the work that SaaSMAX has been doing since 2011. Other marketplaces like Google, as well as the ones run by the broadline distributors, are in the middle of the transaction. SaaSMAX focuses on the matchmaking of resellers with appropriate SaaS vendors, many of whom are very new to the channel, as well as providing the vendors with direct marketing, like webinars, email campaigns and social media.
“Whether a SaaS vendor has an experienced channel team or is entirely new to the channel there is an undersupply of experienced channel executives who understand how to recruit and design SaaS programs and enable resellers,” said Dina Moskowitz, SaaSMAX’s CEO. “By designing a course to accelerate and improve ability to design a SaaS channel program, we see ourselves as accelerating the sales value chain.”
Moskowitz acknowledged that before she created SaaSMAX, she once had little knowledge herself of how significant the channel was to the adoption of SaaS software, and said that’s common among app vendors.
“Very few app vendors understand the channel’s importance today,” she said. “Very few apps are being developed with a knowledge of how to leverage the reseller channel out there. This course is designed to provide SaaS executives with that knowledge, including larger companies who don’t know the channel, who often acquire SaaS companies. The course is also broad enough to be of value to execs with channel knowledge however, because it will still make you look at things in a way you didn’t before.”
Nothing like this existed in the industry previously.
“We looked for something, and because we couldn’t find anything to direct people to, that’s why we decided to do it ourselves,” Moskowitz said. “This will provide credibility and quality for SaaS executives, and will help to brand the reseller community as well. We know SaaS resellers trust our credibility.”
Finch – aka “the Chanimal” – is a long-time channel marketing maven who began to offer a general channel certification through his Chanimal company in 2013.
“Ted and I have been working together for about two years with his involvement in SaasMax,” Moskowitz said. “He’s part of our core team. “Given his experience on the certification side of it, he was the obvious person to do this. It is similar to his original course, except that it is specifically customized for how the SaaS channel operates.”
The course will be presented online, in five 90-minute classes on consecutive Fridays, on October 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, 2015, at 9am PST. Registration and course descriptions are available at www.crossingthesaasm.com. Discounts are available for SaaSMAX members.
The sessions are:
LESSON 1: Channel Partner Programs 101-110: Your Competitive Advantage
LESSON 2: Defining Your Reseller Program
LESSON 3: Creating the Policies for Your Reseller Program
LESSON 4: Reseller Recruitment & Strategic Alliances
LESSON 5: Partner Enablement
SaaS Channel Managers and Marketers who complete the course will receive an executive certificate in SaaS Channel Management. Individuals will become “SaaS Channel Manager Certified” with SaaSMAX.
SaaSMAX has signed up over 170 SaaS vendor to its core marketplace, as well as a large number of resellers who are either enrolled themselves or following SaaSMAX on opt-in lists.
“Many of these vendors are small, which means they may not be well known to the channel even when they are a good fit,” Moskowitz said. “This year we have added some larger ones as well, like AVG and Intuit.”
SaaSMAX is always looking to get its message out to more resellers.
“The channel has its own agenda and we want to bring to the attention of the channel community things that have changed as SaaS models come into play, including affiliate programs with digital tracking codes that track conversions, which are often a lucrative way to earn recurring revenue,” Moskowitz said. “They need to know what SaaS allows them to do, and can learn new ways to stay in front of their clients with new and innovative solutions.
