The full version of this article was first published at: Why Your Channel Needs to Stop Using the Term 'PRM'
What’s in a name? In sales, the answer is: a lot. The terminology we choose to describe the sales tools we use can set the tone for how we think of them, how we use them and how often we engage them to meet our daily needs and whether. In the channel, the same be said of the tools we use to empower our channel partners. For nearly three decades, the term PRM (partner relationship management) has been the go-to category for the over-customized portals and clunky software packages that have driven many-a-wedge between channel leaders and his or her partners. So, how do we change? How do we convince analysts and legacy PRM vendors to stop hanging on to the old, start relinquishing decades of code debt, and finally embrace new modern technology? How does the channel stop iterating and start innovating? I’ll be the first to tell you that changing a few words can’t change an industry. But it’s a meaningful place to start. And that’s why we’re recommending – asking – for you and your channel team to stop using the term PRM as soon as possible. Sound drastic? Maybe it is. But it’s important (we even wrote its eulogy). So important, in fact, that Gartner tried to kill the category in 2005, declaring “PRM is Dead,” only to be left in the cold by vendors who simply failed to innovate, resorting instead to hiding behind new branding and new names. “Lipstick on a pig” at it’s finest. So…
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