Too often companies cut corners and make hasty decisions, instead of doing their homework. Before entering a new market, it is extremely important to understand the market, customers, competition, localization needs, etc. In case you’re planning to start building a partner channel, this requires further work, as you need to define your value proposition to partners, business model, and processes.
Before you have a partner program in place, it is very difficult to start growing your company through the channel model. Last but not least, do spend time qualifying with whom you would like to partner. The costliest option is to start a relationship that doesn’t produce meaningful results.
Do your homework, research the market, prepare a solid plan, but most of all, define your sales strategy and team so that it reflects the customer buying process, and… use local sales professionals, with the right contacts and market knowledge.
Hiring an outsourced sales team and then ignoring them is probably not the best idea.
Bad investments have bad ROI.