These days, technology isn’t just enabling innovation; innovation is furthering technology. Deloitte’s 2016 Technology Industry Outlook notes that “in the technology industry itself, enterprises are making plans for the next economy rising from today’s disruptive and unprecedented change.

So better gear up for more change, right?

Not necessarily. In the quest to be forward-thinking and stay one step ahead of the curve, channel providers are using some tried and true marketing principles to drive sustainable growth. Here are 5 strategies paying dividends for today’s top channel performers:

1) Identify the 20%.

It’s the famous 80/20 rule. 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your business. In order to identify that all important 20%, you need to segment your client database by characteristics such as how long they’ve been in business, location, industry, etc. Then factor in total revenue for each client. You might see some trends that can help you identify the 20%.

2) Sell more to that 20%.

Now that you’ve identified your most valuable customers, the best practice is to keep a close eye on their business needs and monitor what end-of-life products they’ll need to abandon soon. They’re likely expecting disruptive and unprecedented change, so you’ll need to remain proactive, anticipate their needs and strategically upsell them when appropriate. Help your customers figure out where their own opportunities for growth are, then make sure they’re prepared.

3) Diversify your offerings.

Successful enterprises strive to fully understand what makes their customers’ businesses go, so they can intelligently recommend services and support that can drive their customers’ bottom-line. In other words, if your core business is implementation and integration services, why not offer training opportunities, maintenance services or complimentary products? End-to-end solutions are where it’s at – any customers would rather deal with one vendor instead of four or five.

4) Scale quickly.

Just when your customers are finally accepting chip card technology, there’ll be a new innovation in IoT, virtual reality, or AI that will have to be installed, maintained and serviced. Tapping into independent worker marketplaces allows enterprises to directly access trained, on-demand tech resources that enables them to expand and geotarget their service offerings quickly and efficiently. As the tech sector continues to innovate and you aim to anticipate the needs for new specialized talent, moving towards a more flexible workforce should become a part of your business strategy.

5) Consolidate processes.

Hand in hand with meeting expansion needs comes the need to operate more efficiently. That means streamlining processes, using automation where applicable and using technology to work more intelligently. Today’s technology enables top service providers modernize their service delivery model and efficiently scale their workforce. Workforce management tools are able to automate a slew of functions and eliminate time-consuming, inefficient processes from your arsenal so you can focus on what’s important – delighting your customers.

Rather than reacting to innovation and new trends, you can focus on transforming your operational model and positioning your organization for success in any market setting. We’re here to help — contact us now.