March 2004

The Average Partner Manager Salary Is $145,300!
By Carole Louie Achramowicz and Michael Dubrall, Technology Channels Group, Inc.

At a recent Technology Channels Group, Inc. (TC-Group) partner manager breakfast, we released the results of our partner manager census. Nearly 200 partner sales and marketing professionals, from companies throughout the Silicon Valley and beyond, participated in the census survey. The census collected information on compensation, budgets, metrics, organizational structures, and demographics, and was the first comprehensive review of partner managers ever conducted.

The information was surprising to many, especially the significant gap in salary between men and women. The comparatively high compensation levels for “average“ partner managers, coupled with their maturity and experience, was also significant.

• Average salary for partner managers is a very substantial $145,300, including a 72-percent base and 28-percent variable kicker.
• A significant percentage of partner managers (20 percent) earn more than $200,000 per year.
• Channel sales people earn much more than marketing professionals ($169,365 versus $118,735).
• A man working for a large services company earns the highest compensation ($161,500) of all those surveyed.

The Gender Gap Continues
Still, everything isn't all rosy for partnering professionals. The gender gap that's been evident in other compensation research also besets partner managers. For instance, male channel sales professionals on average earn 49 percent more than their female counterparts ($184K versus $124K) do. But in marketing, the numbers are a bit more encouraging, with men making only 23 percent more than women ($127K versus $103K).

The salary gap between the sexes is noticeable across all job titles, but there's additional bad news for female partner managers. On average:

• Their compensation declined by three percent last year while their male counterparts' compensation increased by six percent.
• There are 48 percent more men than women in sales positions
• Men hold 56 percent more executive positions then women in the census data collected

Men participating in the census report higher levels of education, more time on the job, and greater industry experience than the women who were questioned. Collectively, partnering professionals comprise an extremely experienced group, with an average of 14 years in the high-tech industry and an average age of 41. Well-educated, nearly 100 percent of those polled had at least a college degree, with 33 percent earning a post-graduate degree.

The Workplace Continues to Evolve
Despite the depressed business climate of the past two years, partner managers aren't necessarily staying put in their current jobs. Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed had been in their current positions less than one year. Bob Concannon, managing director and global technology practice leader for Boyden, a global executive search firm, commented during the breakfast, “Channel sales and marketing experts with a solid track record managing partnerships can command high compensation packages and are eminently marketable given the ROI that channels can drive.”

Meanwhile, the workplace continues to evolve as influenced by the “mobile executive” trend. Professionals surveyed stated that they work from a home office 25 percent of the time. Men spend considerably more time working out of their home office than do women, especially those in sales positions. However, people in marketing positions, especially women, appear to be working a full day at the office and then putting in a few extra hours every evening at home.

Marketing Budgets Not Keeping Pace
According to the census, partners influence or generate 61 percent of the overall company revenue. Data from the census research confirms that high-tech vendors are more dependent upon channel partners than at any time in history, and partner-related revenue is growing at a steady pace.

The average company has 872 partners of all types, which requires an average channel marketing budget of $3,579,525. That's about $4,100 per partnership. For the most part, budgets and headcount didn't increase this year, even though the number of partnerships and average quota both did. Almost all the partner managers indicated that their budgets are insufficient to achieve their objectives.

Not surprisingly, hardware companies are more invested in partner success than software or services vendors are. In part, because they tend to be larger, hardware manufacturers manage more relationships, spend more money on channels, and have more people in partner marketing positions (two partner marketing people for every channel sales person). Conversely, services organizations place more emphasis on direct sales than do either hardware or software companies.

What Makes a Partner Manager Successful?
Companies measure the success of a partner manager by:

• Revenue
• Number of new partners recruited
• Amount of new business generated
• Partner and customer satisfaction
• Reseller revenue growth
• Lead generation

The biggest obstacles to partnering success are:

• Insufficient budgets to execute successful channel marketing programs
• Lack of company alignment behind partnership goals

Despite the rapid advancement of channel professionals over the past three years, these obstacles remain virtually unchanged. Fortunately, the problems are receiving more attention than ever before, and some of the faster growing companies have made considerable progress equipping their channels for growth.

A full copy of the census results is available on the Technology Channels Group Website. It's free to those who participated, with a small charge for those who didn't.

Carole Louie Achramowicz is a WIC member and senior consultant at Technology Channels Group, Inc., with 15 years of marketing management, channel development, and business development experience in the high-tech industry. TC-Group has been the leader in building successful channels and alliances through revenue-driven strategies, plans, processes, and programs since 1996.