Effective Work Samples for Hiring Top Channel Account Executives

The Channel Account Executive role is pivotal for companies looking to scale through strategic partnerships and indirect sales channels. These professionals serve as the critical bridge between your organization and your partner ecosystem, directly impacting revenue growth, market expansion, and brand representation. Finding the right talent for this position requires more than just reviewing resumes and conducting standard interviews—it demands seeing candidates in action through relevant, job-specific scenarios.

Work samples and role plays provide invaluable insights into how candidates will actually perform in real-world situations they'll face daily. For Channel Account Executives, these exercises reveal their strategic thinking, relationship-building capabilities, negotiation skills, and ability to articulate value propositions—all essential competencies that can be difficult to assess through traditional interview questions alone.

By incorporating practical exercises into your hiring process, you can observe candidates' problem-solving approaches, communication styles, and how they respond to feedback—critical indicators of future success in channel management. These activities also demonstrate to high-quality candidates that your organization values thoroughness and excellence in its hiring process, potentially attracting top talent who appreciate a rigorous and thoughtful evaluation.

The following four work samples are specifically designed to evaluate the core competencies required for Channel Account Executives. Each exercise simulates real challenges these professionals face, from recruiting new partners to developing comprehensive channel strategies. By implementing these activities, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' capabilities and make more informed hiring decisions for this crucial revenue-driving role.

Activity #1: Partner Recruitment Role Play

This role play assesses a candidate's ability to identify, approach, and persuade potential channel partners—a fundamental skill for Channel Account Executives. The exercise evaluates strategic thinking, value articulation, objection handling, and relationship-building capabilities in a realistic first-meeting scenario.

Directions for the Company:

• Select a company representative to play the role of a potential channel partner (ideally someone from sales leadership who understands partner dynamics).
• Provide the candidate with background information 24 hours before the interview, including:
• Your company's product/service overview
• Target market information
• Current partner program structure and benefits
• LinkedIn profile of a fictional or anonymized potential partner company
• Create a one-page persona document for the role player that includes:
• The partner company's business model and customer base
• Key challenges they're facing
• Potential objections they might raise
• Their priorities and goals
• Allocate 20-25 minutes for the role play followed by 5-10 minutes for feedback.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the provided materials and prepare for an initial meeting with a potential channel partner.
• During the role play, you should:
• Establish rapport and understand the partner's business
• Articulate the value proposition of partnering with your company
• Address any concerns or objections raised
• Outline next steps for partnership exploration
• Your goal is not to close the deal in this meeting but to generate interest and establish a foundation for a potential partnership.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the role play, the interviewer should provide specific feedback on:
• One aspect the candidate handled particularly well (e.g., value articulation, relationship building)
• One area for improvement (e.g., objection handling, discovery questions)
• Give the candidate 5 minutes to address the improvement area by re-doing that portion of the conversation, incorporating the feedback provided.
• Observe how receptive they are to feedback and their ability to adapt their approach.

Activity #2: Channel Strategy Development Exercise

This exercise evaluates a candidate's strategic thinking, analytical skills, and ability to develop comprehensive channel strategies aligned with business objectives—critical competencies for driving partner program success.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a fictional or anonymized case study that includes:
• Company background and product/service information
• Current market position and growth objectives
• Existing partner landscape (if any)
• Target market segments and competitive analysis
• Provide this information to candidates 24-48 hours before the interview.
• Prepare evaluation criteria focused on strategic thinking, market understanding, practical implementation plans, and ROI considerations.
• Allocate 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for questions.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the provided case study and develop a 12-month channel strategy that includes:
• Partner profile and ideal partner criteria
• Partner recruitment approach
• Channel program structure and incentives
• Partner enablement and support plan
• Performance metrics and success indicators
• Prepare a concise presentation (5-7 slides) outlining your strategy.
• Be prepared to explain your rationale and answer questions about your approach.
• Focus on practical, implementable strategies rather than theoretical concepts.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the presentation, provide feedback on:
• A strength demonstrated in their strategic approach
• An area where their strategy could be enhanced or refined
• Ask the candidate to spend 5 minutes verbally revising one aspect of their strategy based on the feedback.
• Evaluate their ability to incorporate feedback constructively and adapt their thinking.

Activity #3: Partner Relationship Management Scenario

This scenario-based exercise assesses how candidates handle challenging partner situations, testing their problem-solving abilities, relationship management skills, and conflict resolution approaches—essential competencies for maintaining healthy partner ecosystems.

Directions for the Company:

• Develop a detailed scenario involving a troubled partner relationship, such as:
• A high-potential partner not meeting performance expectations
• A partner expressing dissatisfaction with program support
• A partner considering switching to a competitor
• Channel conflict between partners in the same territory
• Include relevant background information, partner history, and specific issues.
• Prepare a list of questions to probe the candidate's approach after they present their solution.
• Allocate 15 minutes for the candidate to review the scenario and 15 minutes for discussion.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the partner scenario provided.
• Develop a plan to address the situation that includes:
• Your assessment of the root causes of the issue
• Immediate actions to stabilize the relationship
• Medium-term strategies to strengthen the partnership
• How you would measure success in resolving the situation
• Be prepared to discuss your approach, including how you would communicate with the partner and internal stakeholders.
• Consider both relationship aspects and business outcomes in your solution.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their approach, provide feedback on:
• An effective element of their relationship management strategy
• An aspect that could be strengthened or approached differently
• Ask the candidate to revise their communication approach with the partner based on the feedback.
• Evaluate their ability to balance relationship preservation with business objectives and their receptiveness to coaching.

Activity #4: Partner Enablement and Training Simulation

This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to effectively educate and enable channel partners—a critical skill for ensuring partners can successfully represent and sell your products or services.

Directions for the Company:

• Select a product or service from your portfolio (or create a simplified version).
• Prepare a one-page document outlining:
• Key features and benefits
• Target customer profile
• Common customer objections
• Competitive differentiators
• Create a scenario where the candidate must train a new partner on this offering.
• Arrange for 1-2 team members to play the role of partner sales representatives.
• Allocate 15 minutes for preparation and 20 minutes for the training session.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the product/service information provided.
• Prepare a brief training session (15-20 minutes) for new partner sales representatives that covers:
• Value proposition and key differentiators
• Ideal customer profile and use cases
• Handling common objections
• Sales process and resources available
• Your goal is to equip the partner representatives with the knowledge and confidence to effectively sell the product/service.
• Be prepared to answer questions from the "partner representatives" during the session.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the training simulation, provide feedback on:
• An aspect of the training that was particularly effective
• An area where the training approach could be improved
• Ask the candidate to spend 5 minutes re-delivering a specific portion of the training incorporating the feedback.
• Evaluate their ability to communicate complex information clearly, engage their audience, and adapt their approach based on feedback.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should we allocate for these work samples in our interview process?

Each exercise requires approximately 30-45 minutes, including preparation, execution, and feedback. We recommend selecting 1-2 exercises most relevant to your specific needs rather than attempting all four in a single interview. The Partner Recruitment Role Play and Channel Strategy Development Exercise are particularly valuable for assessing core competencies.

Should we provide materials to candidates in advance or have them prepare on the spot?

For the Channel Strategy Development Exercise, providing materials 24-48 hours in advance yields more thoughtful, comprehensive responses. For the Partner Recruitment Role Play, giving basic information ahead of time while keeping some elements for the live session balances preparation with spontaneity. The other exercises can be conducted with minimal advance preparation.

How should we evaluate candidates across different exercises?

Create a standardized scorecard for each exercise that aligns with the key competencies in your job description. Rate candidates on specific behaviors rather than general impressions, and have multiple interviewers evaluate the same exercise when possible to reduce bias.

What if we don't have team members experienced enough to role play effectively?

If you lack internal resources for effective role plays, consider involving an external consultant familiar with channel partnerships or a trusted partner who can maintain confidentiality. Alternatively, you can modify the exercises to use written responses or recorded presentations instead of live interactions.

How do we ensure these exercises don't disadvantage candidates from different backgrounds?

Review your scenarios and materials to ensure they don't require industry-specific knowledge that might disadvantage otherwise qualified candidates. Focus evaluations on transferable skills and problem-solving approaches rather than specific terminology or prior exposure to identical situations.

Can these exercises be conducted remotely?

Yes, all four exercises can be adapted for remote interviews using video conferencing platforms. For the strategy exercise, have candidates share their screen for presentations. For role plays, ensure all participants have stable internet connections and are familiar with the virtual platform being used.

Channel Account Executives are critical to scaling your business through partnerships, and finding the right talent requires seeing candidates demonstrate their skills in realistic scenarios. By incorporating these targeted work samples into your hiring process, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' capabilities and make more informed hiring decisions.

For more resources to enhance your hiring process, explore Yardstick's suite of AI-powered tools, including our AI Job Description Generator, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator. These tools can help you create comprehensive job descriptions and structured interview plans for Channel Account Executives and other critical roles. For more information about the Channel Account Executive role, check out our detailed job description.

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