Channel Sales Strategy: How to Develop an Effective Sales Tactic

Creating an Effective Channel Sales Strategy for Success.

Successful channel sales executives build their careers on the ability to repeatedly achieve or exceed their target revenue goals each year. More often than not, what defines these executives from others is their ability to build an effective channel sale strategy.

Developing an effective channel sales strategy requires a methodical process. Therefore, building a channel sales strategy mandates a plethora of research, perceptive blueprinting, active in-house communication, and cohesive definition to successfully ploy.

Profitable channel sales strategy is a result of several factors.

The 5 main elements for developing a successful channel sale strategy are:

1. Defining your organization’s method of business development with different channel partners
2. Describing and outline why you plan to use the channel
3. For every new channel program, outlining all operations your organization needs to support
4. Defining your organization’s objectives and expectations
5. Providing documentation in order to increase channel partners’ productivity and to avoid future conflicts

Although each of the above components serves an essential purpose in developing a channel sales strategy, there are more factors that go into building a profitable channel sales.

Designing a Profitable Channel Sales Strategy

Identifying what End-Users Deem Valuable

It is either arrogance or naivety to assume manufacturers dictate the fate of their channel partner relationships and the way end-users purchase products.

At the end of the day, end-users possess the power in how products are consumed. Leveraging the channel partner model depends largely on how well manufacturers understand the demands and needs of their end-user customer base.

In the eyes of the end-user, no one channel is created equally, which means the final procurement of products occurs by design, not through fate. In other words, end-users will purchase products from the channel based on preference and business objectives, not the manufacturers.

Therefore, manufacturers that base partner decision-making on low investment and support costs versus how end-users want to purchase and/or use products put themselves at a disadvantage.

Author Stephen Covey once coined: “begin with the end in mind,” and it seems manufacturers frequently overlook this poignant, yet simple life/business philosophy. Ultimately, end-users choose the path by which products are purchased, and it is up to the manufacturer to adjust accordingly to how they sell thru the channel.

Once you have a comprehensive understanding of end-users wants/needs, you can begin to create a channel sales strategy.

Know Your Channel Partner’s Values

Regardless of your channel sales schema, partners must possess some monetary value in your relationship. Implementing well-defined channel programs are, for obvious reasons, one of the best mechanisms for helping your partner establish a financial gain.

However, in order to get the best ‘bang for your buck’ from your channel partner relationship, you should segment incentives based on “transactional partners” and “strategic partners.”

• Transactional partners – “order takers” that focus on moving product through channel; SPIFs, deal registration, volume incentive discounts, Ship and Debit, Special Pricing Agreements, etc. are programs that offer value. Transactional partners may require less margin.
• Strategic partners – companies that proactively sell your offering; solution providers that offer end-users niche services, support, consultation, etc.; gamification, marketing development funds, co-op advertising accruals, rebates, etc., are programs that offer value. Strategic partners may require more margin.

An effective channel sales strategy should be able to distinguish between “transactional” and “strategic” partners so that the correct (coordinated) marketing program is applied.

Create a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Analysis

During the “production process” of designing your channel sales strategy, a comprehensive SWOT analysis table will give you a 360-degree perspective of your partner model.

Strengths  – Strong value proposition to partners to sell  your offering  – C-level support to fund channel programs  – Competent, experienced channel account management team  – Strong partner mindshare and interest in programs  – Cloud-based partner portal enables  program participation	Weaknesses  – Partner(s) have little trust and confidence in you  – Difficulty standardizing POS data for partners’ native formats  – Channel conflict continues to cause price undercutting  – Slow turnaround of incentive reimbursement causes partner dissatisfaction
Opportunities  – Accelerate deal closing opportunities  – Achieve lower end-user support costs  – Enter international markets and/or untapped demographics	Threats  – Difficulty managing channel conflict may motivate partners to seek other partners  – The reluctance in partners to submit POS data may hinder the ability to control costs and make smart marketing decisions  – Fluctuations in international markets; exchange rate  – Incentive overpayments may comprise margins and program ROI  – Lose control of retail price by selling via distributors

Once you have defined what makes your channel sales strategy/partner model a strategic asset, you will have a better understanding of the operations needed to make it successful (e.g., additional support staff, a web-based module to assists with high-volume partner reimbursement claims submissions, increased marketing funds, IT support, etc.).

Smart Channel Partner Relationships Focus on Profitability Data, Not Just Revenue

You may be surprised to learn that many of the partners you thought were your biggest profit-generators were actually the ones hurting your gross margins.

Getting smart about channel distribution means you’re looking past partners’ ability to drive conversions and transfer cost analysis, and more at closely profitability data and growth potential.

Assessing channel partnerFind out more about:Best Practices for Setting Objectives for Channel Partners performance exclusively on revenue generated could potentially swindle you into believing which companies are most profitable. Consequentially, you could be investing time, energy and resources on the wrong partners by forgetting about the “smaller” revenue performers.

The more effective solution for building a channel sales strategy is to combine sales data with profitability analysis.

Profitability analysis includes, but is not limited to:

• Unraveling the mix of SKUs sold, channel incentive programs, and accounts receivable
• Allocating overhead cost by function (e.g., channel teams, CAMs, services, and support)
• Partners that submit timely, complete and accurate POS data to manufacturers that lead to a better understanding of product performance
• Number of registered (qualified) opportunities partner generates (i.e., deal registration)

In summary, creating an effective channel sales strategy that is valuable and profitable for partnersFind Out:How to Rejuvenate a Struggling B2B Relationship begins with a strong understanding of the end-user. Once you develop a comprehensive portfolio of your end-customer-base, you will be more efficient at leveraging your channel partner relationships, and the programs, resources, staff, incentives, and solutions that go into successful implementation.