Sales Channel Performance- Hardly any organization can scale-up without Channel Partners. In a way, a network of high performance, loyal, and committed sales partners is one of the MOST effective assets to create shareholder value. Therefore, boosting Sales channel productivity is a key force-multiplier
At the same time, there are inherent challenges which come along with a Sales Channel Partner vs. Direct Sales Teams:
These points are a partial list out of a wide range of benefits and risks of the Channel Partner network. A successful enterprise leverages the benefits and mitigates the risks.
Giving a higher partner commission for better performance is only partially effective. Here are 10 ultimate levers to develop high-performance Sales Channel Partners
A Channel partner is your ultimate customer. He is the one who is buying and paying for your goods. So you should serve him with as much sincerity and effort, as you will service an end customer.
All the points mentioned in the blog are related to how well you are able to serve and support your partner.
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You need to have a reliable channel servicing infrastructure:
Your Dealer/Distributor will be mostly small or medium-sized businesses. They will not be able to hire high quality/high-cost workforce. At the same time, you need them to be powerful sales reps for your business.
Apart from that, there is generally a high employee turnover in small businesses. Thus an organization needs to invest in training its partner and its employees.
Action- You need a quick, low-cost, and effective channel training management system:
The fundamental premise here is that you need to make it easy for a channel to sell your products. The easier it is for your dealer, the more he will sell and lesser monies you have to pay him a commission. A channel partner’s work gets easy when a customer can relate to your brand.
Large companies have monies to invest in media advertising. However, there is no alternative to local promotions around the point of sales. It becomes further important for a new channel, and in a locality where you did not have a presence.
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You should back these plans with a committed budget, along with the details ‘when? How? and who?’
Money is an important driver, and high compensation works. However, throwing more money on your channel partner sets a bad precedent.
You need to maintain the right balance between channel performance and commission payouts. One can achieve this balance by giving higher commissions for:
Essentially, you should link higher commissions to higher returns or savings.
Action- There are many ways to encourage sales partner and benefit the company.
Once launched, you cannot take back compensation schemes. If they are too tight, they end up giving no results. If they are too liberal, you could end up spending more money than what you will earn.
So you have to rely on detailed diligence on payout vs. benefit for different scenarios. Please keep in mind that your sales partners will always look for better schemes year after year. So commission structures need to be just right to give great benefits with optimum
Periodically, you can tell them the incentive they have earned and how much they will make if they sell up-to their target. In short- Keep the buzz on.
The availability of goods at the right time is critical for channel performance. All sales commission schemes will be of no use if the sales partner does not get the material that he can sell. On the flip side, if you deliver more goods that he can sell, you will block inventory. Therefore Channel Demand forecasting needs to be as accurate as possible.
Action- One can never project sales to perfection. But if you have an intelligent and data-driven process, you can take it to near-accurate over time. The sales planning process should include the following factors:
There is a saying in Sales ‘There should always be some buzz to excite channel partners and employees’. A company should keep on running small monthly campaigns and large quarterly campaigns.
This keeps the interest alive, keeps everyone on his toes, and helping in giving spikes to sales. In other words, an organization should always be in ‘Sales Campaign Mode.’
Action- You should make a sales campaign as a repeatable and continuous process. A company of medium size should be running 40-50 small/massive campaigns and contests. Each of them will need tools and capabilities, like
Each campaign is a project in itself. You need to be a constant whirring machine to churn out one contest/special offers after the other.
You can supply your partners with the point of sales equipment and tools.
For example, FMCG companies give display shelves and cold storage. Consumer Goods provide repair and installation kits. Auto-Parts manufacturers offer testing tools. In a way, this is an excellent way to lock in your channel partner. Also, it provides a good branding. These POS equipment give real value-add to the partners and make his work easy.
Action There can be various approaches to investing in these POS Equipment:
We have already discussed lead generation through promotions, Campaigns, and Contests. A company also needs an ecosystem that keeps on generating leads day after day for it partners. This ecosystem will need investments, but its money worth spending.
The easier you make the job of your sales partner, the more committed he will be. He will pay promptly, and he will be motivated to improve his channel performance.
Action- Here are the ways you can create an ‘ongoing’ lead generation ecosystem for your partners-
You can take it to the next level by bringing your ‘Exclusive’ Sales partners online. In this way, you provide them a tremendous jump on their brand and visibility.
In this way, each partner becomes a sub-brand within your overall brand umbrella. So the ecosystem which we talked about in the previous technique will now be created for each partner.
Action- You can pick-up all your exclusive dealers and distributors. Create their website, get them listed in business directories, and promote their online presence. These facilities, of course, can be done in various models:
All said, nothing could replace a good old-fashioned connection with your partner. Your sales employees need sit with the partner. They should listen to partner issues, push him for business, train his staff, and discuss ways to increase channel performance.
Sales partners attach great value to relationships and trust. It would help if you treated them like a larger family of your company. An emotional connection can resolve more than half of your problems.
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