Channel Management Strategies: Maximizing Sales Channels through Partner Relationship Management

Jan 11
09:20

2010

Joe Owens

Joe Owens

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Competition is tough and I mean when it comes to generating sales. Sales channels being agents in distributing products to end-users, comes in various forms from direct, to web, to the traditional retail environment.

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Sales channels being agents in distributing products to end-users,Channel Management Strategies: Maximizing Sales Channels through Partner Relationship Management Articles comes in various forms from direct, to web, to the traditional retail environment. Competition is tough and I mean when it comes to generating sales. So what do successful and big time sales channels do to maximize their productivity level? What type of approach do they use in doing business? One way is through managing their partner segments, in the sales and marketing lingo this procedure is called “Channel Management”.

It is a process by which a company formally creates a program for selling and servicing customers with a specific partner. Where specific segments for customers is assigned by studying and taking consideration of factors like customer’s need, buying pattern, economic status and the likes. To improve sales and productivity companies try to devise an effective channel management strategy.

An effective strategy in Partner relationship management could make a great positive impact in the company’s status. One thing, there will be an alignment of customer needs, services, and agency priorities which will greatly improve the company in reaching their goals. The cost efficiency of service delivery across multiple clouds can also be improved if they are properly managed. Another benefit of having a good strategy in managing one’s partners is having a seamless, integrated and consistent delivery of services across clouds. The company will also be able to develop informed and prudent future investments will be properly managed.

Coming up with a strategy for effectively managing clouds takes a lot of study and planning. The first step in properly managing affiliates is through segmenting base on the buyer’s characteristics. A good program should have the following components.

Goals
It is hard to improve something without setting a goal or objective that must be met within the proposed time frame. Each segment should have specific goals which must be achieve by the end of the program. Always keep track of your progress in related to your goals; always reflect on the objective for both acquisition and retention.

Policies
Constructing well-defined policies for account set up, order management and product fulfillment is a vital component for a partner relationship management program. However in constructing policies, always keep in mind the buyer’s characteristic assigned to each segment.

Products
Designating the proper product to each segment could greatly maximize the potentials of your pipeline. Identify which product best fits an affiliate then assign that product to it.

Marketing Program
Devising a marketing program can be complicated. Most companies fail to create an effective marketing and sales program because they base their actions on what their own idea of what their pipelines need instead of following what they really need. Customer surveying is the first step creating an effective sales program, 2nd step is making sure that the actions of the program will be based on the customers’ feedback.

Channel Management Strategy determines the success or in some cases failure of a company. However a properly executed strategy could greatly boost the performance of a company.