Customers don't always buy direct from a brand. Instead, they purchase from a reseller, who will work with a number of businesses. This means it's essential you create strong channel partnerships to ensure vendors focus more of their attention on your products. Here's how you can achieve this - with Power2Motivate's help.
In today's complex business environment, many customers don't buy direct from a brand. Instead, they purchase from channel partners, which will sell products from a number of different businesses. And this is the crucial point - if your vendors sell a variety of brands, it's up to you to make sure they focus their efforts on shifting your products, as opposed to your competitors.
That's why it's essential you create the strongest channel partnerships possible from the get-go that take into account both yours and your reseller's needs. Here's how:
1) Focus on communications
You can't just rely on the power of your brand. Instead, you need to ensure resellers have as much information as possible on your products. That's why strong communication is essential. Share sales data and any other information you have (ensuring it's in an easily digestible format) and provide channel partners with the latest information about products and sales strategy.
It's a good idea to set up a phone number just for reseller queries. That way, they can view pricing information, know the sort of deals they can give their customers, will be able to reach technical support, and access any other essential knowledge quickly and easily. Creating an online platform with the relevant information is also an option.
2) Get to know them
Don't use physical distance or even the number of resellers you work with as an excuse not to get to know each one. The stronger their relationship with you, the more they'll understand your product offering and the more loyal they will be when your competitors offer them a new sales deal.
Depending on the number of vendors you use, you might even want to visit them on-site occasionally. Not only will this help you put a name to a face, you'll also be able to provide your expert brand knowledge in person so they can both improve their operation and sell more of your products. Again, we see the emphasis on creating a mutually beneficial channel partnership. You could even help them create a marketing campaign that focuses on your products or service offering.
3) Make yourself easy to work with
Maintaining flexibility in your channel partnerships is important - not every vendor is the same, and you need to be able to work with their unique aspects or run the risk of them being unable or unwilling to focus on selling your products.
4) Reward your resellers
All of these things are ultimately about making you an enjoyable partner to work with. Adding a channel partner programme into the mix is an excellent way to seal the deal and differentiate yourself from the competition.
The power of rewards in channel partner programmes is clear. A Model N survey found that 60 per cent of respondents believed an effective incentive programme can increase sales of a particular vendor's products by up to 40 per cent.
60 per cent of respondents believed an effective incentive programme can increase sales of a particular vendor's products by up to 40 per cent
But the best channel partner and reseller programmes are those that offer a high degree of flexibility. Power2Motivate UK's cloud-based platform is customisable to your organisation's needs. Whether you want to focus on boosting brand awareness or rewarding positive behaviour change with reseller incentives, Power2Motivate will help you succeed.
Other features include the ability to login from any web-enabled device, a constant communication platform no mater what time of day it is, and real-time reporting on ROI and KPI.
For more information on how Power2Motivate can give your channel partnerships that extra boost, reach out to the team today.