If you want to expand your business' market share, it can be daunting deciding how to target new customers. Many vendors use a sales channel to enter new markets, taking advantage of local sales expertise. The returns on fostering loyal resellers are significant - with loyalty motivated by a Channel Partner Programme.
How do you go about taking your business into new markets and targeting customers who may have no experience with your product or service? It's a question that plagues many business owners - until you consider the power of the reseller. Using a sales channel, you can pick the brain of an expert in a local market to more successfully target sales at the right consumers.
What is the value of developing a channel partnership?
They say knowledge is power, and with the expertise of a reseller, you have the information you need to develop a successful strategy. There are three main benefits of using a sales channel rather than going it alone in a new market:
Lowered marketing and distribution costs - Resellers often have an established market presence and are trusted by local customers. Using this existing infrastructure, you can reach out to customers at a very low initial cost.
Low cost for expanding into new markets - A network of channel partners means this new market is suitably covered so you don't have the costs of managing new office locations or hiring locally. Essentially, it means a greater brand presence without investing in expanding your physical presence.
More effective scaling - If you have an established reseller model, you can scale your sales strategy appropriately in a new market. By establishing the right partnership tiers, you can also designate resellers to manage multiple other partnerships on your behalf, making your sales channels more cost efficient.
Channel partnerships now focus on more collaborative, value-added strategies than older, transactional models.
Changing sales channels - and how you can boost loyalty
Targeting a new market with a sales channel is definitely a cost-effective method of getting your business in front of new consumers- but only if you partner with the right kind of resellers. Think long and hard about the channel partnerships you want to forge - will these resellers add real value to your business, or will they just be middlemen?
Deloitte and the American Marketing Association's CMO 2017 Survey shows that although the number of channel partnerships overall is shrinking, it's more reflective of the changing nature of sales channels than a lack of faith in the model. Vendors are more likely to maximise value from their resellers if sales channels shift from purely transactional relationships to collaborative. Trends from this survey also indicate these kinds of sales channels are more likely to last longer, with resellers and vendors maintaining greater loyalty.
Loyalty is not for free, however - to get the most from sales channels that actually deliver value, you need to ensure your resellers are rewarded appropriately.
Using a Channel Partner Programme
To expand a new market is to put time and money on the line - so you want to make sure your channel partners can deliver. The more engaged and loyal these are, the more likely they are to strive for every success. So, it stands to reason that you need to incentivise your channel partners to show greater loyalty - through a Channel Partner Rewards Programme.
An online platform, like the one offered by Power2Motivate UK, should do the following in order to demonstrate your appreciation of sales partners expertise and loyalty:
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You need to be able to clearly determine a link between your sales goals and rewarding success. Using Power2Motivate's point-based system, you decide on the metrics which deliver points to your resellers, meaning you can reward certain behaviours or successes in a way linked to your ongoing sales campaigns.
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Power2Motivate's point-based system can introduce gamification to the workplace, rewarding employees for a much wider set of actions (including training or other holistic measures).
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Your resellers need to be able to access rewards to things that matter to them personally. With our Global Rewards Gallery, your channel partners can choose from thousands of rewards.
For more information about embracing new sales channels and resellers with industry leading Channel Partner Incentive Programmes, contact the Power2Motivate UK team today.