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Article by Brian English

Most businesses can describe their customer base in a pyramid in which the average customer spend increases and the number of customers decreases as you move up the pyramid. In the bottom tier are many small customers. The number of tiers in your particular business is entirely defined by you and it is quite possible that in a 5-tier pyramid, only the top-tier customers are dealt with directly and all other tiers are handled by channel partners.

The purpose of the pyramid is to force the supplier to precisely define its channel strategy for the customers it is targeting in each tier of the pyramid. To do this, it has to describe eight different parameters for each tier.

Products -

Many businesses sell different products and services (or even volumes, configurations, bundles, etc) to different customer groups. Stating what is to be sold to the customers at each tier in the pyramid is a critical starting point as this will have a significant impact on the channel strategy.

Customer Description -

Next, you need to describe the end-customers in this tier. Are they manufacturers, service companies, independent consultants? Are they self-employed, SME’s, nonprofit organisations?

Number of Customers -

Knowing how many potential customers there are in the target market makes it possible to establish if the sales objectives are realistic. Not knowing this means that the market-entry strategy is founded on hope rather than data. It’s not an exact number, but an order of magnitude estimate.

Program spend -

Smaller customers will spend less than larger ones. That’s why we classify them as small. Whether you’re delivering a hosted service like Salesforce.com or electronic components like NXP, try to define the “typical program spend” for each tier. In the case of these two examples, this might mean the average number of subscriptions per company in that tier to Salesforce which will equate to the annual revenue per company. For NXP it may be the typical semiconductor spend for a company on each product it develops. So, moving up the pyramid, the number of programs per customer increases as well as the spend per program.

Demand Creation and Fulfillment -

Recognise who creates the demand for your product at the customer, irrespective of who delivers it. For example, you may need to generate all leads yourself through your website with Google Ads, mailings, radio advertising and so on, but they may all be followed up and fulfilled by a third party partner. Conversely, you may have a partner who is doing all the lead generation, but because your enterprise software is complex and has to be customised, you may have to close the sale and commission the product yourself.

Sales Strategy -

What will your sales strategy be? For example, if you have a tier for catalogue distributors such as Argos in the UK or Wehkamp in Germany, the strategy might be to simply provide the product to these channels and support them with all the resource at your disposal. On the other hand, it could also be to provide the channels with the minimum support they require and expend your resources on building the brand through space advertising, direct mail, etc in order to drive customers to the catalog resellers. It will be important to work this strategy out very carefully and to ensure that the channel partner in the tier supports it.

Examples -

Before you begin investing resources and money in a market penetration it is vital to identify your target customers. It’s not generally enough to describe them in terms of generic characteristics (unless, of course, you’re in a B2C environment). You need to be able to name names and more than just a few. You can expect about one-in-seven leads to move to the engagement phase. In traditional sales environments this means getting a meeting; in distance selling it means engaged in a two-way dialog with you either by phone, eMail or via the web. About one-in-fi ve of these engagements will result in a sale, in the short-term.

Conclusion

To close one piece of business in the short-term, you need to have a minimum of 35 identified leads. We have been in many customer situations where the client has identified twenty target customers in the new market and believes that he can close half of them in the first year. Predictably, the reality is very often disappointment and frustration. We encourage clients to identify at least 50 qualified prospects before going into a new market.

if you want to know more about sales channel management you can follow this link.

About the Author

CEO of QupactInternational, Brian English is an internationally renowned expert in sales channel development. A former Vice President at Emerson(St. Louis) and group Managing Director at XP Power (London), he currently delivers on a number of prestigious management development programs such as International Selling and Endeavour as well as lecturing at business schools, universities, industry events and company meetings.

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Article by don robert

A company’s channel network is a vital aspect of their sales and overall growth and development. It’s the vendor, particularly, the channel manager’s job to see that this network that consists of partners and relationships move smoothly with revenues and profits driving the network to greater heights.

Lead generation is an important aspect of channel distribution and channel management solution. It’s when a company like the vendor or channel partner generates interest on a product. Partners or resellers can capture leads through email, phones, or through website submissions.

Website forms for leads are the most relevant and important in this day where every company is expected to have official sites. For improving lead generation through the Internet, you must at least:

Optimize websitesIdentify vital keywords related to products and optimize the site to reflect those keywords. Optimizing websites involves studying competitive keywords often used by searchers. Use Google Analytics to do your research. Employ white hat SEO techniques to avoid getting suspended or barred from the search results.

Mind ShareBuild the brand up through the network of channels by sharing leads with other resellers. While individual channel partners are technically competitors, in the long run, the whole network benefits from the success of a vendor’s brand.

Targeted Email CampaignsWith vertical products, it is understood that there will be only a handful of potential clients barring international customers. Research the potential customers and develop a standard email content that can be customized to particular targets. Do background checks and see whether the company has issues or problems where the product can come in handy.

Free downloads and samplesOffer trial subscriptions or free services to let customers know how the product can help them perform better in whatever business they are in. Make these free downloads available in each channel partner’s website so customers know where they can avail of the full version of the product.

Match leads with resellersDo background checks of both potential customers and channel partners. Before handing out leads, make sure the channel partner is properly prepped and knowledgeable about the product. This is especially crucial when dealing with high value, vertical products.

Conduct regular sales trainingOnce in a while, professional sales teams need guidance and coaching from experts to refresh their knowledge of sales techniques. Also, these lessons are helpful to teach new techniques that they may not be aware of because of the fast changing technology.

Social NetworkDon’t hesitate to use social networking sites to communicate with channel partners and customers. Getting feedback directly from customers or partners is the best way to improve upon the next products or address issues that may come up. The immediacy of response is crucial especially in this Internet driver world.

Utilize Partner PortalsLeads have to be distributed as soon as possible and automating lead distribution with the help of a partner portal could be the key. Partner portals are websites that consolidate different aspects of channel sales activity. With a partner portal, channel partners can immediately submit leads and approval or reply is immediate so channel sales activity can go smoothly. Partner portals are essential to effective channel management solution.

About the Author

For more information about channel sales strategy, visit us at http://www.channeltivity.com

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Many would think that revenue management and distribution strategies complement each other automatically. After all, these two deeply intertwined with each other. However, this idealistic perception are best, because in reality the distribution and the hotel revenue management is usually in conflict with each other. If that happens, frustration occurs and this can also hinder the thought process that makes good decisions possible. It is a good thing, the majority of the hotel revenue manager willing to compromise to have to bridge the gap.

In many cases, observed that the resulting frustration of the hotel revenue manager from the fact that the sales department wants to “sell” give the prices at inappropriate times because their bonus as an incentive if they want to reach their quota. This is against the Revenue Manager, the task of maintaining the profit at any time for an optimized the overall well-being of the hotel. While this perception may in some cases be true, it is important to look past this prejudice and look deeper into specific issues. Among those include:

Report discounting – with the strategy of discounting with low market demand to cope can be identified, is an almost automatic reaction for sales staff. It has the standard operating procedure (SOP), since then the demand dropped drastically because of the deep recession was. And if it with travelers who have cut their budgets, set, give Scramble sales people on the lowest price possible. It is important to first analyze the market before drastic discounts. Effective yield management should be given precedence.

The revenue from various profit centers – the sales department is more likely than not to be familiar with the customer behavior. You can really help, the hotel revenue manager in this case by developing the strategy for hotel rates at certain times of the week and the month. The highest demand of business travelers tend to be during the week during the weekend experience preferred by tourists.

building customer – this is a frequent source of tension between marketing and sales managers. Although the revenue managers know the value of the building and maintaining relationships, they can not their first priority in all cases. Meanwhile, sales people usually try to accommodate all client requests at the expense of profitability of the hotel. This must work for the maximization of sales hotel.

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How much should I spend on marketing?

Brand Awareness-analysis of the level of advertising, which is accessible according to your target markets with appropriate levels of frequency and credibility

specific response – Analysis of the Response and conversion rates, which can be accessed from various forms of advertising

brand awareness is a direct product of Marketing Strategy – by identifying the key target markets and with an understanding of the competitive environment, it is possible to establish a picture of the level and nature of the “brand” advertising required to generate awareness for the brand to new customers and reinforce the message to existing customers.

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How much should I spend on marketing? This is a frequently asked question, the marketing consultant is regularly invited. The simple answer is that there have been hard fast – depends on the competitive situation in relation to the development stage company, product or category of service and the balance of advertising to promote brand advertising designed to generate a concrete answer. As a result of these factors, the marketing budget will be better on a careful analysis of a number of factors as part of a marketing strategy, not often used on the% of sales method. If you’re trying to develop a deeper understanding of your marketing budget, then there are two good places to start. Brand Awareness analysis of the level of advertising that is likely to reach target markets with appropriate levels of frequency and credibility Specific response – Analysis of response rates and conversion is achieved by various forms of advertising Brand awareness is a direct product of a marketing strategy – identifying key target markets and understand the competitive environment, you can give a picture of the level and nature of the “brand” advertising has generated, in order to increase brand awareness for the establishment of new customers and reinforce the message with other consumers. The planning element of the campaign to create a concrete answer is closely connected with the sale of homes and requires the analysis of response rates and conversion can be achieved by various forms of advertising. With response rates and conversion as a starting point allows MJH Group to the result expected for a given level of expenditure in a given area and the planning of marketing strategy determined accordingly. This correlates with the sale of the family, and plan the necessary mix of advertising necessary to make the path of reaction to the sales results.

Many would think that revenue management and sales strategies automatically complement each other. After all, these two are deeply interrelated to one another. However, this perception is idealistic at best because in reality the sales department and the hotel revenue management are usually at odds with each other. When this happens, frustration occurs and this can hinder the thought process that makes good decisions possible. It is a good thing that majority of hotel revenue managers are willing to compromise to bridge the gap. In many cases, it has been observed that the frustrations of hotel revenue managers arise from the fact that the sales department wants to provide “sale” prices at inappropriate times because they want their bonus incentive when they reach their quota. This is against the revenue manager’s job of ensuring the profit is optimized at all times for the overall well-being of the hotel. While this perception may be true in some cases, it is important to look past this bias and look deeper into specific problems. Among those that can be identified include:Inappropriate Discounting – using the discounting strategy to cope with low market demand is an almost automatic reaction for sales people. It has been the standard operating procedure (SOP) ever since the demand drastically decreased because of the deep recession. And when you couple this with travelers who have reduced their budget, sales people scramble to give the lowest rate possible. It is important to analyze the market first before giving drastic discounts. Effective yield management should be prioritized in this case. Revenues from Different Profit Centers – the sales department is more likely than not to be familiar with the customer behavior. They can actually help the hotel revenue managers in this case by helping develop the hotel rate strategy for specific times of the week and the month. The highest demand from corporate travelers tends to occur during midweek while weekends are preferred by vacationers. Building Client Relationships – this is a common cause of tension between sales and revenue managers. Though revenue managers know the value of building and maintaining relationships, it may not be their first priority in all cases. Meanwhile, sales people usually strive to accommodate all client requests at the expense of the hotel’s profitability. This needs to be ironed out for maximize hotel sales.