Channel Management

Having Channel Partners is highly effective for organizations that are seeking:

• Global expansion

• New market penetration

• Localized support

• See response to market before investing on a large scale

• Organizations requiring support of business areas where in house expertise do not exists

• Legal restrictions

• Security concerns

• Organizations that do not wish to open their presence for strategic reasons

• Representative

• Agent

• Reseller

• Value added reseller

• Distributor

• Affiliate

• Franchise

• Regional partner – City

– Region (National level)

– Country

– Regional (International)

– Global

• Reach

• Marketing

• Branding

• Sales

• Localized support

• Language support

• Co-investment

• Cost benefit analysis

• Business process outsourcing

• Higher returns

• Market coverage

• Business intelligence

• Competitor intelligence

• Agent Mix

• Marketing Strategies

• Service Levels

• Coordinating with Agents

• Pricing Strategy

• Creative Promotions

• Monitoring and Reviewing agents

• Introductory level

• Intermediate

• Advanced

• Pure collaboration

• Usually illustrated as: – Bronze channel partner

– Sliver channel partner

– Gold channel partner

– Platinum channel partner

– Diamond channel partner

– Levels of revenue sharing, responsibilities, commitments and targets vary level to level

• Role of Principle – Product and Service

– Business model

– Remuneration

– Legal considerations

• Role of Channel Partner – Marketing

– Sales

– Service Delivery

– Consumer satisfaction

• Role of Consumer – Value for money

– Product and services

– Satisfaction

– Loyalty

• Generating leads of Channel Partners (EOI)

• Establishing and appointing Channel Partners

• Channel activation

• Initial probation business activity with Channel

• Channel operations

• Channel support activities

• Channel monitoring

• Channel review

• Exit / Growth strategy with Channel

• Marketing Collaterals should be available

• Terms and conditions

• Resource planning for peak timings

• Trained team and staff

• Targets

• Expectations

• Conflict resolution

• Legal issues

• MARCOMMS.

• Online – Portals

– Social Media

– Directories

– Listings

– Forums

– Email marketing

– PPC

• Events and exhibitions

• Formal EOI advertising

• Referrals

• Hiring of channel partners

• Direct marketing

• Response to EOI

• Initial filtering

• Submission of business plans

• References

• Negotiations


• Contract

• Legal implications

• Investment if required

• Commencement of Channel Partnership

• Due diligence

• Training and educational qualifications

• Market Information

• Services offered

• Proven track record

• References

• Portfolio

• Clients

• Financial stability

• Current business model

• Feedback from consultants

• Agreement to probation period

• Research

• Marketing

• Sales

• Distribution

• Customer Support

• Service delivery

• System integration

• Deployment

• Training

• Requirement gatherings

• Maintenance and support

• Project Management

• Commission basis

• Revenue sharing

• Retainer

• Fixed cost

• Target and incentive based

• Target and objective based

• Localized pricing

• % of sales

• 100% sales

• Beyond 100%

• Top performers

• Score card method

• Monthly point accumulation

• Bonus method

• Marketing execution

• Co branding

• Lead sharing

• IT support


• Contract and agreement

• Exit strategy

• Liabilities

• Misrepresentation

• IPR issues

• Legal proceedings

• Mutual agreements

• Initial setup requirements

• Local law and its implications

• Refund policy for customers

• Guarantee or deposit safety

• Training and development

• Mock sessions

• Tools and kits

• Marketing collaterals

• IT support and systems

• Initial market research

• Resource hiring

• Resource allocation

• Meeting pre-requisites as per business plan

• Launch and roll out

• Marketing activities

• Sales activities

• After sales activities

• Level of partnership

• Business name and entity

• Legal status

• Strategy as per stage in product life cycle

• Initial promotions

• Conferences

• Event for launch

• Public relations

• Media

• Advertising

• Point of contacts with customers

• Online – Paid

– Free

– Social Media

– Viral

– Website communication

– Email marketing

• Offline – ATL activities

– BTL activities

– Events

– Direct marketing

– Demonstration

– Sampling

– Co-branding activities

• Initial packages

• Free distribution

• Outdoor advertising

• Point of contact or sales

• KIOSK activity

• Main customer spot areas – Malls

– Cinemas

– Departmental stores

– Modern Trade

– Event

• Referral sales

• Lucky draws and competitions

• Logo

• Website

• Campaign

• Brochures

• Flyers

• Billboards

• Stickers

• Give aways

• POS materials

• X Stands

• Insertions

• Other forms of outdoor advertising

• Channel portal

• Admin panel

• Financial panel

• Stock / service panel

• Marketing panel

• Lead management system

• Sales system

• Conflict management system

• Incentives system

• Advertising system

• Official communications

• Integration with Supply Chain system

• ERP integration

• Resources

• Locations

• Offices

• Organizational structure

• Authorized people

• Departments

• Contact numbers

• Record keeping

• Invoices

• Refunds

• Warranties

• Complain forms

• Training kit

• Marketing kit

• Sales kit

• Website domain

• Email domain

• Store fronts

• Email access

• Customer database access

• Administrative panel

• FAQs

• Pricing

• Product description

• Technical specification

• Region control


• Misrepresentation

• Legal issues

• Fraud

• Improper execution of business plan

• Copyrights and IPR

• Channel partner seeking to open same business as principle

• Channel partner providing same services to competitor

• Cross selling and bundle selling with other products

• Fake sales

• Blocking opportunity for better channel partners

• Activation time

• Time to first dollar

• Meeting targets consistently

• Level of customer satisfaction

• Complain ratio

• Warranty replacement ratio

• Profitability

• Market share

• SLA

• Turnaround time

• In comparison to competitor’s channel partners

• Internal evaluation

• Feedback and review

• Fixed time internals

• Meetings – Weekly

– Monthly

– Quarterly

– 6 months

– Yearly

• Rewards and recognitions

• Enhancing terms and conditions – % of sharing

– Region

– Responsibilities

– Commitment

– Marketing budgets

• Mutual consent

• Legal paper work

• Roll back strategy

• Disclaimers

• Principle assets and properties

• Financial settlement

• Official announcement

• Communication to clients and customers

• Future restrictions – Legal agreement

– Time restriction

– Category restriction

– Data restriction

• Selection

• Criteria for appointment

• Level of channel partner

• Commitment


• Mutual growth

• Separate specialization areas

• Time to first dollar

• Level of remuneration and revenues

• Profitability

• Demand from customers

• Marketing

• Lucrative growth opportunity over years

• The Industry Practices

• Roles and Responsibilities

• Discounting Model


• Co-branding and promotions

• Special packages

• Exit strategy

• Marketing the Franchise program

• Technical support

• Training

• Tools and kits

• Centralized franchise authority

• Should have same sales as in-house

• 11+ Years of experience

• 6+ Years of Adjunct Faculty

• MBA MIS and Marketing

• Proven track record

• Specialty – Digital Marketing

– E-Commerce

– Mobile Apps

– Channel Marketing and Partnerships

• Contacts and business circles

• Team management

• Complete digital exposure

• Creativity

• ROI based planning

• Running a personal venture of Buyon.pk

Channel Management

Documents

Transcript of Channel Management