Manufacturers Rep VAR Direct Sales Force

1
Manufacturers Rep? VAR?
Direct Sales Force?

• Presented by

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The World Has Changed

• Technology has changed the world
• Internet
• Everything is a commodity
• More with less
• Less Communication
• Voicemail
• Email

3
Customers Want More

• Powerful product, great brands no longer provide
  differentiation
• Customers looking for superior value at the
  lowest price
• Sales Channel
• powerful and sustainable differentiator

4
Traditional Approaches

• Heritage
• In house
• Multiple channels
• Confusion
• In fighting
• Loss of margin and market share
• Cost of Sales
• Treating sales as cost and not investment

5
Begin With the End in Mind

• Start with your customer
• Who they are
• How they like to buy

6
Channel Design

• Customers
• Who are they
• Size
• Location
• Market Segment
• Value Proposition
• Strategy
• Penetrate existing customers?
• Acquire new ones?

7
Channel Strategy

• How do they buy
• What steps do they go thru to define, evaluate,
  elect and implement a solution
• Close and frequent interaction?
• Complex with a lot of factory support
• Customization involved
• Complementary services and/or products required
  for a complete solution

8
Buyer Expectations

• Who and how do they buy these solutions?
• Direct, Distribution, VAR, Retail, Internet, etc
• What are their supplier expectations?
• What level of support is expected?
• Supporting products or services important

9
Channel Partners

• What are the partner characteristics?
• How are the organized to support your target
  customers?
• What complementary programs, products and
  services are needed?
• What do they expect from YOU?

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Channel Partners

• How do we motivate them to sell our products?
• What support will they need?
• Marketing materials and programs
• Training
• Factory support
• Incentives
• Leads
• Channel dissonance

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Rules to Remember

• Dont confuse the customer
• Keep it simple
• Minimize channel squabbling
• Dont compete against yourself
• Minimum number needed to service the customer
• Channel partners are your customer
• What is your value proposition to them
• Synergistic/complementary?
• Mindshare is everything
• Be in the top 5 or perish

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Rules to Remember

• Match your design and life cycle with that of
  your partner
• Multi-Channel approach generally better
• Be flexible, things change
• You must manage the channel partner as if they
  were an employee.
• Local factory person a must

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Discussion
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Thank you! Please feel free to contact me
at Michael Johnson Sales Solutions 1-831-688-6811
mike_at_MJSalesSolutions.com