Inherent in a distributor sales force model is a lack of communication and understanding between separate entities on the status of their leads and sales pipelines. Manufacturers send leads to their distributors, but rarely get feedback on what happens with those leads, the opportunities they represent, forecasted sales, or the pipeline as a whole. In […]
We recently conducted a survey of more than 4,475 manufacturing sales and marketing professionals and the message was clear: They need more engagement and feedback from their channel partners on sales leads. Here is a key stat that we uncovered: 60% of companies do not get feedback from their channel partners on leads and opportunities. […]
Sales managers understand that channel partner engagement is the lifeblood of successful indirect sales. The more effective your channel partner engagement program, the easier it is for your distributors to do their job of selling and servicing your products every day. Market fluctuations and rapidly changing customer needs, however, have created an increasingly challenging environment […]
Business leaders today rely on data in order to make calculated, smart decisions for their organizations. To stay ahead of the competition and constantly changing business environments, seasonal trends or economic indicators are no longer good enough — particularly with the technology tools available today. Data is the new currency of the digital age. Whether […]
Imagine you want to buy a car on a Saturday. You go to dealership A and the salesperson says he’ll call you in 24 to 48 hours. Meanwhile, you go to dealership B, test drive the car you want, ink the deal, and drive home. When the salesperson from dealership A gets around to calling […]
As a distributor or channel partner, you work with dozens of different manufacturers — maybe as many as 500 — who send you sales leads in various formats on a daily basis. Some of those leads arrive via email, others in spreadsheets. Your manufacturing partners might even ask you to log-in to their CRM to […]
In a typical B2B or B2C environment, an internal marketing department provides leads — ideally qualified ones — to its counterpart down the hall in the sales department. It’s well known and certainly well documented that the process of sales and marketing alignment is both a challenge and a great source of opportunity. Just try […]
If you’re a distributor that partners with manufacturers, odds are that a few of them generate and share sales leads with you. This indirect sales distribution model has numerous benefits for both you and the manufacturer. You obtain sales leads at little or no marketing expense, and the manufacturer enjoys expanded market share without the […]
When we think about companies that sell via channel partners, we often think of traditional industrial manufacturers who create a product and then sell that product through distributors or independent sales reps. It’s not uncommon, however, for Software as a Service (SaaS) companies to operate using a similar model — partnering with value added resellers […]
Do you find yourself guessing what the revenue contribution from your channel partners will be at the end of the month or quarter? Do you look at historical performance and “hope” it continues or even increases over time? For companies that sell through channel partners, separation between financial forecasting and a channel partners’ actual performance […]