Apple uses direct sales as well. Hop on Apple.com or head to an Apple Store, and you can buy Macbooks and iPhones straight from Apple.<\/p>\n
Many companies employ both methods as part of their sales strategy. That said, most smaller businesses<\/a> stick with direct sales for a while. As they expand their product line and feel the urge to enter new markets, they often add channel sales.<\/p>\n Try monday sales CRM<\/a><\/p>\n Here are 6 different ways you can set up channel sales:<\/p>\n Affiliates promote your product online through various means, such as<\/p>\n And many more.<\/p>\n To track your affiliates\u2019 sales, you give them a unique tracking URL they can use to send traffic to your product.<\/p>\n Every time an affiliate<\/a> of yours makes a sale, you hand them a cut of that sale\u2019s revenue. Most companies operate affiliate programs on a percentage commission basis. Some also add bonus opportunities for their affiliates.<\/p>\n One of the most popular examples of an affiliate program is the Amazon Associates Program. Affiliates get a cut of any Amazon products they sell through their tracking link.<\/p>\n Agents are an intermediary party that doesn\u2019t own your product or service at any time of the process. Instead, they facilitate negotiations and deals between both parties.<\/p>\n Look at a real estate agent. They help sellers find and negotiate with buyers, or they help buyers discover homes that fit their criteria and also negotiate with sellers. However, the agent never owns the home.<\/p>\n Dealers sell products directly to the consumer, but with a focus on a specific brand.<\/p>\n Think of a car dealership. Sure, a dealership might have a few cars from other brands due to trade-ins, but they primarily sell cars from one manufacturer or brand.<\/p>\n For example, a Ford dealer stocks its lots with Fords. You won\u2019t find many Dodges, Kias, or BMWs on a Ford lot.<\/p>\n Independent retailers are retail stores that don\u2019t belong to a larger chain.<\/p>\n An example would be a local electronics store, founded by a local tech whiz, perhaps. This store would sell several brands of electronics, but without any ties to a larger electronics retailer like Best Buy.<\/p>\n VARs buy your product, then resell it with markup for profit margin. However, they add value in some way to justify the increased price.<\/p>\n Car dealers can be VARs. For example, most dealerships provide you with a loaner car while yours is in the shop. Or they may offer extended warranties and similar products on your vehicle.<\/p>\n Another example is furniture companies. They might add value to their products by offering interior design services or home delivery<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wholesalers buy products in bulk and work to sell them to stores. Stores then put them on shelves and sell to the end customer. For obvious reasons, wholesalers are only useful for product businesses.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t an exhaustive list of channel types. Once your channel sales program starts growing, it gets tough to juggle so many kinds of partners.<\/p>\n Check out these 4 benefits of embracing channel sales:<\/p>\n Working with channel partners cuts into your profits since the partners take a cut. However, partners already have their processes in place, and they\u2019ve established presences in their markets. Working with partners cuts these overhead costs, offsetting the reduced profits that come from working with channel partners.<\/p>\n Again, channel partners should have strong presences in their markets. If a potential partner is in markets you don\u2019t already sell to, they can help you get into those markets fast. No need to perform research, create buyer personas, and build a marketing campaign from scratch. Plus, you won\u2019t have to build new offices in other locations or hire as many more people, either.<\/p>\n If you work with a reputable channel sales partner, your product gains some easy credibility. For example, if you sell electronics and manage to get your products onto Best Buy\u2019s shelves, you\u2019ll gain an instant credibility boost.<\/p>\n Scaling with a direct sales model is costly, even if you keep more of your profits. You have to recruit, onboard, and train each new sales rep. If you have an established, working channel partner program, just add more partners and scale for less. This reduces your need to hire more personnel. All you need is one channel sale manager to handle several partnerships at once.<\/p>\n In fact, they can repurpose this client management template<\/a>\u00a0for each partner and manage all your partnerships with ease.<\/p>\n Try monday sales CRM<\/a><\/p>\n Not every organization will benefit from a channel sales strategy. In most cases, smaller organizations start with a direct sales strategy, then evolve into channel sales.<\/p>\n Here are some ways you can tell the time is right:<\/p>\n Early on in a product\u2019s lifespan, direct selling works better. You can get large amounts of feedback in little time, guiding product improvement. Once your product is nearly as good as it can get, channel sales is the better approach. Selling your product takes priority over developing it. Also, you\u2019ll understand your own product more and explain it better to partners.<\/p>\n When your sales process is simple and standardized, it\u2019s easy to explain it to channel partners. Plus, knowing all the relevant information \u2014 buyer personas, pain points, and so on \u2014 makes it easier to teach your partner how best to sell your product.<\/p>\n Plugging your sales process into monday.com\u2019s sales process template<\/a>\u00a0sure helps here.<\/p>\n Whenever your partner needs a refresher, they can just log in and glance at the process.<\/p>\n Try monday sales CRM<\/a><\/p>\n Partnering with other companies leaves you with less control over the sales cycle. Sure, you may cut distribution, marketing, and sales costs, but sales revenue may take longer to arrive. When you need revenue asap \u2014 which, again, is often the case for smaller businesses \u2014 direct sales is best. But once things are more stable, channel sales is often the better option.<\/p>\n Here are 5 steps for launching your channel sales strategy:<\/p>\n Don\u2019t pick your partners lightly. There\u2019s a lot to consider.<\/p>\n First, how will you make money off your partner? Look over the costs, revenues, and predicted \u201cmaintenance\u201d required to keep the partner relationship going.<\/p>\n But don\u2019t forget to consider how your partner will make money. Your partner cares more about themselves than you, so you\u2019ll need to persuade them they\u2019ll make money.<\/p>\n Here are some ways you can benefit a channel partner:<\/p>\n Benefits go beyond money, though. Consider other things your partner might bring you, such as<\/p>\n Next, find out the following from your potential partners:<\/p>\n Altogether, you want to make sure your partner has a target market<\/a> and can sell to it effectively.<\/p>\n To make this whole process easier, consider repurposing this vendor list template<\/a>\u00a0on monday.com to track the partners you\u2019re evaluating.<\/p>\n You and your channel partner should be on the same page about the goals and responsibilities of the partnership.<\/p>\n Write up a document that consists of goals, objectives, and other pertinent information like<\/p>\n Write it all down in some crm software<\/a>, too, so you can collaborate with your partner and get their input.<\/p>\n You should also set up protocol for communication: the when (frequency), the how (method), and the what (report, review, etc.).<\/p>\nSales channel examples<\/h2>\n
Affiliate<\/h3>\n
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Agent<\/h3>\n
Dealer<\/h3>\n
Independent retailer<\/h3>\n
Value-added reseller<\/h3>\n
Wholesaler<\/h3>\n
The benefits of channel sales<\/h2>\n
1. Lower distribution, marketing, and sales costs<\/h3>\n
2. Ease of entering new markets<\/h3>\n
3. Credibility boost<\/h3>\n
4. Scalability<\/h3>\n
![\"monday.com](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/monday.com-client-management-template.png\" "\\"monday.com")
<\/p>\nWhen is it time to use channel sales?<\/h2>\n
When your product is mature<\/h3>\n
When your sales process is simple and standardized<\/h3>\n
![\"monday.com](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/monday.com-sales-process-template.png\" "\\"monday.com")
<\/p>\nWhen revenue isn\u2019t urgently needed<\/h3>\n
How to create a channel sales strategy<\/h2>\n
1. Pick your partners<\/h3>\n
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![\"monday.com](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/monday.com-vendor-list-template.png\" "\\"monday.com")
<\/p>\n2. Set clear partner commitments and goals (and write them down)<\/h3>\n
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![\"monday.com](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/monday.com-project-communication-plan-template.png\" "\\"monday.com")
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