The lead villain in the 80’s cartoons Transformers is the war hungry leader of the Decepticons, Megatron.  Megatron transforms into a Proton hand gun which his treacherous ally Star scream uses against their enemies the Autobots. However Megatron and his minions are always defeated by the Autobots, one factor is that Star scream always sabotages or devises devious plans to kill Megatron so he can rule over the Decepticons. So why does Megatron keep Star scream in his ranks if he was such a useless ally? This scenario can also be seen in manufacturing companies who have many inactive partners that do not contribute to the indirect sales, yet they are still part of the company. Channel Management software can help a company in handling and administering their indirect sales but what if the problem lies in the roster that encompasses the indirect selling units?

If you are managing the channels, you need to evaluate the performance of the company’s reselling team. You have to know which are active and which are inactive, which is an asset and who are the liabilities. If your resellers managed to come up with 250,000 dollars last year and your product costs 250,000 dollars it just shows that those certain resellers are not tapped into the right customers to sell your product. Worst they may not have the sufficient resource to supply the support your joint customer needs.

How to determine if your partners are worth investing your time and effort? If they are willing to take up training to improve their skills or if they inquire a lot on how to sell the company’s product or service better is a good sign. It shows that they are enthusiastic and willing to put more on the line to help the company. If they are too eager to get leads before they know how to approach the market, chances are they are not going to add a lot of value. It is matter of knowing which one of them the company should keep is the key in taking out the rest and leaving behind the best.

What about those who are inactive? Every company has inactive reselling units and for an organization that has a global number of partners, it hard to monitor if they are improving or if they remain static. What to do with them? Follow the rule of Survival of the fittest. Set renewal certification, business plan requirement, or sales certification update, which will require them to complete these tasks in 3-6 month’s time or else their partnership, will not be renewed. It maybe harsh but it only means if they want to stay part of your company they have to prove they are worth investing your money, time and effort.

Channel Management Software will allow the company to sort out problems with their indirect selling team effectively and will give the company clear visibilities of their partner’s profile and performance which will help the company evaluate if they are worth investing for.

A computer graduate and loves to travel. Reading current news in the internet is one of his past times. Taking pictures of the things around him fully satisfies him. He loves to play badminton and his favorite pets are cats and walk with them in the park with some dogs.You may want to take a look at our Channel Management Software web page for more information and details or you may call us directly at 877 226 2564 (TOLL FREE).
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I have just been working on a promotional mechanic to incentivise our dealer base to purchase more of our products…a tricky task during a recession. This work has got me thinking about the wider subject of motivation in the workforce in general

Motivation is the crux of why people get up in the morning and go to work. Without motivation in the workplace, companies won’t see the results they require.

Motivating a channel partner such as a distributor or dealer is very different to motivating your own workforce. When you are trying to motivate your own staff, you are trying to get them focussed on your company values or business goals such as customer service, sales performance, product quality so that they can relay these principles to your customers.

Motivating channel partners is something very different and essentially what they want is a product they can sell easily, so that they can make lots of money with a minimum of fuss. Therefore they need to understand that you can deliver on all facets of your proposition such as service, delivery product quality and that a relationship with your company is in their interest.

There are many ways to motivate a channel partner. Make sure you contact them when there is a promotion running so they can take advantage of it. Provide them with giveaways such as shirts, mugs, and notepads. Incentives such as cash and prizes are also a popular mechanic but make sure that you check out the law on this. The other great motivator is referrals. We all know that channel partners like money in their pockets and them knowing that you have got them a referral/sale will make them like you more and believe in your brand, helping you sell more.

Motivation should be seen as a long term aim whether in-house via good management practices or structured as a financial incentive scheme for your channel partners. However there isnt anything wrong in using incentives as a tactical tool for short term goals such as to achieve sales, increase market share, increase brand awareness but be clear this will only provide short term results.

So should you put budget for motivation. Times are tough and many companies are seeing cutbacks in production and in the workforce. But who are left? A workforce that are left to work harder for probably the same amount of money as last year. Motivation internally in the current clients will lift those left behind, working their butts off and will get them to deliver the customer service you demand.

Simply motivation means your team or channel partners can achieve the results you require.

For more tips, click on Sales tips to help grow your business.

Ian Lockyer
www.easimarketing.com

I am fully qualified marketing professional with a wide range of marketing and digital experience. Since July 2004 I have been a Chartered Marketer. I am also a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing. I have a passion for the internet and using new technology for marketing. I enjoy understanding and using new technology as part of the marketing mix. I passionately believe that the internet and, most recently, social media are fundamentally changing the way organizations need to act online.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/motivating-channel-partners-1567046.html

Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

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