Clearly define the role played by you and your partners
It is vital to mesh together both the supplier and the intermediaries’ roles in the go-to-market process.  This means having a clear understanding of your partners’ business models, argued Bruce Hall, distribution marketing manager, global strategic marketing at BP Lubricants and Georges Millet, EMEA channels director at CAD software vendor Autodesk.

Hall showed the way in which BP worked with its 2,000 distributors depends upon how their model varies.  Millet looked at how selective distribution, a legal framework which gives Autodesk the right to specify resellers, has allowed it to develop particularly strong ties with its resellers.

Respond to partners’ business models
BP varies how it behaves according to the business model adopted by the distributor, said Hall.  At BP, channels are defined as being either sell-through, sell-with or sell-to. Hall says: "In the case of sell-through, we, typically, are using the BP brand to pull in the customer and the distributor simply fulfils the sale for us. The customer relationship is owned by BP."  This model is normally used to make sales to consumers.

In sell-with, the distributor is out there creating demand and BP works closely with the channel to develop the relationship.  These tend to be business-to-business sales.

In the case of wholesalers, who are selling products on to other third parties, Hall feels that BP is operating a sell-to model. "The distributor usually owns the intermediary and there is no real partnership. Here our task is to persuade the wholesaler to sell our product, rather than a competitor’s.  So our marketing here is focused on the wholesaler."

He feels it is also vital to know what role BP plays within the distributor’s business model. "Are we bit players or are our products responsible for a massive chunk of his sales?  It is around questions like this that you have to frame your channel value proposition."

Finally, Hall suggested that it was vital to understand how the distributor measures his performance. "Is he still looking at overall sales levels? Or has he moved onto profitability or even return on investment? Behaviour varies dramatically according to the key performance indicator used by the distributor."

Millet agreed. Autodesk has spent a lot of time understanding how its partners make their money and would never launch a marketing initiative without taking this into account.

Think of their benefits
All too often channel programmes are launched without proper consultation with intermediaries.  Millet explained how everything Autodesk did was first discussed with the reseller advisory board. "We have found their input to be absolutely critical to everything we do," he added.
Autodesk also considers the financial impact of every programme that is co-funded with its partners. "You need to answer key questions such as: ‘How much will partners invest?’  ‘How long will it take before they hit breakeven?’ ‘What is the long-term result likely to be?’"

By building close cooperation with its channel,  Autodesk has been able to implement complete closed loop marketing – meaning that Millet knows the precise return generated from all the inquiries from a particular advertisement or direct mailshot. 

All this is built upon a framework of regular meetings with partners, all of whom have yearly business plans and quarterly marketing plans.