How does Channel specific Brand Management stack up?

This is a great option for many organizations, teaming up with a Marketing Partner that has experience in the Distribution Supply Chain of interest. Many times they can help save you hours and dollars in understanding the audience and how you must evolve your messaging. They may be aware of market trends and best practices that are not as obvious as one might hope.

You can see great working examples of this through the Consumer and Commercial markets, many times one wouldn’t even notice where say a Pepsi Co ended and their Marketing Partner takes over. It seems this usually works best, and mostly, in the upper tiers of the product performance tree. Where questions aren’t asked quite as much because there is plenty of Revenue to go around.

However, when you are not the titan in the room, and look to Brand Management to help grow in a previously difficult market, questions get asked. There is a certain aloof feeling for many Executives towards their Marketing Partners when an organization is in a heavy growth phase. Sometimes ROI can be hard to track, especially in less technology dependent Supply Chains, which leads to complicated evaluations of partner value.

Traditional Marketing Partner Challenges

As the Marketing Partner model leaves them without the proverbial “seat at the table”, in a mature Supply Chain, it also means they have a bit less “skin in the game” to an extent. Like every relationship, advantages and disadvantages are a part of doing business. When looking to launch INTO a market with no presence the biggest issue is actually large format Resellers or Distributors. If these relationships have not already been developed, Marketing Partners can prove to find difficulty with creating traction in Commercial Equipment Channels of any kind.

If they do find traction, and the Purchasing Lanes have not been established, it could set your orders back weeks, months, or have customer moving on to something easy to purchase. Not a situation you want to find your team in, instead of celebrating their new success. You may instead find yourself worrying about the organizations reputation to deliver, and trying to patch up valuable relationships.

Can “Channel as a Service” offer a more complete DMS solution?

The idea of Channel as a Service is to offer a Distribution, Marketing, and Sales (DMS) Management experience that is integrated with the industry it serves completely. The feasibility of such, many times, depends on the existing Supply Chain model and how margins are passed down. In a perfect world you may have a partner who can accomplish all three, but more commonly today are Marketing & Sales Management programs that do their best to influence DMR (Direct Market Reseller) or Distribution Sales Teams.

End-Users purchase from the Channel because they are looking for more than the best price, they are looking for a relationship. Thankfully this mantra follows through with the Sales Teams in the Channel, which means that influence can go a long way. Sometimes the simple difference of which similar product link a Territory or Account Manager decides is a better option for their customer, comes from more than it being the best price. Most associate the level of support they are given in this situation to the level of support their customer will receive, enough said. When they are making that decision with the buying power of an entire  Hotel Chain or Restaurant Group in mind, relationships become more than relevant.

Combined with the ability to bring your brand messaging to the proper door, the right way, these partners support with their own personnel packages and Channel Management tools. In all efforts they walk and talk the Brand and, because of the investment they make into each program, generally look for multi-year contracts with established Manufacturers.

This Channel Management model has existing in Commercial Technology and other industries for decades, perhaps just lacking the new-fangled terminology. However, it is what has lead the likes of Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Xerox, and others to the top of the Technology Distribution Supply Chain

Supply Chain Integrated Resources (SCIR), they matter. How do we define them?

Stepping beyond traditional Brand Management into an even more holistic relationship (Channel Management) with longer commitments is a big part of the solution, but still doesn’t solve the “seat at the table” issue or help manufacturers “break into” a new market. This can only be solved, by what we would call, a Supply Chain Integrated experience, in which the Channel Partner has existing Product Lanes at the National level Distribution.

!Opinion Warning!

First, let me make it very clear, I feel that most markets have been somewhat plagued with half-thought marketing relationships, an aging sales model, and/or an “All I have to do is beat the competitors price” mentality. This, for me, is part of what led many markets into the “Amazon Era”. That aging sales model left customers in Commercial and Consumer markets alike feeling unsupported and the marketing relationships without vision put all the eggs into the “price driven e-commerce” sellers basket (reference Toy R’ Us bankruptcy).

!End Opinion!

Fast-forward and there is now a great effort to increase value to the customer and the idea that consumer feedback is trending, may even be an understatement. Supply Chain Integration allows a Channel Partner to react quickly to changes and assume a level of responsibility unlike before.

Having the ability to understand the business at a deeper level, with the inclusion of a consolidated Channel Distribution Management relationship, offers a few key advantages:

Playing by the “Channel” rules, mostly.

This type of Channel relationship integration is not without its challenges though. The solutions can only come with experience and a very detailed program, which clearly outlines not only the opportunity for your business but the commitments required for success. Knowledge of multiple category pricing models, distribution margin thresholds, balanced rebate programs, and distributor specific culture are just scratching the surface of what the right Channel as a Service package should offer.

Since many National Distributors or DMRs won’t open new accounts without Enterprise level End-User support for your product, a CaaS program that is properly Supply Chain Integrated offers unique opportunity to up and coming innovation. And as we look to innovate the supply chain, it is only natural for a path to be built in the face of resistance.

I think we would all imagine that most companies in the HoReCa Supply Chain have some sort of Customer Relationship Manager (CRM), or a resemblance of one in their robust ERP, right?

However, we have been surprised more time’s that one would like to admit, many HoReCa Equipment Suppliers are still trying to figure this out. Learning about a new project or in conversation with others, and you hear about a company that has been around for 50 years and is still using pen and paper.

I would hope that means there is plenty of opportunity for growth in many, likely, Small Businesses. Perhaps they have been a part of building America, or are just so good at what they do it never occurred to them…they could be even better. Either way, competitive markets have caught up to most of us and everyone is looking to drive more revenue without more overhead, that is where Customer Relationship Management (CRM) “Software” comes into play:

• Great for tracking and reducing lost opportunities or leads while improving follow-up.
• They can offer you a full picture of the product path and communication to the Restaurant or Property.
• Key tool in managing Equipment Contracts and Programs with multiple buyers and locations.
• Automate your Marketing while tailoring it to the End-User, reducing work load while optimizing relevance of messaging.
• And most of all they offer a true record of business which allows you to not only Forecast, but also Research and understand why your ROI did…or didn’t, pan out.

At their worst, CRMs are “money pits” and an annoying piece of technology that just adds to an Account Manager’s responsibilities.  When embraced and put in place slowly they push your best performers forward, and unfortunately sometimes, reveal those with the most room for improvement. This is where the questionable reputation really comes from my in my opinion, the opportunity for leadership to improve growth, just doesn’t sound the same to everybody.

Along with “Poor Usage via Reputation”, integration is the pairing factor we hear keeping some Organizations printing production reports and keying them into an Excel doc.  A little bit of extra effort here goes a long way, technically “all the way”, as it is your best tool in forecasting your sales or telling where you have been already. Thinking about how to best tailor a CRM to your team should follow a few guidelines:

• Custom Data Fields should be those statistics unique to your industry (ie: Number of Rooms, Number of Seats, and etc.) that help you size up each project.
• Follow the path of an Opportunity and make sure each of those Roles (people) involved are uniquely defined.
• Start small and continue to customize over time, if needed, don’t fall into an infinite development cycle.
• Make sure your CRM choice leads in reliability, maybe this should be #1.

Start with something in the “Freemium” model (Hubspot, Insightly, Zoho, etc.), if you are gun shy and want to get a feel. The barrier to entry has been lifted by an SaaS model that knows you don’t want to pay to play. Don’t let excuses get in the way of productivity and positive changes that are essential in attacking today’s markets. Believe it or not there are examples of success that fit into whatever challenges your organization may face; young, older, tech savvy, non-technical, small team, or large company. You name it, we are pretty sure there is an example and solution for it.