Anderson Baillie Business Growth | Routes to Market Strategy | Channel Strategy

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What is the purpose of a partner channel?

To many it's a quick way to market, others it is additional skills or resource that would otherwise be too costly to develop, to others a customer interfacing arm and dare I say it, to some a place where you dump stock to keep finite manufacturing processes economically viable!

Taking a generic approach?

So why is it with so many options that we then seem to take a generic approach to our partners and simply force the partner business model to fit whatever business circumstances exist.

Channel needs a strategy, which should be looking to take some of the burden of corporate goals. This strategy needs a business plan that drives the channel to create the objects and goals. Above all the strategy should be two-way demonstrating benefit to both channel owner and partner as well as exploring the benefits of consistency in goals and communications.

Without guidance a channel exists but fails to perform

At Anderson Baillie we think this is only possible with channel business plans - burdens negotiated and agreed, with action plans and engagement strategies, which enable targets to come into fruition.

Nothing new there! The difference is, the channel strategy should be based upon your overall business plan. This brings the channel in from the cold, no longer autominous with its own targets.

This means for marketing strategy, it becomes an element in the marketing mix, has to be considered when making any form of corporate decisions and in turn is expected to deliver measured effort in success.

Isolate key offerings within your channel

That's why we created our partner and channel development programme. From initial channel audit and segmentation we then help you isolate key offerings within your channel. This helps cut down channel conflict and also maintain profits.

Introduce channel innovation

We then help you introduce channel innovation - where your partners come to you with ideas, and always managed from within the channel business planning approach that we encourage all your channel partners to buy into.

Do you relate to any of these business issues?

	Only 50% of our channel performs how we want them to – we’re at the mercy of their fads
	We only get partners working with us, when they have a deal – no proactive effort just reactive
	They will not consistently promote our products and services inline with corporate messages to market
	We simply can not see the value of our co-op or MDF funding
	There’s no loyalty – we’re just a basket of packages sold
	We can not see the revenue pipeline
	There’s little marketing effort to make the revenue targets
	They are only training people in our products and services if we provide it free – no positive investment
	Our alliance seems to hinge on the favour of one individual – not the company

The Anderson Baillie Business Growth - Channel Strategy Programme explores your business issues through accurately focused consultancy packages based on your actual business requirements.

Channel use of the brand Defining your partner value matrix Defining your position, brand and services Competition brand analysis Competition Substitution Market Diversity & Overlap Cross sell and up-sell potential Channel Spend review Gap analysis		Partner strategy and channel use Understanding and segmenting your channel Isolating the selling methods within the channel, sales engagement and effectiveness Identify what business planning and channel management approaches are in place Understanding the products/services and their limitations Data life cycle audit, information exchange evaluation Sales and Marketing Process integration



Channel use of the brand Assessment of the value partners place on your brand and how they use this to support their own marketing and branding efforts. Defining your partner value matrix Including message consistency and management as well as dilution within the channel Defining your position, brand and services Competition brand analysis Development of differential statements and 'competition breaking' messages. This will coincide with a full evaluation of your competitions brands and their efforts to maintain or develop them further within the channel. Competition Substitution A concise review of channel use of brands, their substitution, their leverage and the exploitation against key competitive brands or products and services. Market Diversity & Overlap Assessment of the channel markets, penetration effectiveness, channel and direct sales engagement strategies to determine business overlap. Cross sell and up-sell potential A complete review of the channel product stable for each of the partners in line with current selling engagements and marketing promotions to determine 'quick win' cross sell and up-sell opportunities as well as more long-term cross fertilisation strategies. Channel Spend review A complete financial and funds allocation audit to determine most effective use of marketing and selling budgets as well as opportunities to consolidate through integration. This will include an review of partner spending assessments to identify low/high investment organisations. Gap analysis A comprehensive review of each of the partners inline with the internal resources and an external assessment inline with their competition. Cross over and channel conflict issues will be considered throughout this assessment. Partner strategy and channel use An assessment of NDA and partner agreements, strategy and practical application of these agreements in an effort to generate further revenue. This will apply to those companies you have agreed to sell through as well as those companies you yourself sell product through. Understanding and segmenting your channel (including the identifying of what purpose your channel has and its differential) Isolating the selling methods within the channel, sales engagement and effectiveness A complete assessment of selling methods, information management in sales environment. Identify what business planning and channel management approaches are in place Understanding the products/services and their limitations Data life cycle audit, information exchange evaluation A full data, CRM or SFA audit to determine data use in each of the two companies and its potential merger with recommendations. Sales and Marketing Process integration An assessment of each of the two functions with the aim to bring together each of the functions to complete an integrated sales and marketing function from a company specific aspect and through the merger model.

	Xinetica Business Growth and Branding Programme Anderson Baillie successfully completed its Business Growth and rebranding exercise for IT professional services and security consultants, Xinetica Ltd.
	Strategic Dataworks Strategic Dataworks new product road map Anderson Baillie Business growth deliver a new product strategy

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