Sales Network Management
Once you have carefully established your partner network, you must animate your network efficiently on a daily basis. Motivating your dealer network (dealers, retail outlets, agents, etc.) requires a lot of attention.
How to motivate external sales force?
This external sales force is not part of your staff and is inevitably more difficult to mobilize and to influence. Your dealers have their own businesses, their own agendas and, in addition, are inundated with new products and information from other advertisers.
Begin by assessing each party’s expectations:
What do you expect from your partners?
- Technical Expertise
- Customer Remations
- Market Knowledge
What do your partners expect from you?
- Business opportunities and good practice
- Sales, marketing, or even technical support
- Market research on your offer, training courses
Create a permanent and dynamic digital link with your partners
To boost your network’s commitment, propose a variety of incentive programmes which correspond to its expectations and types of company.
Set targets according to types of partner and steer your network’s performances. Having a good knowledge of your partners’ operations in each market sector allows you to set targets that are in line with both your own and your partners’ strategies.
Such targets can be expressed in terms of turnover (joint business deals), marketing (visibility, opportunities generated), certification level, etc.
Profit margins realised by the network companies will form the keystone of the partner relationship. Tie the allocated marketing budget to turnover generated.
Animate your sales team alongside your network management
Use incentives to create a permanent link with your sales representatives and your partners. Galvanize this alliance to generate business.
