Every company wants that one thing. Sales! Even better if it is more sales and with a side of returning customers. Finding more sales on the internet using a third-party partner makes your life easier. There are many channels you can use to find clients, and partnering with a third party can help boost your reach and profit. Here are some tips to get you started.
Third-Party Channel Basics
Using third-party companies with a large customer base of your target audience is called channel sales. These third parties resell your product or service on their platform or using their client list. This tactic allows you to reach multiple companies simultaneously instead of having your sales team focus on one business at a time. Reaching out to more companies faster increases sales possibilities with that company.
For example, when trying to sell a consumer product, you could call the retailers individually or concentrate on the distributors who work with the retailers directly. By selling to the distributors, you use their relationships with store chains to sell your product. Using this method eases the stress of your sales team and gives your company a more expansive reach at the same time.
Third-Party Partner Criteria
Like your ideal customer, you need to figure out what a good partner will look like for your company. Not all partners you could work with will be suitable for your needs. Setting some high-level criteria will help you in your search. You can give the prospective partner a questionnaire or survey to help weed out any partners not best suited for your company.
Your business and partners need to benefit from your working relationship for the best results. If you work with more than one partner, you want to ensure that everyone co-exists peacefully. You do not wish to have problems later due to your partners clashing. To avoid this, you can assign a region for each partner.
Creating a Partner List
Once you have your criteria in place, you can create a list of potential partners that meet the desired criteria to work with. You can use a simple google search to find small or large companies to add to your list and research their website before reaching out to them.
Once you have your list, you will need to send pitch emails to the company. Depending on how big your proposal is, you may need to reach up as high as the CEO. If you know someone in the partner company you networked with in the past, you can email that person to see if they can help get you into a partnership with that company.
Acquiring a Partner Successfully
Selling to a channel partner is much like selling to an end customer, except for a few things. You not only pitch the product or service, but you also pitch the benefits of partnering together. Remember to emphasize how it will benefit them to work with your company and include how much money they will make by partnering with you. A good pitch or call strategy will help convince them to work with you but remember to follow up after the first pitch meeting.
Once your pitch is successful, you must onboard your new partner. This will be the most challenging part of your partnership and gets them in the loop on your company’s needs and established processes. Training and support for your new partner will help them get up to speed fast on your products or services. Your partner will then take the information they learned in onboarding to help them market on your behalf to make sales for your company. A payment and reporting process must be in place so you can also pay your partner their rightful share.
A third-party partner can be a helpful tool in your sales arsenal. They can save you money and time by using their vast resources on your behalf.
