Distribution:
Unlocking untapped opportunity within unmanaged partners

The speed of change is sometimes hard to keep up with – from growing technologies and AI enabling and supporting the way we work, to world events in the past 4 years that rapidly changed customer expectations. The world is always moving, and one area where we have seen a huge shift is in the way the IT channel operates, and the demands and needs of resellers. Read my article below where I discuss my thoughts on where the changes are and where the opportunity is for distribution.  

Before we begin, one thing we can’t ignore is the state of the global economy, and the effect this has had on our supply chain and the way we operate. With the global economy shifting to self-service, a growing demand for instant purchase and delivery, and everything moving to the cloud, there are some big shifts happening in the world of sales. But where do these changes leave the IT channel?  

Forrester has concluded that channel sales represent more than 75% of world trade, and in a lot of cases, the IT channel will make up a huge proportion of an organisation’s sales strategy – and rightly so!

So, what’s some key things that have changed? 

• Emergence of marketplaces. Marketplaces certainly aren’t new, but we have seen a significant shift in demand for online commerce from the IT channel, which has undoubtedly rocketed since the pandemic. Overnight, the rule book for the IT Channel was rewritten and resellers were looking at new ways to service their partners. The analysts estimate that marketplace growth will remain steady at 15% per-year in the West, accounting for between 45% and 50% of online spend, according to OC&C Strategy Consultants (2022).  
• Self-serve. The need to be able to do business quickly is more important now than ever. Distributors still have a role, they just need to understand this new opportunity – which is ensuring that they are there to guide buyers at every step of the journey and have the right conversations when the buyer is ready. It’s about adding the human touch.  
• Demanding more value. Distributors need to think about their offerings as a whole, rather than just about the single aspect that brings in the most revenue. This means considering full-service offerings as opposed to one-off sales, supporting long-term growth for buyers. 
  
  

With all this in mind, where is the opportunity for distribution? I believe there is untapped opportunity with the unmanaged partners – this is often where resellers need the most support, and credibility can be built quickly. But how can you create and build loyalty with your breadth of customers? 

Here are my 6 practical tips: 

1. Get to know your audience. Data is king – without correct and complete data, it’s almost impossible to do anything well. Use technology to get your data right, think about cleansing activities, enrichment exercises and using your experts in the business to ensure you start with the best data possible.  
   
   
2. Identify the knowns. What do we know about these customers? Find trends, find differences, identify the need, identify what they care about. 
   
   
3. Set goals and be realistic about them. These customers are not loyal at the moment, so set measurable goals which support business growth whilst being realistic.  
   
   
4. Use marketing as your golden ticket. Your sales strategy will likely not support the breadth of customers, and rightly so. The team resource needs to focus on your big resellers who are bringing in the revenue. So let marketing do the heavy lifting and automate where you can. You can then use your insights and trends to deliver. 
   
   
5. Embrace brand awareness. This is key to growth. Don’t forget the importance of delivering a strong brand story to deliver loyalty, particularly as buyers today are overwhelmed by multiple, and often irrelevant, messages. Those with strong brands show a 74% higher return on their brand marketing investment, than those without a clearly defined brand value proposition.  
   
   
6. Review approach regularly. Make sure you close the loop and report regularly to understand how things are working, or not, and be prepared to pivot your strategy.
   

So, there’s my quick-fire thinking and hopefully some good thought starters.

Do you think I have missed anything or do you have a different experience? Drop me a message, I’d love to talk more and understand where your challenges and successes are in managing the unmanaged partner base.