I was surprised, but I always say nothing surprises me in football.
One of the few consolations of England being knocked out of the World Cup was that I was able to enjoy the remainder of the competition without the inconvenience of being emotionally involved. It’s one of life’s simple pleasures to enjoy watching a game of football purely for its own sake, and without caring overly who wins. Anyway, it’s all over now for another four years and most people agree that the best team won.
The many permutations to consider when planning a successful channel programme
I’ve lost count of the number of times that I have been approached by channel marketing lead generation clients and asked for “the same programme that works best for your other clients”.
The fact is there is no such thing as an “out of the box” channel programme (although it would make my life easier if there were). Any lead generation programme we design for our channel clients will be based on their individual objectives and requirements, and these may include any or all of the following: lead qualification, sales promotion incentives, deal registration, lead management, trade-in and rebate programmes, and more.
It’s fair to say that despite how many channel marketing lead generation programmes we conduct, no two are ever alike.
For example, if we are running a trade-in incentive programme, is it necessary to demand physical return of the equipment, or is it going to written off in the equation anyway? Is the incentive based on what’s purchased? What’s traded in? Or both? Who gets paid? End user? Reseller? Both? Who receives and validates the trade-in? The criteria go on and on.
And that’s the easy part. The programme really begins with the client’s objectives – defining key metrics to validate programme performance against measurable outcomes.
We would need to consider factors such as what the client is doing now, what has or hasn’t worked in the past, what their competition is doing, as well as the wider industry. Just because a particular method works for Apple Corp it doesn’t necessarily follow that it will work for the average mid-cap OEM.
We would also need to establish which geographic areas a programme would cover. And, if it’s international, any logistics and currency issues that may need to be taken account of.
There’s also your market and product to consider, such as whether the client is selling a core technology or commodity product, or whether they are an industry leader or follower. To what level do they have to ‘chase’ new business and how much is created organically. All such factors will have a big impact on how a channel lead generation programme is planned and executed.
It sure isn’t easy, and it’s for this reason, among many, that outsourcing your channel lead generation to experts has to be an attractive proposition.
And finally…
The Counterfeit Winger
One of the all-time classic football scandals revolved around the attempts of former Manchester United winger Mickey Thomas to set up a counterfeiting operation as a lucrative sideline to his sparkling football career. Police investigating counterfeiting operations in Manchester were astonished to discover that Thomas had set up a retirement fund for himself in the form of a printing press which produced 10 pound notes. It turned out that he was in the business of distributing the products of his press to the young players at his Wrexham club. Thomas was rewarded for his entrepreneurial ambitions with an 18 month stint in jail, followed by a successful career as a public speaker!
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and, as ever, your comments and ideas are very welcome.
And always to a higher response!
