professional development courses


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Excellence in Channel Management

Effectively managing your important channels is one of the most critical functions in today’s global business relationships. Distribution channel management involves not just getting the products or services to the customer; like all elements of marketing and operations - it offers numerous chances to improve revenue and expand sales penetration. Businesses that understand how to manage these relationships can benefit from increasing channel sales, active channel participation, and building long lasting collaborative business relationships. However, formulating innovative distributions strategies, managing distribution channels relationship, and motivating distributors partner effectively is no simple task.

Turning 'Theory' into 'Practice'?

This Channel Management Training will open up your mind to the new thinking to enable you to maximise the ROI brought by your distribution channels. The programme puts great emphasis on learning from successful examples from other industries. You will develop a framework to define the expectations and outcomes, formulate channel strategy through marketing planning and analysis, develop a right marketing communications approach, improve communications skills to create a two-way dialogue that leads to trust, learn how to negotiate win-win outcomes when channel partners are in disagreement, and evaluate your channel effectiveness in terms of financial performance. You will walk away with critical thinking perspectives required to optimise your competitive advantage.

Who should attend?

All staff involved with working with distributors, agents and other intermediaries including channel managers, sales managers, marketing managers. Job titles may include: managing director, marketing director/ manager, sales director/ manager, export sales manager, sales staff, marketing communications professionals.

Key areas to be covered in the programme and documentation

Setting the stage for the workshop
• Understanding the psychology of relationship with distributors and channel partners
• Keeping in mind your goal and the market needs when reviewing distribution channel strategy
• Setting ground rules and disciplines for your relationships with channel partners

Open Discussion and Exercise

Implementing channel tactics through marketing planning and analysis
• Defining a marketing orientation around the wants and needs of the target market
• Auditing current position via PEST (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological) and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis
• Benchmarking ourselves to industry competitors and evaluation of the result
• Segmenting the market based on geographical, demographic, psychographic and behaviour factors
• Conducting market portfolio analysis based on revenue, market share and profitability potential and determining the strategic options

Individual Analysis Exercise

Selecting the right distribution partners
• Identifying selection criteria and developing a weighted template to select your ideal distributor
• Matching the region’s market characteristics with distributor’s geographical advantage, sales and marketing strategy and business operation
• Using the selection criteria to determining how well your current partners match up

Selection of Distributors Exercise

Understanding your Positioning and developing the right marketing communications approach
• Defining your product offering and market positioning
• Understanding your Unique Selling Points (USP) that would differentiate you from rivals
• Developing integrated marketing planning and promotion programmes to provide maximum communication impact

Positioning Exercise

Reviewing the channel mix issues
• Analysing the benefits and pitfalls of multi-channel strategy
• Determining the mix of channel partners required to service the target market segment
• Utilising techniques for guiding customers to appropriate channel

Case Study and Discussion

Evaluating channels performances from financial perspective
• What, Why and How to measure performance?
• Recognising the costs in serving each distributor and identifying possible savings
• Calculating margin and profit generated from each distributor
• Establishing pricing policies to match the strategies

Cost Calculating Exercise

Managing conflict of interest between companies and channel partners by reinforcing working partnership and getting both parties towards common objective
• Communicating closely with partners and enhancing long-term vision for business growth
• Identifying the source and reasons for any conflict in relation to the existing partners
• Turning channels‘ conflict to change management mechanism to improve market performance
• Managing conflict of interest between distributors whilst encouraging fair and healthy competition in term of sales and marketing strategy

Case Study and Open Discussion

Open and honest dialogue: The foundation for successful long lasting working partnership and high productive performance
• Moving from purely profit making relationship to higher level of partnership: Sharing information and conducting joint market research with distributors for clearer picture of market
• Aligning your company’s channel value proposition with channel partners meet end user expectation
• Encouraging feedback from your channel partners and customers for products types, market demand quantity, and timing from distributors to respond quickly to market changes
• Supporting and providing training to distribution partners to enhance their selling technique and knowledge
• Assisting your distribution partner to build up strong and capable sales force

Supporting Package Exercise

Developing a marketing plan for your channels
• Setting and agreeing the importance of a joint business planning process with your distributors
• Determining the frequency and focus of formal review sessions of channels
• Leveraging customer satisfaction surveys to evaluate performance of distributors

Exercise to encourage ‘buy-in’ from partners

Making the plan work by motivating the channel partner
• Motivating your channel partner, the organisation and staff through providing incentives and recognition of achievement
• Motivating distributors to take your company as partner for their business development

Individual Exercise on real motivation options

Review and Action Plans
• Conclusion and review of training course
• Identification of most important and relevant points to address in your work role

Benefits to you

• Relating your own circumstances to experiences of world class companies
• Increasing profit and market share through effective channel management
• Creating win-win for your company and distribution channel partners
• Setting ground rules and disciplines for your relationships with channel partners
• Developing practical ideas to improve the performance of your distributors
• Building trust and forging commitment in channel partner relationships for sustainble development
• Maximising profitability through effective support and motivation tactics to your partners
• Turning channel conflicts and competition to mechanism for more productive performance
• Accurately assessing and evaluating your company channel management and channel partners’ performance

Companies already benefiting include:

Duration of Course

2 Day Course

Course details

This course is currently only available as an in-house option. For more information, and a quote, contact our team on +44 (0)20 3002 3057, or by email at ProfessionalTraining@iihc.org

Looking to train larger teams in this subject?

dzingim@marcusevansuk.comTailored in-house/in-company training courses and bespoke strategy workshops designed and delivered on-site throughout Europe according to your specific requirements.

All management, personal development and project management public courses featured in our Course Directory are also delivered on an In-Company basis.

Click Here for information on how this course can be delivered for you as an In-Company Training Solution

 


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Further information

UK Enquiries: +44 (0) 203 002 3057
or dzingim@marcusevansuk.com

Non-UK Enquiries: +420 (0)2 5570 7246
or training@marcusevanscz.com

North American Enquiries: +1 312 540 3000 X6714 or emilyj@marcusevansch.com

dzingim@marcusevansuk.com - Marketing Manager EMEA - Professional Training


UK Enquiries: +44 (0)20 7647 2383 : salesenquiries@marcusevansuk.com
European Enquiries: +420 (0)2 5570 7246 : training@marcusevanscz.com

Testimonials

"This course will allow my company to develop its existing strategies to a much greater and hopefully profitable level."

Managing Director, Tarmac