Growth & Strategy Conversations
A channel can bring customers you could not reach alone. It also stands between you and them.
Selling through resellers, agents, institutions, corporate tie-ups or someone else’s network can multiply reach without multiplying staff. It also means giving up part of the margin, some control over price and often direct knowledge of the buyer. This conversation helps owners choose a channel on evidence, understand what each rupee of the price is doing, and avoid conflict with their own direct sales.
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A channel sells for you. It also decides how you are sold.
Many small businesses are approached by someone who offers to sell their product to many more customers. The offer is often real. It also comes with a price: a share of the margin, a say in the price, and a screen between the business and the buyer. Unless the owner has worked out in advance what the channel will cost and what it will need, the arrangement can bring volume without profit.
This conversation helps owners think about channels in terms of the whole picture: who the customer is, who they trust, who earns what, and what happens when the same customer can buy from two of your routes at different prices.
What the conversation covers
35 topics across 7 areas. Seven points to look at before opening a new channel.
What a Channel IsAny route to a customer that you do not run yourself.5
- Resellers and shops that stock your product
- Agents who sell for a commission
- Institutions, offices or associations that buy for their members
- Corporate tie-ups and bulk or gift orders
- Platforms and aggregators, in general terms
Each has its own margin, control and risk, so they should not be judged as one thing.
Choosing a Channel by How Your Customer BuysGo where they already look.5
- Where your customers search, ask or compare today
- Whom they trust to recommend
- Whether they need to see, touch or try the product
- What price and pack suit that route
- Which single channel to test first
The Margin LadderWho earns what between you and the buyer.5
A hypothetical example with made-up round numbers: if a product costs you Rs 60 and you sell it to a reseller at Rs 80, and the reseller sells it at Rs 100, you earn Rs 20 and the reseller Rs 20. If you also give the reseller a Rs 5 incentive and take back unsold stock, your Rs 20 shrinks. The session uses participants’ own figures.
- Your cost and your selling price to the channel
- The channel’s own margin and costs
- The price the end customer pays
- What is left for you after discounts, support and returns
- Whether the price still works for the end customer
Control: Price, Brand, Customer and DataWhat you give up, and what you can ask for.5
- Who sets the retail price, and whether you can influence it
- How your brand is shown and described
- Who has the customer’s details and can contact them again
- Whether you hear about complaints and returns
- What the channel can and cannot say about your product
Some arrangements about price and exclusivity can raise competition-law questions. Take advice where they are central to the deal.
Conflict Between ChannelsYour own routes can compete with each other.5
- A reseller finding you cheaper online or in your own shop
- Different prices in different channels
- Territories or customers that overlap
- Keeping existing buyers loyal when a new route opens
- Rules that are simple enough to explain and enforce
Supporting a Channel PartnerThey sell more when you make it easy.5
- Product training and plain information they can use
- Samples, display or marketing material
- Reliable stock and delivery
- Quick handling of problems and returns
- Payment terms, and the risk of late or missed payment
Measuring a ChannelAfter every cost, not just sales.5
- Sales through the channel and what is left after all costs
- Time spent managing it
- Cash tied up in stock and unpaid bills
- Repeat customers, if you can see them
- A rule for when to expand, change or end it
What participants leave with
- A margin ladder for one real product and one real channel
- A control table: price, brand, customer and data
- A channel-conflict check against their other routes
- A short list of what to give a partner so they can sell
- A one-month test plan for a single channel
What this session is not
- A matching or introduction service
- Legal advice or a contract template
- A promise that any channel will raise sales
- A ranking of particular channels or platforms
How the session runs
A small group, two to three hours. Participants bring one product and its approximate cost and price. The facilitator builds a margin ladder on a hypothetical example, then each participant builds their own for a channel they are considering. The group tests each other’s ladders: what happens if the channel asks for a bigger discount, if returns rise, if payment is late? Participants then draft rules for avoiding conflict with their other routes.
What your students leave with
- A plain definition of the channels already open to their kind of business
- A margin ladder showing what each party in a channel earns, using their own numbers
- A view of what they give up in control, data and price in each channel
- A way to spot and avoid conflict between channels
- A list of what a channel partner needs from them: training, stock, support
- A one-month test of a single channel with a number to watch
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Know what each rupee of the price is doing before you hand the customer to someone else.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.