Why do partners push competitors’ products harder?
Anyone in B2B sales has run into this at some point. Your product is in the distributor’s lineup, yet in the field the proposals center on a competitor’s. Why?
The answer is simple. Partners sell what works better for them. They choose the product with the higher margin, the easier sale, or the faster support. While we see partners only as a “distribution channel,” they are calculating their own interests very carefully.
The core of channel management is not simply writing and enforcing policies. It is designing an environment in which partners want to choose your product on their own.
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Step 1: Redefine partners as business partners
The first thing to do is change how you frame the relationship. Many headquarters managers see distributors as something to be “managed.” But from the partner’s side, they are independent businesses that carry several brands.
Run partner discovery interviews
Once a quarter, set up a 30-minute meeting with each key partner. The purpose is not a “performance review.” It is a chance to hear the partner’s business concerns.
Sample partner interview questions
- “What questions or requests do you get most often from customers these days?”
- “What is the most inconvenient part of proposing our products?”
- “Have you heard of any new support programs competitors have recently launched?”
- “What is your company’s most important growth goal this year?”
These four questions alone reveal both a partner’s motivations and their frustrations. Be sure to record what you hear in your CRM or a spreadsheet. When you can say at the next meeting, “We’ve improved what you mentioned last time,” the relationship deepens a level.
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Step 2: Design motivation — create value beyond margin
Trying to motivate partners through margin adjustments alone has limits, because margin competition ultimately turns into a price war. A far more sustainable approach is to make your product easy to sell.
Three practical ways to support partners
- Provide sales tools: Give partner sales reps a one-page proposal template, a competitor comparison sheet, and an FAQ sheet they can pull out in front of a customer right away. Partner reps handle several brands at once, so they choose the brand that is easiest to prepare.
- Run a technical support hotline: A channel (such as a KakaoTalk channel or a dedicated email address) that quickly handles technical questions partners can’t answer on the spot builds their trust when customer inquiries come in.
- Offer joint sales opportunities: Run a joint call program in which a headquarters representative accompanies the partner on proposals to major clients. Partners come to feel that “headquarters is running alongside me.”
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Step 3: Prevent conflict — set rules transparently
80% of channel conflicts start with unclear rules. A typical example is customer overlap: a client that Distributor A worked hard to develop gets won directly by the headquarters’ direct sales team, or two distributors pitch the same client at different prices.
Channel conflict prevention checklist
Items to document before signing a partnership agreement
- [ ] Clear criteria for dividing territories or customer segments
- [ ] Whether to run a Deal Registration program, and its criteria
- [ ] Collaboration process between the direct sales team and partners
- [ ] Pricing policy and minimum advertised price (MAP) standards
- [ ] Dispute resolution procedure and point of contact
Simply spelling these items out in the contract can substantially reduce conflicts of the “I didn’t know” or “no one told me that” kind. For partners you already work with, use an annual partner meeting to reconfirm the policies.
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Step 4: Manage performance — communicate through a “growth story,” not just numbers
If partner performance reviews consist only of sales figures, the relationship turns stiff. Focus instead on “what we achieved together” and partners become more engaged.
For example, alongside the sales figures in your quarterly review materials, compile and share reference cases the partner won successfully. Praising individual partner sales reps by name is also effective. Everyone wants to be recognized.
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Channel management is about relationships, not control
Turning distributors and partners into allies doesn’t require a grand strategy. Talk often, resolve their pain points quickly, and build experiences of succeeding together. When these three are repeated, partners naturally begin to put your brand first.
Why not call one key partner today? A single question — “How are things going? Anything bothering you?” — is the start of the most powerful channel management there is.