Yes. I know “leverage” is an overworked phrase. I started my tech career in Channel Marketing. So I tend to look at everything through that lens. I would like to suggest that whatever business you are in, even if you sell direct, you have a channel that influences you customer’s decision. And it will benefit you if you take some time to consider leveraging it.
What do customers buy? A solution to their problem or pain? Ultimately it is an experience. A solution is an amalgam of product, services, peace of mind, etc. — the encompasses the entire buyer’s journey.
How do customers decide to buy? To buy from you, customers need to know you, like you and trust you. And that is potentially influenced by an array of factors. There is a standard laundry list of items – outbound awareness or branding programs like social media, demand programs like email, face to face programs like trade shows and webinars, and most importantly sales interactions.
What about the 3 R’s — references, referrals, and recommendations? Aside from sales interactions, these items greatly influence trust. When I buy something, I like to know who decided to get into the boat before me. And I appreciate anyone who can ease my vetting burden.
The point I am making is when it comes to building trust, having others in the mix can help. The other point is that someone is often there before you are, and can shorten your sales cycle. Examples include salespeople from other companies, business consultants, press, analysts, aggregators, resellers, etc.. Why rely on calling 100 end-user prospects, when someone else is already speaking with dozens of them about a related matter.
This is especially true when your product or service is a secondary purchase. For the last 3 years I worked for a company that loaned money to small businesses for equipment purchases. Customers did not need us unless they were buying something else. Therefore, it only made sense for us to focus some of our marketing and business development resources on the manufacturers, resellers, and trade association members — not to mention brokers and financial consultants. We considered those audiences as primary segments to target.
Ask yourself, does your product or service represent the whole solution? Who or what represents the balance of that solution? If other companies trust your company, will they recommend and refer prospects to you? How you make them a source of sales leverage? Do the exercise of making them a target market segment, formulate a unique value proposition, and launch a program to develop them. This is as important as the targeting the people with whom you directly do business.
Always be looking for leverage. Your budget and salespeople will thank you for it.
