I’d like to have channels that can sell my product so that I can focus on building and delivering my product well. This was the statement that was made by one of the up and coming entrepreneurs during a casual conversation. As a matter of fact, he does the selling himself at this moment and there is a healthy pipeline and good traction in terms of number.

He was also giving the examples of SAP and Microsoft, which routes their sales through their channel. When you sell a specialized offering, channel sales may not be a great option to start with, as the efforts needed to getting the channel up and running will be really high.

Some of the scenarios where the channel sales will make sense would be:

• Quick geographic and revenue expansion
• More feet on the street
• Leveraging established relationships
• When you are selling a commodity or a low-priced product

Enlisting channels does not absolve the organization of its business development efforts; rather it would take more efforts to make your channel successful.

You will have to help the channel in lead generation, lead follow-up, communications, pre-sales support, product training and product support. Additionally, you also need to work with them on opportunity tracking, channel incentive program and resolving channel conflicts.

Essentially, selling through a channel takes a lot of efforts and has to be done in a way that ensures the mind share of the channel. Also you need to ensure that the revenues generated by the channel are as good as what you make.