In order to both share my perspective and (perhaps more importantly) to elicit constructive feedback and new ways of thinking, I am writing a series of posts giving my perspective on the best practices of Channel Management. These are things that I have learned and have implemented with success in my career. Comments, feedback, disagreements, and additional insights are welcome, if not encouraged.
This is the sixth in a series.
Partner Positioning
Establishing a strong market position is crucial for success. Positioning is the deliberate process of shaping how your brand is perceived in the minds of customers, especially in relation to your competitors. This identity should be clear, unique, and offer a distinct advantage to the potential client. For your partners and resellers, who often represent multiple brands, developing an effective market position is particularly critical for differentiation and success.
The Imperative of Positioning for Channel Resellers
Many channel marketing campaigns do not succeed not because of the solutions / services themselves, but due to a failure in positioning. Without a clear strategy to stand out from the competition, your reseller's marketing efforts can become lost in the noise. Inconsistency in messaging leads to a diluted or non-existent brand position in the customer's mind. This can result in your reseller appearing undifferentiated and failing to capture interest.
Strategies for Effective Market Positioning
To avoid these issues, channel partners can adopt several positioning strategies to carve out a unique space in the market. The foundation of a strong position is a Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA), which is an attribute that cannot be easily replicated by competitors and is highly valued by the target customer. According to strategist Michael Porter, SCAs can be categorized into three main types:
- Cost Advantage The business positions itself as the low-price leader.
- Value Advantage The business offers a differentiated product or service that customers perceive as superior value.
- Focus Advantage The business concentrates on a specific niche market, creating a tailored offering to meet that segment's unique needs.
For most channel partners and resellers, a Value or Focus Advantage, built upon unique product features, team skill sets, or other resources, is the most effective approach.
Building on these foundational advantages, resellers can implement several specific positioning tactics:
- Category-Based Positioning: This involves targeting a specific market segment, such as a geographical area, an industry vertical, or a particular customer size like SMB versus enterprise. It can also be based on pricing models.
- Product or Skill-Based Positioning: Partners can emphasize their technical expertise, such as the number of certified professionals on their team, their tier-level within a vendor's partner program, or their track record of successful deployments. Winning industry awards can also be a powerful differentiator.
- Usage-Based Positioning: This strategy focuses on serving specific use cases.
- Culture-Based Positioning A company's identity and values can also be a point of differentiation.
To help your partner identify their unique advantage, you can ask probing questions about their business, such as asking about the types of customers or projects where they have the highest win rates and the reasons for that success.
Visualizing the Market with Perceptual Maps
A very effective tool for developing and understanding market position is the Perceptual Map (a/k/a Market Map). This visually represents the perceptions of customers, showing how your company's product or brand is viewed relative to your competitors.
Creating a perceptual map involves selecting two key criteria for the X and Y axes (for example, price vs. quality, or scope of market vs. type of advantage) and plotting the positions of competitors based on market research or estimates. This exercise helps your partner visualize market gaps, understand their current standing from a customer’s viewpoint, and strategically guide their positioning efforts.
Conclusion: Building a Lasting Position
Ultimately, a strong market and competitive position is defined through the eyes of the customer. It is not a one-time effort. It is built gradually through consistent messaging and repeated reinforcement. This is why isolated, short-term marketing campaigns often fail to make a lasting impact. By identifying their sustainable competitive advantages and applying consistent, targeted positioning strategies, your resellers can differentiate their offerings (including your solution), create a unique identity, and achieve long-term success.
In my next installment, I will discuss partner marketing...
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