Managing Channel Conflict between Resellers/Dealers

How do you manage conflicts between your resellers / dealers:

Establish Set Policy Guidelines before conflicts occur
Be fair and consistent
Establish a Lead Registration program
Inform the client what your policies are if needed

Establish firm guidelines from the get go so your channel knows what to expect. I believe that a fair policy is to tell the channel that your firm will support the reseller who registers the lead with you first.

That does not mean you will not support other dealers who are working the same client, just that you will not be able to attend any direct client meetings with them. But that you will support them with what ever technical or product information that they need. Also you will speak to the client directly but only to answer specific product or service related questions only.

Doing it this way allows the Channel manager to be fair to the reseller/dealer who brings the lead in first, yet also provides needed sales support for your other resellers/dealers. Sticking to this policy with all resellers/dealers regardless of how good or what level the sales person is at will help create channel harmony and make your life as a channel manager a lot easier.

A policy such as this also encourages your channel to register leads faster.

Registered Leads - How to handle them

The best way to handle this is to establish an on-line lead registration application. It doesn't have to be too involved just capture the Date/Time the lead was registered - the prospect information, product/s they are working on and a brief sales campaign description.

Forecasting if possible should also be included but you don't want to make this a pain in the neck type of requirement when as far you're concerned as a channel manager the lead is the important thing at this point. (Have a plan in place to deal with those dealer sales reps that might try to stuff the system with leads for everyone in their territory, even though they may not have even talked with the client)

R. Thornton