Broader market coverage

The Elephant Model

If your business goal is to reach diverse markets and increase your market share with moderate margin improvement, then the elephant model is the answer. Many leading companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and Intuit use this approach to reach the small- and mid-sized businesses market. The key to the success in this model is "business partners". There are many variants of this approach, one of which is shown in the figure below:

Figure 2.7: The Elephant Model

In this approach, low-cost channels like telemarketers, direct mail, and websites are used to generate leads that are passed to channel partners who qualify them, place a bid, negotiate—sometimes with the help of account managers—and close deals. Partners also fulfill the order. Low-cost channels like call centers and the Internet are used to provide after-sale customer support and services.

This approach offers several benefits. First, like a sharp prod with a tusk, the partnering model offers the opportunity to penetrate the market aggressively. Second, the generation of leads for partners marching through low-cost channels will increase both revenue and margins. Finally, this approach has a hugely beneficial impact on the recruiting and retention of top business partners.

Partners' largest area of dissatisfaction often centers on a lack of leads and sales opportunities. Like the elephant, who roams on two continents, they want their reach to be wide. Partners's most serious area of skepticism is whether a vendor offers serious growth opportunities. This is particularly true with smaller, local resellers and distributors.

A steady supply of high-quality leads can create a powerful incentive for good partners to get and stay on board. In short, aggressive generation of leads on behalf of your partners will guarantee that the best available partners become, and remain, interested in working with you. With the elephant model, one hand. . . er, one trunk. . . washes the other. 

In the end, this approach will solve a range of indirect channel issues, from partner morale and retention, to per-partner sale productivity, to overall sales growth and margins.

Related:

• Table of Content
• Red Queen Effect – An Introduction
  
• The Billionaire Code
  • Secret of World Class Companies
    
  • Impact of Using Secrets of World Class Companies
    
• Cracking the Code
  
  • Customer Experience
    
  • Customer Engagement Channels
    
  • From Multiple Channels to Integrated Multichannel Selling
    
  • Benefits of Integrated Multichannel Selling Models
    
  • Customer Relationship Lifecycle
  • Integrated Multichannel Selling Models
    
    • Reduced Costs
      
    • Improved margins
      
    • Broader market coverage
    • Rapid revenue growth
      
  • In Conclusion