How do you get mindshare – and sales – when you’re not your channel partners’ top featured brand?

You know what they say: 90% of the brands out there aren’t in the top 10%, and when you’re not one of the usual suspects in the category, it can be hard to get the mindshare and sales you need. So how do you overcome this obstacle? Here are 3 ideas:

Go on offense. Information-on-demand is only interesting if your channel is taking the lead, which isn’t always the case – you need to shift to an outbound, aggressive posture to proactively get in front of the field sellers who are face to face with the customers you need.

Teach, don’t sell. Never assume your channel field seller ecosystem knows your market or how your customers use your product. Teach them how to interpret the playing field – quickly, simply, and vividly. Give them the quick mental tools to find opportunities for you and your brand within the pool of deals they are working on right now.

ABG – always be growing. Teach, ask, listen, and feed what you learn back to your channel partners. Did 60% of them say they heard a competitor was going direct? Tell them what their peers told you, because no one sells a peer like a peer. Always be growing, iterating, and creating a dialog.

Written by Stephen Denny, President and Founder.

Sponsored by our partners at Denny Marketing.