Most companies access customers and markets using a mix of channel models – direct sales/ partnerships: distributors, Value Added Resellers (VARs), referral partners/ digital. Selecting the right channel to market should be your goal only after you have a clear firsthand understanding of how your target customers in that market are currently being served and wish to be served in the future. Rushing in to appointing unproven partners in markets you know little about results in costly mistakes. If any form of indirect channel partnership is being decided upon, the complex challenges of partnering in-market is an area of capability that requires your most careful consideration.
