Channel Marketing Group > Services > Channel Planning

Strategic Channel Planning Grabs Manufacturers Market Share.

Every manufacturer wants increased sales and increased market share. How they get there is another matter.

The time-tested technique of measuring coverage and penetration is useful, so you’ll know if you have too many or too few distributors by territory. That data also reveals if you’re in the right chains regionally and nationally. 

And in a world of consolidation, channel convergence, and customer choice, determining your go-to-market strategy requires ongoing evaluation to identify opportunities for reaching your customer.

The real magic comes in identifying the subtle segments of the channel where your brands can reach end-market segments.

This requires a disciplined process of identifying brand positions and a market segment mix by distributor location, then rolling it into chain summaries as well. There’s no substitute for this strategic information asset. But there’s a good chance, as you focus on day-to-day responsibilities, there’s no time for that kind of strategic channel planning. 

We can help with that.

We gather the right data: Brand positions by distributor, market orientation, chain affiliation, profiles of major players.

We develop organizational discipline: We develop a data gathering, planning, and implementation process to collect information on branches and roll it up for strategic planning purposes.

We develop scenario plans: Considering different sets of major assumptions and industry events, we develop a vision of your future distribution mix. Then, we help you choose distributors that align your brands with desired market segments.

We draw your roadmap: We’ll help you document, review, and communicate your plan.

We guide you through execution: We’ll coordinate, monitor and adjust plans as the market evolves.

Channel Marketing Group’s channel-planning services include:

• Distribution planning system development
• Educating field sales management in planning discipline
• Identifying account potential
• Evaluating current share and chain positions