Channel

Channels are the means by which products and services are sold and distributed to customers.

Channels are a specific path that connects the business to its customers.

Channels are a key element of the marketing strategy for every organization.

Channel management describes the strategy by which the business controls the pricing, activities and contractual relationships among the various channels.

An effective channel strategy is a key element of every business that wishes to sell to customers in a variety of means with predictable and measurable costs. Channel strategy can be extremely complicated and must be managed so that the result is sales and not conflict.

There are many types of sales channels - direct, distribution, value added resellers (VAR), system integrators, manufacturers reps to name a few.

Distribution channels are composed of third-party organizations known as distributors that buy products at a discount and then resell them to their customers.

Some channels are short-term others are long-term. Channels have their own associated costs, profitability, problems and opportunities.

Each channel should have a purpose and strategy associated with it.

Channels are used to measure who, how, where, when and by what means and costs products or services are sold to and delivered to the customer.

Channel success is directly measured by orders and BBB data associated with the channel.

Each order and BBB data component taken in association with a specific channel holds significance:

• What channel has the most sales?
• What channel has the most cancellations?
• What channel has the most returns?
• How do channels compare over period of time?
• What are the trends related to a channel?

Channel has important relationships to Customer to identify who 'owns' the customer and how the customer and its data is managed.

The consistent and well-conceived application of channel to sales and marketing is a core element of the business strategy and reporting data architecture.

The Channel data model provides a comprehensive integrated model for planning and implementing channel strategies, applications and reporting.

This model can be seamlessly integrated with other ADRM Software models such as Bookings / Billings / Backlog and Order.