Channels – how do you communicate with your clients to deliver your products and services?
In a previous article here at EzineArticles, titled “The 31 Day Guide To Starting Your Own Accounting Business – Day 3 – What Problems Do You Solve?,” I talked about “Value Propositions.” By now you should have figured out what it is you offer and why your clients buy from you, and matched each value proposition to one of the target markets you serve, as well as those you think you can effectively serve. thebusinessdays
Today, I want you to stop and think about the three channels you have, your client communications channel, your product and service delivery channel, and your sales channel. These channels are your practice interface with your clients. They are touch points and define the interaction your clients, and prospects have with your firm.
They define how you raise awareness among your clients and prospects about your firms products and services, help them understand and evaluate the value of your products and services, enable them to retain your firm for your products and services, and they strengthen your relationships by providing a client relationship management system.
While you are reading this article, I want you to draw yourself a “map” of how you would like to reach the various target segments you serve or want to serve. Then, overlay a “map” of how you are actually reaching those clients and prospects. Once you have that “map,” look at it and see how they are integrated with each other, how cost efficient they are, and how they fit into your clients routines. bareng88
You may find that you would be serving your clients more efficiently as an independent, or you may find that you could achieve a greater reach by partnering with someone else, such as a franchisor or a vendor.
For example, your own networking efforts, or your own website, may give you the channels you need to reach your clients and prospects, as well as deliver your products and services. You may find that partnering with a vendor will allow you to build a channel that reaches into an affinity market that you had not been able to penetrate.
You’ll find that channels you control are direct, while partner channels are many times indirect channels. The channels you control can provide you with higher gross margins, but take time and money to install and implement, whereas partner channels have lower profit margins, but allow you to “hit the ground running” and start earning faster. storygame
Once you have thought through the channels you have or want to develop for your sales, distribution and support, your next step is to plan the phases you will go through with each of these channels.
- You’ll start with an understanding of how your will raise the awareness of your firm’s products and services.
- You’ll want to evaluate how you can help your clients and prospects evaluate the value proposition you offer them,
- You’ll want to define how you are going to “close the deal,” so clients can purchase specific products and services,
- You’ll want to define how you are going to deliver that value proposition, those products and services, to your clients, and sportsyearly
- You’ll want to define how you are going to provide support on an ongoing basis to your clients.
Your chore is going to be finding the right mix of channels of distribution, sales and support, and that is why drawing out a “mind map” will be your first step to an understanding of your “channels.”