September 2004

Over 70% of the business partner community complains that it is not clear what their vendors and suppliers really want and expect from them – nor what the business partners can expect from their suppliers.  How can you and your company overcome these objections and improve your reputation and your business with your business partners and in the market place?

Create and implement a Business Partner Sales Policy.  The Business Partner Sales Policy explains the basic roles and responsibilities of your business partners and how you support them in the partnership.  This corporate document serves as an integral part of both the partner selection process and the resulting agreement and contract between you and your partners.  It may also be called a Business Partner Reference Guide, Business Partner Operations Manual or other similar name.

The policies and procedures explained therein help concretize and clarify your business value propositions and expectations, eliminate discussions that impede contract negotiations while encouraging healthy working relationships.

Your headquarters staff, your field staff and your business partners will use this document to convey your channel and partner management philosophy and your unique and elegant value propositions to your business partners. And, it provides a simple, efficient and effective mechanism for your management to update its policies and procedures whenever necessary.

Benefits and Use

Your Statement of Sales Policy is a very powerful and useful tool which achieves the following:

• The commercial roles and responsibilities are explained to the parties to the agreement (you, your staff, your selected business partner and its staff).
  
  
• It improves your image and professionalism.  It establishes you and your company as being more knowledgeable, more professional and more experienced in working with business partners because not only have you thought about how you will work will them but you have formalized and published it in your own organization.  It separates you one more time from your competitors.
  
  
• It becomes an additional selling document.  This is your company - product specification - documentation specifying the good things you do for your business partners.
  
  
• All partners are provided with the same opportunity to qualify as a partner, knowing that they will receive the same opportunities and the same / equal treatment when performing and meeting the same standards.
  
  
• You will reduce and eliminate many of the commercial issues (70-90%) from being in the distributor contract and from being subject to negotiation (e.g. terms and conditions of payment, pricing policies, business partner support, roles and responsibilities, etc.) by putting these topics in the Sales Policy.
  
  
• Your negotiation time is reduced while strengthening your negotiating position.  Carrying the impact of a printed document and used throughout your organization, the Sales Policy becomes more acceptable and the contents less negotiable.
  
  
• Negotiate only the business issues - not corporate policy and procedures.  It keeps your discussions centered on the real business issues that are specific to you and your business partner such as the actual product set they will carry, the specific sales and marketing objectives to be achieved, etc.
  
  
• You are able to easily change and improve your company policies and procedures without renegotiating all the contractual elements.  This is done through the exchange of pages in the “book”, just like what you do when there are price changes or products are added or deleted.
  
  
• Frequently, the best candidates are attracted to you and marginal candidates eliminated by the use of your Sales Policy in the selection process.  Short-listed candidates are provided with this document, requested to read it and it they agree, to come back and talk to you.  Generally, the more professional partners appreciate and are familiar with these types of policies and manuals.  It makes their life with you easier and clearer.  The less professional ones are scared off by the requirements and expectations that they may not be able to meet.  And in all cases, it raises the bar for those who can’t quite measure up to improve their own organizations – to the benefit of all.
  
  
• In the case of litigation and termination of agents and distributors, it helps support your position.  It serves as documented evidence of your expectations and how your company works with and treats business partners.
  
  
• It should keep you and your partners focused on the business – removing the need for discussions on policies and procedures because these are clearly stated in the Sales Policy.
  
  
• Your personnel are reminded of their commitments to supporting the partner relationship.  Often this document serves internally for many of the people who work indirectly with the business partners to provide them with clear information about what it is that they do for the business partner.

Get the best partners you can.  Do it easily, professionally, effectively and efficiently.  Make their live simple and easy and yours too!  The entire objective is to minimize your risks (you and your partner’s) and maximize your (yours and your business partner) potential.

If you need help in creating and implementing a Sales Policy, Business Partner Reference Guide or Business Partner Operations Manual try our Business Partner Sales Policy book, and other channel and partner management publications with tools and templates supporting your channel and partner management processes or email MNSA with your requirements.

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