The concept of Industry 4.0 – also known as the fourth industrial revolution – is mostly rooted in data, analytics, autonomous learning, and the Internet of Things. The impact of smart technology, however, is not limited to the supply chain and manufacturing operations. Opportunities to innovate exist in the sales and distribution channel as well. Of course, the ultimate goal is to reduce costs, increase productivity and market share, and drive revenue growth.

1. EXECUTIVE BRIEF
Industry 4.0:
Technology Insights
for Channel Program
Optimization

2. INTRODUCTION
The concept of Industry 4.0 – also known as the fourth industrial
revolution – is mostly rooted in data, analytics, autonomous
learning, and the Internet of Things. The impact of smart technology,
however, is not limited to the supply chain and manufacturing
operations. Opportunities to innovate exist in the sales and
distribution channel as well. Of course, the ultimate goal is to reduce
costs, increase productivity and market share, and drive revenue
growth.
Manufacturers that have embraced change in these areas also realize
the need to change the way they go about achieving these goals,
addressing marketing challenges, and improve relationships with
your channel partners by evolving the processes and technology
used to support them.
A consolidated solution that provides manufacturers and their sales
channel an integrated technology to support functions from lead
management to digital marketing to training and enablement is
necessary.
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3. THINKING DIFFERENTLY
Everyone has heard of the Moneyball analogy,
right? Years ago, in baseball, scouts would travel
around and base their chosen recruits on three
criteria: stolen bases, runs batted in, and batting
average. Well, in 2002 the Oakland Athletics
changed the game and approached things a little
differently. Instead of following suit like all the
other teams, they built their team on two
obscure metrics, slugging percentage and on-
base percentage.
You may ask, what’s the point? The point is, the
world around us is constantly changing, the sales
channel ecosystem specifically. When is the last
time that you stopped to observe and considered
making some changes and re-building your
channel structure based on new ideas or
approaches?
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4. MONITORING KEY INDICATORS THAT GUIDE SUCCESS
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Measurement in the sales channel requires precise objectives and proper
execution. It would be simple if there was a one-size fits all plan, but
every sales channel is different. Some common examples of channel
objectives are onboarding new partners, increasing top-line revenue,
enhancing customer satisfaction and certification completion. Sound
familiar?
New metrics to consider would include activity AND engagement of your
partners and sales reps such as deal registration, lead management and
readiness to handle sales opportunities. Furthermore, it’s key to push
these metric results down to the partner level for improved transparency
and accountability.
Best Practice:
Tie a measurement strategy to channel objectives. By
understanding what you are trying to achieve, you are better
suited to identifying the metrics that will help determine success.

5. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING YOUR
STRATEGY
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• What are the key drivers that will help you achieve your goals?
• Where does the data reside that helps you measure success?
• What role do your partners play in your measurement strategy?
• How can you help your partners be more successful?
Channel objectives should change as the market changes.

6. MANAGING THE COMPLEXITY OF A GLOBAL NETWORK
OF DEALERS
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The more complex the product is, and the more global in scale, the more complex the channel is. A huge challenge in
the sales channel is maintaining a level of high quality channel partners. Three key things drive channel complexity –
technology, buyer behavior and channel conflict.
Common challenges associated with complexity include:
• Your sales channel was designed for a different place & time. The fundamental model that we use today was built for
a different market condition. The relevancy has changed.
• Buyers are ignored, and the focus is put on process. When creating a channel strategy and tracking metrics, often
the customer perspective is forgotten. Dealers and distributors are thought of as the customer, rather than an
extension of the sales force.
• Global markets and culture. A sales channel in India looks vastly different than one in the United States.
• Technology enslaves instead of empowers. The internet has changed the way people sell and buy. Hello, Amazon!

7. INCORPORATING RESEARCHING BUYERS INTO YOUR
SALES CHANNEL STRATEGY
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Buyer experience insights are a key point when disruption is low, and change is slow. Notice these trends that are
greatly impacting buying behavior:
Research tells us that 71% of the time, buyers google generic terms that represent a problem, not a
solution to that problem. (LogicBay is a PRM company. About 90% of our customers never heard of PRM
before they contacted us. They found us because they were looking to solve a challenge in their sales
channel.)
The next one you’ve probably heard before - 90% of buyers do their own research before they want to
narrow the field of a few possible places to buy. Buyers do this in their personal lives when major
purchases are made, this behavior spills over to our workplace as well.
The third statistic is most fascinating. Research shows that approximately 74% of buyers buy form the
first company that adds value by listening about a problem that needs solving, running a good sales play
professionally, and having a solution that solves the problem.
In summary, technology hasn’t changed channel sales. Technology has enabled changes in buying behavior,
which, in turn, has changed channel sales.

8. 8
Many organizations get trapped in the
process of continually trying to add
new customers, to the detriment of
their existing customer base. This can
be an important distinction in the roles
and responsibilities of manufacturers
and their sales channels:
manufacturers need to focus on the
marketing, and dealers need to focus
on the sales.
Ultimately, both are responsible for
keeping the customer happy, since it
costs five times as much to attract a
new customer, then to keep an existing
one.
The buyers’ journey
must drive strategy.
“On average, a B2B customer will regularly use six
different interaction channels throughout the purchase
process, and two-thirds come away frustrated by
inconsistent experiences.
The notion of a customer decision journey (CDJ) around
which marketing and sales collaborate has become
embedded in many leading sales organizations, but the
journey differs by customer segment, with needs and
expectations varying at each stage.”
-The New World of Sales Growth” Whitepaper – McKinsey &
Company

9. EDUCATING CHANNEL PARTNERS ON NEW PROJECT
OFFERINGS AND SALES ENABLEMENT STRATEGIES
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Given the fact that buyers are more informed then ever by the time they even speak to one of your deal sales reps,
its critical to ensure that first touch point is a successful one. Does the sales rep understand their business needs?
Does he/she have a firm grasp of your products and services are going to solve the challenges of that buyer? In
short, is that sales rep equipped to the job at that critical juncture? Enabling our channel partners to perform well in
the marketplace starts with leveraging technology in a variety of ways.
Through smart phones, tablets and apps for just in time sales aids, to formal training and certification programs that
re-enforce ongoing learning objectives. Your job is to make that process as easy as possible, while being able to
measure the impact of these strategies for making your channel partners more successful. and gain an upper hand
on their sales strategies.
Getting the buy-in from your internal team and your dealers to adopt these programs is going to be a challenge by
itself. As with most topics already discussed, your ability to address change management may determine your
ultimate measure of success. Change is hard. Maintaining the status quo is easy. Unless you can clearly communicate
to your dealers the reasons that changes are necessary, there may be a lack of adoption. Ask yourself the questions
they are likely to ask you: What is the impact to their business? How is this going to make their jobs easier? What is
in it for them?

10. CREATING AN INTEGRATING APPROACH TO
TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS
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An integrated approach that ties marketing, training and incentives programs into your sales channel is usually the key to
setting up your partners for success.
Notice we emphasize the word, “integrated”. Why? Well, the reason is because in many sales channels this type of
approach doesn’t exist, making it difficult for partners and reps to sale successfully. Marketing and sales workflows are
constantly changing, mystifying the proliferation of the software tools to support them. For example, one software
manages incentives, one manages contacts and leads, and three more organize and manage partner training.
Step away from the island of applications and settle on an integrated stack of software solutions -- a system of record --
that can be customized to meet the needs of your sales ecosystem. An integrated system can be built to track and
measure challenges of all sales channels such as marketing, general channel reporting, CRM, and more.

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