Transitioning to the channel is like a game of telephone operator, you have to know how to connect two ends of a communication line and be the middling connective tissue. As I shared in Evolving Out Loud, the way for a hardware / software business to scale efficiently is to work through a network of partnerships and channels that amplify and multiply your message to the market. All great businesses need to have a recognizable brand but how you beat the drum of your message and get into the ear drum of the masses is a game of “go-to-market” bananagrams. In a business where you build direct relationships with your end customer while also building a network of resellers who hold similar relationships with an overlapping customer base, you have to play connector and bring in partners to win a complicated sales process.
Electric Vehicle charging is a complex sale. We’re not selling software that you can click a button and deploy ten (10) seats to an end-user. We’re selling a smart charging experience with a value-proposition that stands alone in the market…but…were not alone in the sale, we still rely on cities to permit our projects, electricians to install our projects and other stakeholders to appease. The sale often times reminds me of selling you a heart-shaped pool for your backyard.
If I sat you down and started selling you the Roseman 8 point patented octagonal-shaped pool, the first thing I would do is sell you on the idea of buying a pool in the first place. Only THEN once you’re bought in on having a nice body of water in your backyard would I convince you why you need the ‘Roseman 8 Point’ octagonal shaped pool. If you didn’t want a pool in the first place, why would you buy my octagonal shaped pool? Ok, so now you agree to the merits of the octagonal pool…but who is going to build it? I’m just a pool salesman, I’m not the labor, I’m not the permitting office, I’m just going to sell you the pool and hold your hand as we find you the best pool-building service…Sounds like white glove service. Sounds like a lot of work.
What if we went another direction though and I was Eric’s Pool Building Company and I sat down with you and explained the full process of building a pool in your backyard? I’d sit you down and show you all the options, explain the benefits of building a pool, share the various costs of the process and we’d talk through the options for shapes, sizes, colors, within my capabilities and vendor partnerships. I bet you would trust me a lot because I’m an industry expert that represents a few options to choose from and I can oversee your pool building from a A to Z.
When you contrast the two selling experiences, the first one requires the sales person to be so incredibly trustworthy and compelling that the buyer takes your word for it on a number of claims knowing that the sales person wears his/her company’s jersey.
The second situation would be viewed more consultative by the seller and requires a bit less of a trusting leap of faith because the seller represents a larger variety of options for the buyer.
So then how does the first situation, the direct seller, increase their trustworthiness?They do so by bringing in a consultative third party to stand by their side? With this dynamic I welcome the “switchboard operation.”
This is the point in the process as a seller of the ‘Roseman 8 Point’ pool that I would introduce a value-add reseller into the equation who can reassure the buyer that they are making the right decision on not only buying a pool, but buying the ‘Roseman 8 Point.’ So the question naturally is, “how do you know which reseller to invite to the party?”
You can WIN alone but never LOSE alone
As a sales leader, our job at times is to play switchboard operator for our team. When my sales team has an opportunity in Washington DC with an apartment building owner, I may choose to tap the reseller partner who we know has strong W2 electricians in that market and has a deep political know-how of the system in the town. If my sales team has an opportunity in Denver with a cost sensitive owner who wants to rollout chargers across their existing portfolio in the mountain states but requires hand holding on rebate submissions and some value-engineering on site design then we may tap a partner who knows how to not only navigate those programs but also sees the bigger vision and willing to take less margin on the first rollout. In a third situation, we might have an opportunity for a layup project in San Diego for 100 chargers at a single building and we may go back to a partner that gave us an opportunity on the last San Diego project as a return of the favor.
In every situation, there’s a read-out of the opportunity and the partner of choice needs to evaluated carefully. While today the team may phone the operator to be connected to the partner, as the team continues to grow and mature, each region operates more like a cell phone - knowing who to text and call on at a whim as opportunities arise - bypassing the operator altogether.