Companies who have convinced their channels they are the best in their class are typically richly rewarded by their support, and it isn’t always about commissions or margins. While sales professionals value opportunities for more income, more money in their pocket won't make up for their conviction that your competitor's product or service is better for their customers than yours.
The influence of a representative offering your products in a multi-product environment is not to be underestimated. It is true strong brands wield their influence, but a savvy sales person can blunt its effectiveness if otherwise motivated by well-designed messaging and positioning for their product or service.
A good friend recently shared a story; her smartphone finally bit the dust and she went to one of the national carrier’s stores to get a new phone. She asked for a new Blackberry phone, and was told by two different sales people they “wouldn’t let her buy one for her own good”. Frustrated, she went to a different store and was told the same thing. While still frustrated, she listened to the argument for an alternative smartphone and left with a brand new iPhone.
She is happy with her iPhone, but I digress…
How to make the case for sales representative passion
Investing in primary marketing research is an effective tool in offering additional proof for your product’s unique selling proposition. Unlike secondary research which is generated to satisfy as many market constituents as possible, primary marketing research is customizable and can therefore be focused on a narrower set of applications or benefits that can be used to proof source your sales message.
To be clear, I am not talking about writing biased questions or research that is slanted toward the answer you want. This is about understanding which applications cause your products or services to shine, and then going about proving it to your channel audience. If you have the best product or service for a broad range of applications, the argument is more compelling, but if you are in the position of having a product that doesn’t win the “spec war” hands down, focused arguments based on proof of superiority in certain applications can be compelling to your channel.
Begin with knowing your product’s advantages
Performing research to highlight how your product or service is a standout in a particular application is a relatively straightforward exercise, and is dependent upon having a hypothesis concerning your product's or service's unique selling proposition, or USP.
For example, I will use the previously mentioned case of smartphones. A well-known benefit of the many Android operating system flavors is their ability to be customized by the end user. While Apple focused on making a great smartphone experience for everyone through iOS, it sacrificed some fundamental customizability for stability and consistency.
In many applications, the iPhone is a good fit for the end user because they have no interest in tinkering with their phone. Customizing their phone is down there with rearranging the sock drawer. For other users however, customizing their smartphone is about everything from a personal challenge to an expression of their individuality. In these cases, an Android-based phone is a better fit and for valid reasons.
In this case, your hypothesis would be that smartphone users who are:
- More interested in tinkering with things;
- Are technology hobbyists and, maybe;
- Users who are less fearful of making changes to their technology will prefer in greater numbers a more customizable phone operating system (Android) than Apple’s iOS.
If your unique value is less certain, it is more sensible to begin with a qualitative research step (groups or one-on-one in depth interviews and finish with a quantitative survey to insure results have statistical significance.
This is a perfect example of beginning with a hypothesis and developing a questionnaire to validate this hypothesis. The research results provide you with the hard data you need to convince your influential channel sales people that you have advantages over competitive products or services in certain situations.
Primary research experience is important to achieving rock solid results
Finally, it pays to do this correctly. Designing and executing persuasive primary marketing research requires experience, and stepping forward with results that can be attacked because they weren’t gathered in a manner consistent with industry standards can result in a loss of the investment made in the work. Alternatively, if questions are not well written, you can receive results back which fail to reveal the true value of your product or service.
Use of an independent third party research firm for channel marketing research is essential
I know this is where I may lose some readers, but hopefully it is easy to see how important it is to conduct research of this kind through a third party primary marketing research firm. This means that the survey will be written (or at least reviewed and modified), programmed for online delivery (or in unique circumstances, performed via telephone), fielded and the data analyzed and reported upon by a company independent from your company.
If this sounds unnerving to you, keep the following three important facts in mind:
- If you commissioned and sponsored the research effort, you are still in the loop regarding the design of the questionnaire. In fact, collaboration in instrument development is critical to getting high quality outcomes for primary marketing research.
- The data and the report are yours. You are not obligated in any way to release any of the results outside your company. Making the decision to go with a reputable outside firm does not mean you are turning over control of the results reporting.
- Choose a primary marketing research firm who is a certified member of CASRO (Council of American Survey Research Organizations). CASRO firms are bound to ethical standards for marketing research which insure your questions are not biased and follow the rules concerning gathering respondents.
Primary research is a powerful tool for persuasion when performed correctly and by an independent third party. It can frequently generate a substantial return on investment through increased channel sales that result from sales staff education.
If you would like to know more about the cost and requirements of performing research focused on your channels, contact Actionable Research for a free consultation and quote.
