Develop Sales Channels

Available Sales Channels

Many people lose the will to live when it comes to differentiating between the different types of channel partners that are available in export markets. One man’s ‘dealer’ is another man’s ‘agent’ and people often use the terms ‘wholesaler’ and ‘ distributor’ interchangeably.

But don’t let the jargon fry your brain!

Channel Development

Apart from licensing, franchising and joint ventures, you can pretty much split all of the other types of trading partnerships into one of two categories: Representation or Distribution. If you think what you are really doing with a channel, it will be either a commission arrangement or a buy/resell relationship. 

Distribution Channels
It doesn’t matter what the text in the agreement says – if your partner buys the product from you and sells it to someone else, it’s a distribution arrangement. If he has continuing authority to negotiate pricing with customers on your behalf, he’s a rep. Here’s a split of some commonly used terms to describe partners, showing which type of arrangement they constitute.

For more information visit http://www.qupact.com