In the fourth quarter of 2023, we made the decision to pivot and focus on the ecosystem marketing model to support independent manufacturers. At the time we were already serving several customers in this space. It became increasingly apparent that they have industry and category specific needs that weren’t being serviced by other vendors. We knew we could do more to help bring customer success and a competitive advantage.
However, we knew this would require a lot more focus and time. We had to educate ourselves through learning from each of the entities involved. We defined new processes for ourselves to be successful for our customers in this new complex environment. In accepting and accommodating this reality, we had to ‘off-board’ a number of existing customers in our customer base (obviously painful for several reasons). It was the right thing to do nevertheless.
Complex Sales Ecosystems
Most of our then customers had simple sales models, selling directly to the customer irrespective of being B2B or B2C. Our manufacturers however generally operated with an independent sales representative [‘rep’] sales force who are at a high level more affordable than standing up dedicated national sales teams (since they are commission based). However this is not without its challenges:
- The reps are independent, for-profit organizations who may choose or choose not to represent a manufacturer’s line. The manufacturer therefore has less leverage over the rep in terms of sales commitments and other abilities to manage performance. Furthermore, reps have their own long term agenda and business goals that don’t necessarily align completely with the manufacturer’s.
- The reps themselves have similar challenges with their ‘customers’ who are generally wholesale distributors. Often these distributors will be selling competitive product.
- And finally, the paying customer who may be an installer, an integrator, a developer or a locksmith etc. Do they really care what product they use provided it meets code compliance and stands them in good reputation with their customers? If so, what do they care about?
With the paying customer being so removed from the manufacturer, how do we, as manufacturing marketers, influence the purchasing decision?
And that’s what we had to figure out.
The Ecosystem Marketing Model
We had to re-think the notion of a customer and partner. We had to figure out the answers to questions within this ecosystem:
- What are the specific interests and motivators, or problems needing to be solved by each entity within the sales ecosystem to ensure that the right marketing messages would be passed down the line?
- How do we have the right ‘conversation’ directly with each entity in this ecosystem to have a direct relationship and further amplify the positive influence?
- How do we add value to each of the ‘sellers’ by helping them with product positioning?
- When we orchestrate marketing campaigns, say a product launch, how do we inform all the entities at the right time? How can it be so they feel informed and read for them then receive upstream questions or enquiries?
Therefore, we had to create and iterate improvements into the models we are using to help address that and empower the ecosystem. Previously the ecosystem was a barrier to our marketing effort. Now, we’re able to weaponize it, enabling us to deliver better information and motivation in a more surgical way. This results in the ecosystem, far from being a barrier, being an enabler on a magnitude greater than the simple sales models.
Beyond Marketing
But it doesn’t stop with marketing. There are operational requirements for data to be parsed by these different entities as well. For example, a manufacturer may pay no attention to a visitor on their website looking at product pages within a specific category. And therefore, they may not pass this as a lead to the rep to be followed up. On the other hand, for the rep, perhaps this visitor is an existing customer in their territory and this insight enables the rep to commence a cross-sell.
Or what about the quotation process? The standard method is that the manufacturers provide quotes to end customers on a qualified basis, but it falls upon the rep to ensure the quote is followed up on and hopefully converts to a sale. Well, how does the rep do that if information is in different systems depending upon each manufacturer. E.g. an ERP, Salesforce, HubSpot etc. How does the rep easily pull this information, collate in their own CRM and then delegate and manage this within their own organization?
In Conclusion
As our business extends beyond just sales and marketing, this is an ideal fit with the operational component of what we do and helping our customers define and execute marketing on an integrated basis across the entire ecosystem. Accommodating the uniqueness of the various models and structures, is the only way to ensure maximum results and effectiveness.
