Distribution Channel Management Strategy for Manufacturers

Realign your distribution channel practices to the market

As B2B customers change how and where they source products, manufacturers’ go-to-market strategy has grown more complex. If you don’t evolve your channel management with market changes, conflict with your channel partners will grow, and your market share will suffer.

How We Help You Select the Right Distribution Channel Management Strategy

Indian River Consulting Group specializes in highly competitive B2B markets where traditional wholesaler-distributors are a primary channel to market. We help manufacturers properly evaluate and optimize their distributor network, while increasing trust among channel partners and minimizing conflict.

Assess market and channel alignment

We’ll identify what’s good, bad or missing in your channel strategy based on your goals.

Regain alignment

Build a plan to transition to the ideal state, which is different for every company and situation.

Maintain market access

Don’t just set a strategy and forget about it. Success requires ongoing adjustments to keep pace with market changes.

How We’ve Helped Manufacturers Like You

IRCG has not only worked with dozens of manufacturers to realign their channel strategies, we have a solid understanding of the academic research on manufacturer-distributor channel management, and have rendered several expert opinions in legal conflicts between channel partners. We also teach on the subject at the university level.

We helped a market leader resolve conflicts between a large distributor fulfillment channel and a specialty distributor channel that captured position with OEM specifications. We helped them reallocate resources and adjust policies to dramatically reduce conflict.

We helped two global manufacturers of capital equipment complete a joint venture that required rationalizing two different models into one that was appropriate for the market they were entering.

We worked with a manufacturer of raw materials who competed globally with four other producers to craft a channel model that enabled them to optimize earnings by trading out customers and distributors.

We helped a division of a Fortune 50 firm with poor growth and financial returns develop a different go-to-market model that eliminated a field sales force of more than 100 reps. The result was a return to profitability and former growth rates.

We’ve helped multiple manufacturers evaluate going direct, skipping distribution altogether. Each found their own path and made adjustments that reduced conflict and improved alignment. None of them, post-project, decided that going direct was their best option.

Channel Management Strategy Resources

Is it time for you to examine and improve your channel management practices?

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