It’s Episode 10 of IoT Nuggets! Back in Episode 9 we talked about LoRaWAN and how it’s a great network. In this episode, we talk about IoT strategies, specifically the differences and balance between hiring direct sales reps or going with channel sales for your go-to-market plan.
Which IoT Strategy is Best for You?
Direct Sales
In IoT, you have to figure out the right balance, approach, and who you’re actually selling to. Direct sales reps cost a lot more because you’re paying for their salary, taxes, expenses, etc. If you want to be the subject matter expert and you’re going after a specific vertical market segment, then you should definitely look at hiring a direct sales team. They’ll be fully trained and totally focused on the product/service/offering you have.
Channel Sales
For channel sales, you work with a team of distributors, resellers, dealers, agents, solution providers, consultants, and system integrators. The benefit of this approach is that you get a lot broader expertise because they are able to do and offer more to customers within IoT.
Distributors have their place. If you’re selling widgets, someone should stock it. The sales teams are trained by you. Sometimes they’re pay-to-play for distribution so you need a budget for the marketing team to be able to do the pay-to-play option. All distributors have a specialized IoT/mobility group that you can train to be the SMEs internally for the sales teams at the distributor. Other groups include integrators, resellers, and CDWSHI which has connections to highly-trained people.
Top Questions to Ask Yourself?
· What do you have to sell?
· What is the target market?
· Do you have pricing margins?
· Who’s going to be trained?
· How many people can you see at the same time?
BH IoT Group Helps with IoT Strategies
Some companies have a combination of both channel and direct. With IoT, there needs to be a lot more cohesion between all the different parts that need to be pushed together. Sometimes the channel is best, other times it’s the direct sales team. It’s a balancing act and BH IoT Group helps companies on either side.
Channel: We’ve helped them get into the channel, get the SKU up in their internal intranet network, and get them trained.
Direct: If you’re selling something specific into a specific vertical market that you can attack by being a direct sales team, that’s a great alternative.
The Best IoT Strategies for You
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Give the team at BH IoT Group a call to discuss how we can help you determine which IoT strategy is best for you, direct sales or channel sales (or a balance of both) will be best for your particular IoT products, services, and/or solutions.
Get in touch with us to schedule a time for us to learn about your offering and give expert advice on IoT strategies.
Stay tuned for our next episode where we discuss our personal recommendation for the best go-to-market sales plan.