Found in Translation

There is a lot of discussion on the web and in the blogosphere on employee issues.  Channel partner issues – not so much.  As you probably have seen the majority of my posts focus on programs that impact employees.  I think that’s a function of the amount of ammunition I get from the stuff I read.  However, a large part of my professional time is spent with clients on how to influence their distribution channel.  Luckily, what influences employees also influences channel partners (distributors, dealers, jobbers, VARs, etc.)  People are people.

So if you’re looking for specific information on channel programs the information on this site can be useful – just needs a bit of translation.

Here’s a perfect example.  I saw this particular post on the 1:1 Blog.  The upshot of the short post is that even Ford has difficulty working with their distribution channel and they offer up the suggestion that companies need to treat their B2B relationships with the same attention they do their B2C relationships. 

Here’s my point of view:  When thinking about how to engage your employees – think about your customers (B2B or B2C).  When you think about how you can engage your distribution channel think about how that would work with your employees.  When you create a way to engage your end-user customers ask yourself how that could be translated for your employees or distribution channel.

In other words, every time you create a way to engage an audience there will be a way to translate that tactic into another application for engagement with a different audience.

Try it… here’s a few to get your started:

• Employee Health Care = a loyalty program whereby small businesses that buy from you can be grouped and you can offer a health care plan for them?
• Customer loyalty programs = employee loyalty programs (different measures and awards but the concepts the same)
• Employee communication portal = distributor portal for information on your company/product designed for how they work

Not too hard is it?