1. How will I get my product or service to my customer segment?
Channels
How will I get my product or service to my customer segment?
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2. Channel Phases (touch point with customer)
What are Channels?
Communication Channels
Distribution Channels
Sales Channels
Awareness
Evaluation
Purchase
Deliver
After Sales
Channel Phases (touch point with customer)
Channels are all customer touch points that play an important role in the customer experience. Communication, distribution, and sales are all paths that touch the customer experience.
A channel strategy must touch on all the phases.
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP

3. Through what channels do your customers want to be reached?
How are customers currently being reached?
Which ones work best?
How do these channels best fit with customer routines?
when they need the product?
when they use it?
when they think about it?
Understanding fit with customer routine should stem from what has been learned from customer profiling and customer interviews.
Ask these questions about your product/service idea.
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP

4. Distribution channel paths can be built or borrowed from existing.
Channel Types
Owned = Direct Vs
Partner = Indirect
Examples
Website Sales
Sales force
Partner store
Wholesaler
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP

5. Example for Cleat Guard, flexible covers for sport cleats?
Channel Types
Owned = Direct Vs
Partner = Indirect
Examples
At event kiosk
Company website
Sporting Goods retailer Dicks
High School Uniform Supplier
Plus and minus of different channels
Owned Channels - higher margins but costly to build in the beginning + control of product pricing and presentation
Partner Channels - low margin since partner takes a piece of profit + get broad and fast reach to customers
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP

6. How will your product or service be made available to your customers?
Will we get our product to customers through a physical channel or Web/Mobile channel?
Distribution is about making products and services available to the end user when and where they need them
STARTUP Pitfall!!
Choosing too many channels to reach the customer. Must be focused and best to start with 1 or 2.
Decisions should be made based on pricing, cost, fit with product.
Physical Channels
Web/Mobile Channels
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP

7. Physical Distribution Options
A channel map outlines how your product gets from company to customers.
Physical Distribution Options
Web/Online
OEM
Direct Sales Force
Our
Company
Our Customers
Sales Reps
There are many more than listed here!! Think about kiosks…your own storefront…etc. Think about the path your product will take and how many steps it may need. They all have different strengths and benefits. Ask your mentor. What does your competition do?
OEM – What is an OEM? An original equipment manufacture. If you have a product that is an accessory (or dependent upon) to another product, a viable channel is the sell to the OEM who then sells your product as part of the product package. Example: you have a phone case. You could sell your product to the maker of the cell phone, who then sells to the end user as the customer.
Dealers
Distributors
Retailers/
Mass Merchandisers
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP

8. WEB/Mobile Distribution Options
A channel map outlines how your product gets from company to customers.
WEB/Mobile Distribution Options
Dedicated Ecommerce – YOUR website
Platform App Store
Apple/Android
Our
Company
Aggregators
Zappos/Etsy
Our Customers
There are many more than listed here!! All have different pros and cons
Dedicated ecommerce site. Pro = basic sites easy to build and delivers control over price and presentation, Con = company must bear all the challenge and cost of getting traffic to site and converting visitors to buyers.
Aggregator. Pro = fast to national distribution and minimal set up cost, Con = can be costly, hard to get visibility when fighting for space and attention from other products that are carried.
2 Step Distributor. Pro = speed and national distribution, fulfillment handled also. Con = expensive, hard to get attention in sea of products
Social e-commerce. Pro = fast, and high potential for distribution, Con = hard to create awareness and high cost of platform set up
2 step Distributor
Amazon
Social Commerce
Facebook / Twitter
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP

9. How to choose your distribution channel path…..
Identify how competitors' products are sold.
Analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the channel for your business.
Examine costs of channels and options for selling.
Does the channel strengthen the sales process?
Prioritize your distribution choices.
Startups hardly ever get this right the first time. TEST.
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP

10. Create your own MAP!! Get creative, think of options not listed.
Prioritize!!!
How risky is this hypothesis?
If this is risky…how will you test this through your MVP?
© 2015 INCubatoredu NFP