"Pull-Through" Marketing for 2GreenEnergy Client WindStream, Leader in MicroWind

Over the 30 years I’ve been a business consultant to the large tech companies of the world (H-P, IBM, 3M, Sony, Philips, FedEx, Agfa, Microsoft, Oracle, Litton, etc.) I’ve seen the value of selling through sales channels of various types: value-added resellers, dealers, and distributors of various types.  I’ve also seen how easy it is to fail with strategies that don’t provide adequate incentive for these channel partners. 

By far, the single best motivating force that I’ve utilized is demand generation.  For instance, when my team and I launched Philips Electronics’ line of LCD projectors into the United States, we didn’t just hand it to their existing network of about 75 professional audio-video dealers around the country and hope for the best.  First, we expanded this group to about 130, painstakingly identifying A/V professionals who were not currently a part of the team but would make terrific additions.  But the real horsepower came from our driving the success of this augmented set of resellers by generating, on their behalf, over 20,000 extremely well qualified leads – prospects who had immediate, budgeted needs to buy one or more (sometimes 100+) units.  

We call this “pull-through,” since we’re reaching out past the resellers to generating demand, and then pulling it through these channels partners.  And let me tell you, nothing solidifies a relationship with a partner better and faster that driving huge volumes of profitable sales through their businesses.  “Fast money makes fast friends,” as I often say.

Philips had the financial muscle to fund this program; it ran them about $8 million the first year, if I’m not mistaken.  Of course, start-ups, like my client WindStream, one of the leaders in “microwind,” cannot afford to spend even a minute fraction of $8 million to drive leads for its reseller base.  So what to do? 

Well, I always recommend that demand generation for start-ups happen as a result of generating tons of positive public relations for the company.  What will happen when the world finds out that it can have a cost-effective, hassle-free (no permits) way to mitigate its electric bill and reduce the burning of coal?  The results are going to be pretty spectacular.