ChannelVision Magazine

solution. In today’s complex telecom marketplace, it’s not enough to just offer support with pricing exercises. The modern master agent must bring order to the chaos of the marketplace, reduce complexity and show agents on the front line which suppliers fit best in each unique situation. They must offer continuous education, innovative tools and assistance in setting and reach- ing growth goals. Master agents that check these boxes not only become a necessary resource for the selling agent, but they also are an extremely valuable extension to the suppliers’ training and marketing teams. As a channel professional of more than 15 years, and a channel chief for the last 11, I’ve heard multiple viewpoints regarding the positive and negative aspects of the national mas- ter agents. On the negative side, I’ve heard arguments from carriers and providers such as: “Master agents are pay to play” (due to increasingly ex- pensive sponsorship packages), “Why would I pay more money for the same sale when I can sign the agent directly for a lower commission percentage?” and “We like a more intimate relation- ship with the partner in the field.” All of these points are rooted in some level of validity. However, they reflect a lack of understanding for how to effectively use master agencies to their maximum capabilities. If the name of the game is winning, we must un- derstand and empathize with the sell- ing agents and provide them with the necessary assistance to help them do so. In the end, as a channel executive, suppliers only win when our partners win. Here are the key components that lead to a supplier getting the most value out of a master agent program. Data entry support – Sales sup- port teams only scale so far. Most selling agents want to spend their time and resources in the field selling to and supporting their customers, not in the office entering quotes into mul- tiple portals. Learning each suppliers’ pricing portals takes time, and often agents will gravitate toward suppliers that take this burden off of their shoul- ders. This is where master agents can help suppliers in a big way: Master agents will typically take on the quoting process for their producing partners, ultimately helping the supplier control the number of full-time staffers needed in sales support. The quoting teams at the master agents are generally edu- cated on each supplier’s portfolio, so they know which suppliers to use for specific applications. This saves time and effort on both sides that would be spent on bad opportunities. Marketing support – Master agents tend to be marketing machines. Master agents allow suppliers to reach thousands of selling agents with each dollar spent, instead of producing separate events and activities for a large number of partners. Many master channel management Channel Vision | March - April, 2018 58