By Shannon Hughes, Director of Digital & Media Strategy, Lessing-Flynn —
Even the strongest sales channels have weak links — like misaligned messaging, under-supported partners or inconsistent execution. These cracks in your sales channel network can quietly erode performance and stall growth. But with the right strategy and a willingness to dig in, you can uncover friction points — areas where your customers get stuck in the funnel — and turn them into opportunities.
Let’s be honest: Today’s market demands that sales teams get back to selling. The days of COVID-driven backlogs and automatic demand are over. Now, it’s about standing out, earning attention and closing the deal.
Not Seeing The Sales You Expected? It Might Not Be the Product.
If your sales are lagging despite offering a competitive product, it's time to zoom out. Many underperforming teams struggle because of support issues, not what they’re selling. Sales partners often lack the marketing firepower, sales tools or product clarity to confidently close deals. Others simply don’t view your brand as the standout in their portfolio.
The solution isn’t always “sell harder.” It’s “support smarter.”
How To Spot the Gaps in Your Sales Channel
The first step? Take a hard look at whether your channel is set up to succeed. Here are a few areas where friction often hides:
- Awareness deficiency: If your partners aren’t armed with brand-building tools, your product may never get on the customer’s radar.
- Messaging mayhem: Inconsistent, unclear or generic messaging across the channel erodes trust and hurts conversions.
- Support shortfalls: A lack of training, templates or co-branded assets leaves your partners scrambling to DIY their materials. And that could be underselling your product.
- Disengagement drift: Sporadic communication and weak incentives can make partners feel like an afterthought
- Data blindness: If you’re not tracking and sharing marketing performance metrics with your channel, you’re flying blind.
Each of these gaps eats away at the impact of your marketing investment and slows down your sales engine.
So, What Can You Do About It?
You don’t have to reinvent your sales strategy — but you do need to refine it. Here are a few solutions that drive channel-wide improvement:
- Build awareness that opens doors.
If your partners are struggling to build a sales pipeline, your marketing strategy may need a boost. Invest in geo-targeted campaigns with dealer-specific creative, social content that tags partner locations and co-branded direct mail that drives foot traffic.
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Create consistency across the channel.
From digital ads to sell sheets, your message needs to be clear and compelling, no matter who’s delivering it. Create templates, brand guides and content libraries to keep partners on-brand. -
Empower partners with the right tools.
Don’t leave your sales force guessing. Give the sales team a reason to talk to customers with one-pagers, customizable outreach materials and persona-driven pitch decks. These tools can also help them understand the unique needs of different buyers.
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Elevate your partner relationships.
Go beyond transactions. Offer structured communication plans, regular check-ins and exclusive incentives to keep partners engaged and motivated.
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Let data lead the way.
Track what’s working (and what’s not). From email engagement to local lead conversions, share performance data with your channel so they can optimize, improve and grow alongside you.
Bridge The Gap and Build Momentum
Even high-performing sales networks have room to grow. And the best way to transform sales potential into measurable results is to identify the cracks in your channel marketing and strengthening your partner support.
Not sure where to begin? Pinpoint your greatest friction points to figure out whether you need to boost brand awareness, drive partner engagement or sharpen your sales enablement strategy.
Shannon Hughes is Director of Digital & Media Strategy at Lessing-Flynn, the longest-standing independently owned advertising agency in America. Committed to innovation, she ensures clients stay ahead in the ever-evolving digital, media and sales channel marketing landscapes.