A strong network of Channel Partners prove extremely rewarding to quickly sell off inventory and expand to new projects in upcoming areas for real estate builders. To build a trustworthy channel partner network takes time, resources and effort to create a strategy that makes both the builders and their partners successful in the business.
A real estate builder needs a robust CRM that is capable of sharing hierarchy based access to inhouse sales teams as well as channel partners to sell off inventory faster. At the moment, the channel partners, which is an extended arm of the builder and contributes significantly in generating a large part of revenue for the builder, are often left on their own to manage the sales with no visibility to the builder during the sales process. Does it sound right?
How can real estate builders make Channel Partners feel truly a part of their team?
The builders need to be at the forefront of helping Channel Partners develop and promote new strategies to engage with them and network better. Here are some basic things that you must have in place to support the channel partners:
Channel Partner interface within the CRM: When a builder is able to add trusted channel partner firms and users in the platform with proper validation of each channel partner (collects, stores and validates the authenticity of the channel partner firms and users with their registration details and other information), they can ensure there is zero lead duplication along with source authenticity.. An additional advantage is when the CRM allows locking the option to change lead source to avoid lead leakages.
End to end tracking for channel partners: A truly capable CRM will extend all process capabilities to channel partners. For example, tracking and monitoring all the outbound calls, recordings and getting call management metrics on the tip of the fingers. It should be able to keep a trail of all the activities performed on the leads by the channel partners – including tasks, notes, follow ups, reminders, email confirmations and many more.
Assign leads to Sales: Each builder has their own set of processes for channel partners. If CPs are to only generate leads and then pass them to the sales team, an advanced CRM should have a provision to enable that and would be flexible enough to accommodate the various channel partner workflows. This is a fundamental functionality for the partners to register their leads/deals on a unified platform. Every deal registered by the channel partner should also be automatically tracked. Lead allocation should include channel partners to ensure there is no lead duplicacy, avoids lead favoritism, and saves time and multiple hands on one lead. Conflicts stemming from the issue, like ‘my lead/your lead/will pay/won’t pay’, will cease to arise once it is properly recorded in the system. Remember, the channel partner only makes money when the deal closes. Hence, it’s important for a builder to make it easy for each of their channel partners to register deals and track progress over the entire sales process.
Real time inventory, customer booking and updates: Sharing real time inventory is the most underrated and hence the most difficult phase in a builder’s selling journey. The right feature to evaluate is to find a CRM that allows trusted channel partners to book units through real time inventory visibility. This avoids double booking and directly impacts the revenue. An advanced CRM will allow them to check availability, know pricing and generate a cost, where the builder can also get rid of sharing the latest discounts manually with their channel partners. The platform should take care of updating the projects with recent discounts, offers. The builder should be able to create custom or exclusive channel partner offers and discounts options and encourage them to sell more and also make ongoing active offers and discounts available to them real time. Additionally, the software should help channel partners to reduce their human effort and build automations that help them send emails and sms directly from the platform.
When the channel partner has access to the latest information on their login, it directly improves the lead communication significantly.
Commission calculations: The core purpose of a CRM is to remove the redundant tasks that give room for manual calculation and human errors. A builder should invest in a CRM that enables them to calculate commissions for their channel partners along with their sales team on each deal and show it clearly to your channel partner. The same holds true for the commission that is due, approved or pending approval. Conflicts usually arise when partners claim revenue for the same booking and credit is claimed for a deal which was closed by an internal representative or at the onset of registration. In all these examples, nothing works better than a robust CRM with inbuilt interface for channel partners that provides data to the sales management teams to easily identify conflicts, investigate causes, make decisions and automatically communicate the process to the channel partner.
