Market Core · Sales Channels · Module
Channel performance
What each route delivers against what it costs, including the cost of managing it and the margin it takes.
The idea
How it works
Channels are judged on revenue and should be judged on contribution. A route delivering volume at a margin share that leaves nothing is producing activity rather than profit.
Customer quality differs by route, and it is rarely measured. Customers acquired through one channel may retain far better than another, which changes the ranking entirely once lifetime value is used.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Measure contribution, not revenue
After margin share, management cost and support load. The ranking usually changes.
- 02
Compare customer quality by route
Retention and expansion differ by channel, sometimes by more than the margin does.
- 03
Include management cost
Partner routes consume attention that appears on no invoice and is frequently the largest cost.
- 04
Review before renewal
A route assessed at the point of renewal is assessed too late to change anything.
One level in
The components of channel performance
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
Customers from different routes retain differently, sometimes by more than the margin differs. Measure both.
The other modules in sales channels
Route to market
Which routes the organisation uses — direct, partner, reseller, marketplace, self-serve — and what each buys in reach, margin and control.
LearnChannel conflict
Where routes compete for the same customer, and the rule that settles it — written before the collision rather than during it.
LearnEnablement
What each route needs to be able to sell: what the offer is, who it is for, what it costs, and what to say when asked something difficult.
Learn