In this article
- The signs, and what to collect before the conversation
- Examine economics, demand, service, conflict and attention
- Collect the partner’s evidence rather than assuming disloyalty
- Recovery actions by partner segment
- Partner-engagement diagnostic
- Mistakes, measures, and what recovery looks like
- Questions owners ask
The signs, and what to collect before the conversation
The symptoms: orders that shrink to replenishment of the few items that walk out on their own; no new accounts opened in the territory; your calls returned slowly; the competitor’s display where yours used to be; secondary sales reports that stop arriving. The false assumption: that the partner has become lazy, or greedy, or is about to defect, and that a scheme or a threat will fix it.
Collect first: the partner’s purchases by month and by product for two years, against their run rate and against the territory’s potential; your service record with them — fill rates, delivery times, complaints, credit disputes, how fast their calls were answered; the demand you generated in their territory in the last year; any direct sales or other partners in their area; and what they carry now that they did not carry then. Then visit.
Examine economics, demand, service, conflict and attention
Economics: has the margin been eroded by your price increases, by discounting in the market that the partner has to match, by a scheme that ended, or by credit terms that tightened? A partner who makes less per unit than on the competing line stops pushing, rationally. Demand: has the territory changed — a large customer closed, a project ended, a competitor arrived — or did the demand you used to generate stop when the campaign budget was cut? A partner cannot push what nobody asks for. Service: did a supply failure, a quality problem, a warranty dispute or an unanswered call cost the partner a customer? One bad episode in front of a customer outweighs a year of good ones. Conflict: did you sell direct to an account in their territory, appoint a second partner nearby, or let an online seller undercut them? Partners forgive most things faster than being competed with by their own supplier. Attention: did a competitor offer better margin, better support, a person who visits — and simply win the salespeople’s effort?
Usually two of the five are present. The order to check is service and conflict first, because those are your fault and fastest to fix.
Collect the partner’s evidence rather than assuming disloyalty
Sit with the owner and, separately, with their salespeople, and ask plainly: what has changed, what do you make on our line versus the others, what have we done that made it harder, what would it take to push us again. Owners are usually direct if asked without accusation; salespeople are more direct still. Then two of their customers: which brand the counter recommends, and why. And the partner’s numbers: what they actually earn on your line after schemes and returns, which is often less than your price list implies.
Write down the reason in the partner’s words, with the evidence beside it. A recovery based on your assumption fails; one based on their stated reason usually works, because they told you the price of their attention.
Recovery actions by partner segment
Segment the quiet partners before acting. High-potential, recoverable — the territory is valuable and the reason is one you can fix: fix it visibly, with a named person, a date, and a joint plan for the next quarter; this is where the effort goes. Modest potential, drifting — the territory is small and the partner is adequate: a cheaper touch — a visit, training for their new salespeople, a modest scheme tied to a specific product — and a quarterly call. Low potential, or the reason is a competitor who simply serves them better: an honest conversation about the tier they now belong in, or a graceful exit and a new partner recruited to the territory’s real potential.
Recovery actions, by reason: economics — a modelled incentive on incremental sales or a tier review, not a blanket margin increase; demand — a campaign in the territory pointed at the partner, and leads routed to them; service — the failure fixed and acknowledged, with a service standard and an escalation contact; conflict — the territory and pricing rule enforced against whoever broke it, and an apology where you did; attention — a person who visits, training, and a reason to talk about your line again. Then a ninety-day review against a number agreed with the partner.
Scorecard · use it here or print it
Partner-engagement diagnostic
Score one partner, from their point of view, using what they have actually said and what your data shows. A low group is the reason they stopped promoting you; disloyalty is almost never it.
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Mistakes, measures, and what recovery looks like
The mistakes: assuming disloyalty; sending a scheme without asking the reason; a blanket margin increase for everyone, which rewards the active partners for nothing and fixes the wrong problem; threatening to appoint another partner, which confirms the conflict fear; never visiting; and letting a quiet partner hold an exclusive territory for years. A safeguard: before any action, be able to state the partner’s reason in their words.
Measure recovery by secondary sales against the agreed number at ninety days, new accounts opened, the partner’s salespeople naming your line unprompted to a mystery customer, and reports arriving without chasing. Most quiet partners with real potential recover when the reason is fixed and someone visits. This is the channel-performance review we run — the evidence, the partner and customer conversations, the segmentation, the recovery plan by reason, and the ninety-day review — and the free audit begins with a list of the partners whose orders fell most last year.
Questions owners ask
Is it not usually about margin?
Margin is what partners say first because it is easy to say. Ask again and it is often service, conflict or attention. Check what they actually earn on your line before deciding it is margin.
Should we appoint another partner in the territory?
Not as a threat, and not before you know the reason. If the partner has real potential and the reason is fixable, fix it. If not, exit the partner properly and recruit to the territory’s potential.
How do we know if a competitor has won their attention?
Ask their salespeople and two customers what the counter recommends now, and look at what the competitor gives them — usually a visiting person, training and a scheme. Then decide whether you will match the attention, not just the margin.
What if we did sell direct in their territory?
Acknowledge it, compensate where the programme says so, and enforce the rule from now on, including on your own salespeople. Partners will re-engage with a supplier who admits the conflict; they will not with one who denies it.
How long should recovery take?
A quarter, against a number agreed with the partner at the start. If nothing has moved at ninety days after the reason was fixed, the partner belongs in a lower tier or in an exit conversation.
What does GullySales do?
The evidence from your data, the partner and customer conversations, segmentation by potential and reason, recovery plans by reason, and the ninety-day review — with the honest call when a territory needs a new partner. Scoped in the free audit and priced in writing.