Know what your partner marketing money bought, before you spend it again.
Gully Sales sets up and runs your market development fund: who earns it, what it may be spent on, who approves it before the money moves, what proof closes a claim, and what the funded activity actually returned.
One fund policy, so every partner is funded on the same stated basis.
Approval before spend, proof of performance before settlement.
A live view of funds accrued, committed, claimed and still unused.
Gully Sales Private Limited helps Indian SMBs run partner marketing funds across dealer, distributor, reseller and franchise networks.
In one paragraph
What is Market Development Fund Management?
Market development fund management is the work of running the money you give partners for local marketing. Gully Sales writes the fund policy, sets eligibility and accrual, builds the approval and claim workflow, defines the proof a partner must submit, and reports what each funded activity returned. Your channel marketing budget becomes a governed programme instead of a set of favours.
The problem
Partners ask, you approve, and nobody can say what it achieved.
Most Indian SMBs do not budget partner marketing. They respond to it. A dealer wants a shop board before the festive season. A distributor asks you to sponsor a local event. A franchisee wants help with a hoarding. Each request arrives on its own, is judged on how the conversation goes that day, and is settled quietly. None of it is wrong. It simply never adds up to a programme, and at the end of the year the money is gone with nothing you can put on a page.
You will recognise it as
Partners ask for marketing support one request at a time, and the answer depends on who calls and when.
Two dealers in similar markets received very different support last year, and neither of you can explain the gap.
Money is released before anyone agrees what will be produced, and the artwork arrives after the event.
Claims come in as a photograph and a bill, and your accounts team is left deciding whether that is enough.
The partners who press hardest get funded, while the ones quietly opening a district get nothing.
Nobody in your business can state today how much of this year's channel marketing budget is still unspent.
What it costs the business
The budget is spent, but you cannot say which market it opened, which partner it strengthened or which enquiry it produced.
Good partners stop asking, because the process feels arbitrary, and reach stops growing in exactly the districts you wanted.
Weaker partners learn that pressure works better than performance, and the fund becomes a negotiating tool instead of a growth tool.
Finance treats the whole line as a discount by another name, so next year it is cut rather than redirected.
Why it persists. It persists because saying yes is faster than writing a policy. Every individual request is small, reasonable and urgent, and refusing one risks a relationship you spent years building. Writing the rules takes a week you do not have, and it forces you to tell some partners that what they received last year was never a standing entitlement. So requests keep being handled one by one, by whoever the partner happens to call, and the pattern only becomes visible when the year is closed.
If it stays unresolved. Left alone, the fund keeps paying for whatever was easiest to approve. Spending rises with the size of your network while the evidence stays where it is. When trading gets tight, an unmeasured line is the first one cut, and the partners who had finally started using it well lose their support along with everybody else.
What changes
Every claim against the fund carries a proof and a market behind it.
In the first weeks
Every partner reads the same document and sees what the fund offers and what it asks in return.
Requests arrive on a form with a plan attached, not as a phone call the week before a festival.
In how the work runs
Approval happens before money is committed, with a named approver and a stated limit.
Claims settle against a defined proof pack, so your accounts team is not setting policy at the counter.
You can see at any point in the quarter what is accrued, committed, claimed and still unused.
In sales and marketing
Funds move towards the partners and districts where activity is actually producing enquiries.
Partner conversations shift from asking for support to planning next quarter's activity together.
In what management can see
Local activity carries your brand correctly, because artwork and messaging are approved before it runs.
You learn which activity types work in which kind of market, and can ask other partners to repeat them.
Over the longer term
The fund becomes a reason a capable partner chooses your brand over a competing one.
Channel marketing spend can be defended to a board or a lender with a record, not a story.
Gully Sales controls the policy, the workflow, the approval discipline and the reporting. What a funded activity returns depends on your product, the partner's own effort and the market it runs in. We will not commit to a figure, and we will show you the evidence either way.
Who it is for
Who needs a governed marketing fund, and who should not start one yet.
The businesses it suits
Manufacturers and brands selling through dealers or distributors who already fund partner activity informally.
B2B companies whose resellers ask for demo units, event support and help with local campaigns.
Franchisors collecting a marketing contribution from franchisees and struggling to account for it.
Consumer brands funding retailer signage, in-store display and local festive activity.
Companies whose channel marketing spend has grown faster than their ability to explain it.
Businesses adding partners in new states who need a fair, repeatable basis for support.
What usually prompts the call
A partner has asked for a support figure you have no basis to approve or refuse.
Finance has asked what last year's channel marketing spend produced, and nobody has an answer.
You are launching a partner programme and must state what marketing support comes with it.
A competitor has started funding your dealers' local activity and yours are asking why you do not.
Two partners have compared notes and discovered they were supported on very different terms.
What Gully Sales does
The work, component by component.
Fund audit and baseline
We rebuild what partner marketing support actually cost you over the last full year: every approval, sponsorship, signboard, dealer meet, event and contribution we can trace, sorted by partner, district and activity type. Most owners see the real shape of this spend for the first time here.
Why it matters:
You cannot set a fund rate or a rule without knowing what the informal version already costs and who has been receiving it.
You receive:
Baseline spend workbook by partner, district and activity type, with the untraceable portion named.
Business value:
The discussion stops being about opinions and starts from a figure your own records support.
Fund policy and eligibility
We write the policy: which partners qualify, what the fund may and may not be used for, the share you contribute, the share the partner contributes, spending limits by tier, and the approval each level needs. It is written to be read by a dealer, not by a lawyer.
Why it matters:
One written policy replaces dozens of private understandings and lets your team say no without damaging a relationship.
You receive:
Market development fund policy in plain language, ready to issue to the partner network.
Business value:
Every partner is funded on the same stated basis, and your managers can point at the reason.
Accrual and allocation model
We define how the fund is earned. Part of it may accrue as a share of a partner's purchases; part may stay discretionary, held back for new markets, new partners and launches. Both are modelled against your margin so the fund stays affordable at the volumes you expect.
Why it matters:
An accrual a partner can calculate for themselves is trusted, while a discretionary pool lets you still invest where growth needs it.
You receive:
Accrual rules, discretionary pool sizing and a fund calculator by partner tier.
Business value:
The fund grows with partners who are growing, and you keep room to back a district that is only starting.
Eligible activity catalogue
We list what the fund will pay for and what each activity must include: shop branding, local digital campaigns, catalogues and samples, demo setups, trade events, dealer and customer meets, festive activity, joint offers. Each entry carries a brief, a template, a cost guide drawn from your own history and the proof it requires.
Why it matters:
Partners usually ask for support before they have a plan; a catalogue turns a vague request into a choice between things that already work.
You receive:
Activity catalogue with a one-page brief, an artwork template and a proof list for each activity.
Business value:
Partners plan faster, spend on activity you can stand behind, and stop inventing one-off requests.
Pre-approval workflow
We build the request-to-approval path: a short application form, the information a partner must attach, who reviews it, the limit each approver holds, the service standard for a decision and how a refusal is communicated. It runs where your team already works, whether that is your CRM, a partner portal or a maintained shared sheet.
Why it matters:
Approval before spend is the single control that separates a managed fund from a reimbursement habit.
You receive:
Fund request form, approval matrix, decision service standard and refusal templates.
Business value:
Money is committed against a plan, and no partner starts work assuming the answer will be yes.
Claims, proof of performance and settlement
We define the claim: the invoice, the photographs, the campaign report, the attendance list or the enquiry record that must accompany it, and the deadline after the activity ends. Then we agree the settlement route, credit note or payment, and the checks your accounts team runs before releasing it.
Why it matters:
Claims stall because nobody stated in advance what evidence closes them, so files sit open and both sides grow frustrated.
You receive:
Claim form, proof-of-performance checklist by activity, settlement steps and an exception path.
Business value:
Claims close on a stated basis within a stated window, which is what most partners actually want.
Fund statements and tracking
Each partner gets a statement showing funds accrued, committed, claimed, settled and still available, with the expiry date on any unused balance. Your team sees the same view rolled up by region and tier, so unused money becomes visible while there is still time to spend it well.
Why it matters:
Funds go unused because the partner does not know a balance exists until the year has already closed.
You receive:
Partner fund statement format and an internal tracker with commitment, expiry and utilisation views.
Business value:
An unused balance becomes a prompt for a planning conversation rather than a surprise at year end.
Return review and reallocation
At the end of each cycle we compare funded activity with what followed it: enquiries logged, partner sell-through, coverage gained in the target district. Activity that produced nothing twice is removed from the catalogue, and partners who used the fund well are put forward for a larger allocation.
Why it matters:
A fund that is never reviewed drifts back into an entitlement, and the catalogue slowly fills with habits.
You receive:
Cycle review pack with activity-level findings and a reallocation recommendation by partner.
Business value:
Next cycle's money follows the last cycle's evidence, and you can show a partner why their share moved.
What you will have at the end.
Baseline audit of last year's partner marketing spend, by partner, district and activity type.
Market development fund policy in plain language, ready to issue to your partner network.
Accrual rules, discretionary pool sizing and a fund calculator you can run for any partner.
Eligible activity catalogue with a brief, an artwork template and a proof list per activity.
Fund request form and approval matrix, with limits, approvers and a decision service standard.
Claim form and proof-of-performance checklist, with an anonymised example of a complete claim.
Settlement procedure agreed with your accounts team, covering credit note and payment routes.
Partner fund statement format, with a filled sample showing accrued, committed and available.
Internal fund tracker with commitment, expiry and utilisation views by region and partner tier.
Partner rollout pack: announcement letter, one-page summary and a walkthrough deck.
Exception path for claims that fall outside policy, naming who decides and on what basis.
Cycle review pack template showing activity-level findings and reallocation options.
How it runs
The engagement, step by step.
1
Fund audit
We collect a year of partner marketing spend from your ledgers, approval mails, credit notes and the memory of your channel team, then rebuild it as one picture: who received support, in which district, for what, and on whose approval.
You provide:
Ledger extracts, credit note history, past approval mails and access to your channel sales team.
We produce:
A baseline spend workbook, with the portion nobody can trace shown separately rather than hidden.
Done when:
You and your finance lead accept the baseline as a fair account of last year.
2
Design workshop
A working session with your channel, marketing and finance leads to settle the questions only you can answer: what the fund is for, how much of your margin it may consume, which partners qualify, and where discretion should sit.
You provide:
Margin structure, partner tier list, growth priorities by state and the decision makers in one room.
We produce:
Agreed fund principles, an affordability range and a list of open questions with named owners.
Done when:
The principles are signed off before a single document is drafted.
3
Policy and model build
We draft the fund policy, the accrual and discretionary model, the tier limits and the activity catalogue. Each is tested against the baseline: would last year's requests have been handled better under this policy, and could you have afforded them?
You provide:
Review time from channel and finance, plus brand guidelines for the artwork templates.
We produce:
Fund policy, accrual model with a calculator, tier limits and the eligible activity catalogue.
Done when:
Policy and model approved, with affordability tested against your own last-year numbers.
4
Workflow build
We build the operating path end to end: request form, approval matrix, claim form, proof checklist and settlement steps, configured wherever your team already works rather than in a system nobody will open.
You provide:
Access to the CRM or portal, your accounts process for credit notes, and one named process owner.
We produce:
A working request-to-settlement path with forms, approvers, limits and templates in place.
Done when:
A test claim runs from request to settlement without anyone having to improvise a step.
5
Rollout to partners
We announce the fund to the network and explain it partner by partner, including the difficult conversations with partners whose informal support was larger than the new policy allows. Commitments already made are honoured and transitioned, not cancelled.
You provide:
Partner contact list, your channel managers for the calls, and a decision on the transition period.
We produce:
Announcement letter, partner one-pager, walkthrough deck and a transition note for each affected partner.
Done when:
Every eligible partner has been told the policy and knows how to raise a request.
6
Operating the first cycle
We run the fund through a full cycle with your team. Requests arrive, decisions are made inside the service standard, activity runs, claims are checked against the proof list and settlements are released. Friction is fixed as we find it, not after.
You provide:
Approver availability, timely settlement from accounts, and honest reporting of where the process hurts.
We produce:
A live fund register, weekly commitment and claim status, and an agreed list of process corrections.
Done when:
The cycle closes with every request decided and every valid claim settled.
7
Review and reallocation
We review the cycle against the measures agreed at the start: utilisation, claim quality, enquiries and sell-through in funded markets. Then we recommend what the next cycle should fund more of, less of, and not at all.
You provide:
Sales data for funded districts, enquiry records, and an hour with your channel and marketing leads.
We produce:
A fund review pack, an updated activity catalogue and a reallocation recommendation by partner.
Done when:
The next allocation is set from evidence, and the catalogue reflects what actually worked.
Ways to work with us
Audit the fund, write the policy, or run the claims cycle with us.
Fund audit and readiness review
A short engagement that rebuilds last year's partner marketing spend, names where it leaked, and tells you honestly whether a formal fund is the right next step.
Fund design and build
We produce the policy, accrual model, activity catalogue, forms and workflow, then hand them over with the partner rollout pack and a training session for your channel team.
Managed fund operation
We run the cycle alongside your team: request intake, approval administration, claim checking, settlement follow-up, partner statements and the cycle review pack.
Cycle review for an existing fund
For businesses already running a fund. We review one completed cycle, test claim quality and utilisation, and recommend changes to the policy, the catalogue and the limits.
Why Gully Sales
What you are actually choosing when you choose us.
We start from your ledger, not a template
The first thing we produce is your own last-year spend, rebuilt from records. A policy argued from a template convinces nobody in the room. A policy argued from what you already spent is much harder to dismiss.
Channel, marketing and finance designed together
A fund fails when marketing writes it and finance refuses to settle it. Gully Sales works across the whole revenue system, so the policy, the proof standard and the accounting route are agreed in the same sitting.
Built for how Indian channels actually run
Requests arrive on a phone call, proof is a photograph, and relationships carry weight. We design a fund that survives that reality instead of one that assumes every dealer will log into a portal.
We operate it before we hand it over
We run the first full cycle with your team, so the forms, the limits and the proof list are corrected against real requests and real claims before the process becomes your responsibility.
The hard conversations are part of the job
Introducing a policy means telling some partners that an old arrangement is ending. We prepare those conversations with your channel managers, and we sit in on the ones that need us.
Where it applies
The same service, in different businesses.
Industry
The situation
How it applies
Likely benefit
Building materials and hardware
A brand sells through dealers across several districts and funds shop boards, festive offers and dealer meets on request, with no record of who received what.
A fund policy with accrual on purchase volume, an activity catalogue covering signage and dealer meets, and a claim pack built around photographs and invoices.
Support becomes predictable for the dealer and traceable for the brand, and the districts doing the work receive the larger allocation.
Industrial equipment
Distributors ask for demo units, exhibition stalls and technical seminars, and each request is negotiated separately with whichever regional manager takes the call.
Tier-based limits, a request form that requires a target account list, and a proof list built around attendance records and captured enquiries.
Every funded seminar leaves behind a list of named enquiries the manufacturer can follow up, not only a set of photographs.
Packaged food and FMCG
A growing brand supports distributors and retailers with visibility material and festive activity, and the spend climbs each year without a matching rise in sell-through.
Accrual on secondary sales, a catalogue built around in-store visibility, and a review that compares funded outlets with similar outlets that were not funded.
The brand can see which visibility activity moves stock in which kind of outlet, and stop paying for the rest.
Franchise networks
Franchisees pay a monthly marketing contribution into a common pool and increasingly ask what their money is actually being spent on.
A published fund policy, a clear split between national brand spend and local activity claims, and a statement showing each franchisee's contribution and drawdown.
The contribution stops being a point of friction at renewal, because every franchisee can read the account for themselves.
Consumer durables and appliances
Dealers in a new state need launch support, but the year's fund has already been absorbed by long-standing dealers in the home market.
A discretionary pool held back for new markets, released through a separate approval route with a coverage target attached to each release.
New districts get funded activity in their first season instead of waiting for the following year's budget.
Agri inputs
Field demonstrations and farmer meets are funded through distributors, and proof of the activity rarely reaches the head office in any usable form.
A simple mobile claim format built around photographs, an attendance sheet and dealer sign-off, with settlement inside a stated window.
Head office finally sees where demonstrations happened, and distributors are paid without having to chase anybody.
Building materials and hardware
The situation:
A brand sells through dealers across several districts and funds shop boards, festive offers and dealer meets on request, with no record of who received what.
How it applies:
A fund policy with accrual on purchase volume, an activity catalogue covering signage and dealer meets, and a claim pack built around photographs and invoices.
Likely benefit:
Support becomes predictable for the dealer and traceable for the brand, and the districts doing the work receive the larger allocation.
Industrial equipment
The situation:
Distributors ask for demo units, exhibition stalls and technical seminars, and each request is negotiated separately with whichever regional manager takes the call.
How it applies:
Tier-based limits, a request form that requires a target account list, and a proof list built around attendance records and captured enquiries.
Likely benefit:
Every funded seminar leaves behind a list of named enquiries the manufacturer can follow up, not only a set of photographs.
Packaged food and FMCG
The situation:
A growing brand supports distributors and retailers with visibility material and festive activity, and the spend climbs each year without a matching rise in sell-through.
How it applies:
Accrual on secondary sales, a catalogue built around in-store visibility, and a review that compares funded outlets with similar outlets that were not funded.
Likely benefit:
The brand can see which visibility activity moves stock in which kind of outlet, and stop paying for the rest.
Franchise networks
The situation:
Franchisees pay a monthly marketing contribution into a common pool and increasingly ask what their money is actually being spent on.
How it applies:
A published fund policy, a clear split between national brand spend and local activity claims, and a statement showing each franchisee's contribution and drawdown.
Likely benefit:
The contribution stops being a point of friction at renewal, because every franchisee can read the account for themselves.
Consumer durables and appliances
The situation:
Dealers in a new state need launch support, but the year's fund has already been absorbed by long-standing dealers in the home market.
How it applies:
A discretionary pool held back for new markets, released through a separate approval route with a coverage target attached to each release.
Likely benefit:
New districts get funded activity in their first season instead of waiting for the following year's budget.
Agri inputs
The situation:
Field demonstrations and farmer meets are funded through distributors, and proof of the activity rarely reaches the head office in any usable form.
How it applies:
A simple mobile claim format built around photographs, an attendance sheet and dealer sign-off, with settlement inside a stated window.
Likely benefit:
Head office finally sees where demonstrations happened, and distributors are paid without having to chase anybody.
Proof
Work we can point to.
HOPO Hardware
The problem:
A premium hardware and fittings brand needed wider brand reach and better coordination with the dealers carrying its range.
What we did:
Gully Sales supported HOPO Hardware on brand reach, dealer coordination and sales performance across its hardware and fittings network.
Over:
The published case study does not state a measurement period.
The result:
The case study reports enhanced brand reach, improved dealer coordination and improved sales performance for premium hardware and fittings.
What is a market development fund, and how is it different from a discount?
A market development fund is money you set aside for partners to spend on local marketing, released against an approved plan and settled against proof that the activity happened. A discount reduces the price a partner pays and disappears into their margin. The fund stays tied to an activity you agreed, which is why it can be measured, and why it can also be refused when the plan or the proof is missing.
What information and internal involvement does this need from us?
We need last year's spend records, credit note history, approval mails, your partner and tier list, and your margin structure so the fund can be sized honestly. From your side we need three people for a few hours each: the channel lead, the marketing lead and someone from finance who can commit to a settlement route. After that, the main input is approver availability during the first cycle.
How long does the engagement take?
We do not publish fixed timelines, because the audit stage depends entirely on how well past spend was recorded. What we can tell you is the sequence: audit, design workshop, policy and model, workflow build, rollout, then one operated cycle and a review. After the first conversation you get a written scope with each stage, the effort behind it and what we need from your team to keep it moving.
Should the fund accrue automatically or stay discretionary?
Most Indian SMB networks work well with both. An accrual, calculated as a share of what a partner buys, gives partners something they can predict and plan against, which is what earns their trust. A discretionary pool, held back centrally, lets you fund a new district or a launch where no purchase history exists yet. We model the split against your margin so the total stays affordable.
What can partners actually spend the fund on?
Whatever your activity catalogue lists, and nothing else without an exception. A typical catalogue covers shop and outlet branding, local digital campaigns, catalogues and samples, demo setups, trade events and exhibitions, dealer or customer meets, festive activity and joint offers. Each entry names what the partner must produce and what proof closes the claim, so nobody is guessing when the request is made.
What proof should a partner submit before a claim is paid?
It depends on the activity, and it is stated in advance. Signage usually needs the vendor invoice and dated photographs showing the installation. An event needs the invoice, photographs and an attendance or enquiry list. A digital campaign needs the invoice and a performance report. The rule that matters is that the proof list is published before the activity runs, not decided when the claim arrives.
How do we move existing partners onto a policy without upsetting them?
By honouring what is already committed and transitioning the rest. We identify partners whose informal support was larger than the new policy allows, and prepare each conversation with your channel manager: what changes, when it changes, and what the partner gains in predictability. Most partners accept a clear rule more easily than they accept a quiet, unexplained reduction the following year.
How is success measured?
Against your own baseline year. We track fund utilisation, the number of active partners drawing on the fund, districts where funded activity actually ran, partner-sourced enquiries, sell-through in funded markets, claim cycle time and proof compliance, disputes raised, and retention among funded partners. The second full cycle is the first fair comparison, because a policy takes a quarter to reach every partner properly.
4 more questions
What is excluded from the scope?
We do not run the campaigns themselves, design your incentive or margin structure, or act as your media buyer. Creative production, media purchase and event execution sit with your partners or their vendors. We also do not settle claims from your bank account. We build and operate the fund, and your finance team keeps control of the money leaving the business.
What if partners simply do not use the fund?
That is the most common failure, and it is usually a communication problem rather than a partner problem. Partners do not use what they do not know exists, cannot calculate, or expect to be refused. Monthly statements showing an available balance and an expiry date fix much of it. The rest is fixed by your channel managers raising the balance in every review conversation.
Do we need a partner portal or software to run this?
No. A fund needs a request form, an approval record, a claim record and a balance you can report. That can live in your existing CRM, in a partner portal if you already have one, or in a well-maintained shared sheet with a single named owner. We build it where your team already works, because a process people avoid opening will not survive its first busy month.
Can this work when distributors sell on to retailers we do not control?
Yes, and it usually needs two levels. The distributor draws on the fund, and part of the activity happens at retailer level, so the proof has to travel back up: outlet name, photographs, and where possible the secondary sales record for that outlet. We design the claim so a distributor can collect it without extra staff, because a proof standard nobody can meet simply stops claims.
Talk to us
Find out what last year's partner marketing money actually bought.
A first conversation is a conversation, not a pitch. Bring last year's partner support spend, however untidy it looks, and we will tell you honestly whether a formal fund is the right next step or whether something simpler will do for now.
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