activities to win and serve the customer lie more with one party . This structure encourages us both to concentrate on obtaining the most profitable deal .
Some of the managed partners are actually strategic partners . In such cases , the collaboration incorporates joint activities such as newsletters and seminars . Sales personnel from both sides meet up to share opportunities . With some partners Comsoft receives a fee for lead generation , in case only services are sold .
Vincent has several ideas on how to promote partner loyalty . “ First of all we have to further enhance our reward structure with proper lead registrations and incentives . The second action is to further share knowledge about customers . We receive marketing funding from our vendors , and a third option is ' to apply that money in consultation with our partners .
Finally , we can organise events for our potential clients and promote our partners there .”
Apart from distribution partners Comsoft has alliances with complementing companies to make collaborative offerings . In these cases no fees are paid . One example is the collaboration with IT specialist Inter Access . Inter Access will source all its software licensing activities with Comsoft , and Comsoft will be the preferred implementation partner for Inter Access .
He sees a major challenge ahead : “ As Microsoft offers more and more solutions „ through the cloud ‟, the need for software licenses is bound to decrease . We already notice it in the market . We will have to adapt both our business model and our partnerships to these changing circumstances .”
Franchising
Franchising is an important growth strategy for many organisations , particularly in retail . Franchising can also be applied in the business-to-business market to expedite the sale of products or technology . In return for the brand name , the service concept and often the purchase of products , franchisees pay a fixed sum or a percentage of the turnover . This often concerns long-lasting contracts in which the franchisor and franchisee clearly depend on each other .
For a franchisor it is often important to grow rapidly through the number of franchisees , as this yields cost benefits in three respects :
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� He is better able to spread his investments in the concept . Marketing communication generally becomes more effective since there are more sales outlets . Scale size enables him to negotiate better purchasing conditions .
Additionally , it is a way of establishing a brand name that requires few extra own investments .
Nevertheless , the value of the franchise format is somewhat doubtful . Many franchise formulas collapse relatively soon because the concept is not embraced by consumers , or even because it proves impossible to find sufficient franchisees . 70