Channel Strategy

Company / product: [Name] Owner: [Name / role] Date: [Date] Review date: [Date + 12 months]

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1. Objectives

[State what this channel strategy must achieve, with numbers and a timeframe. e.g., "Reach [$X] in new revenue across [region] within [N] months, while keeping blended customer acquisition cost below [target]."]

• Primary objective: [Revenue / coverage / segment-entry goal]
• Constraints: [Budget, headcount, margin floor, timeline]
• What success looks like in 12 months: [Concrete end state]

2. Target segments

[Who you are selling to, and how they prefer to buy. The channel must fit the buyer, not the other way round.]

Segment	Who they are	How they buy	Priority
[Segment 1]	[Description]	[Self-serve / sales-led / via partner]	[High/Med/Low]
[Segment 2]	[Description]	[Buying behaviour]	[Priority]
[Segment 3]	[Description]	[Buying behaviour]	[Priority]

3. Channel options

[Score each candidate channel honestly. "Fit" = match to your target buyers; "Economics" = margin after channel cost vs. lifetime value; "Effort" = build cost and time-to-revenue.]

Channel	Fit	Economics	Effort
Direct sales	[High/Med/Low]	[Margin / CAC note]	[Build / time note]
Self-serve / product-led	[Fit]	[Economics]	[Effort]
Resellers / VARs	[Fit]	[Economics]	[Effort]
Referral / affiliate partners	[Fit]	[Economics]	[Effort]
Marketplace	[Fit]	[Economics]	[Effort]

4. Prioritisation

[Based on the table above, state which channels you will invest in now, which you will pilot, and which you will defer — and why. A strategy is what you say no to.]

• Invest now: [Channel(s)] — [rationale]
• Pilot / test: [Channel(s)] — [what you will learn and the success bar]
• Defer: [Channel(s)] — [why, and what would change the decision]
• Sequencing: [What you do first, and what unlocks the next step]

5. Partner & enablement plan

[For each indirect channel: how you recruit, onboard, and equip partners, and how you protect their margin.]

• Recruitment: [Ideal partner profile and how you will find them]
• Onboarding & training: [Certification, materials, ramp time]
• Enablement assets: [Decks, battle cards, demo access, playbook, portal]
• Incentives & margin: [Discount tiers, deal registration, MDF / co-marketing]
• Conflict management: [Rules of engagement, account ownership, pricing consistency]

6. Metrics

[How you will know each channel is working. Assign an owner and a target to every channel.]

Channel	Owner	Key metric	Target
[Channel 1]	[Name]	[Pipeline / conversion / CAC / contribution]	[Number]
[Channel 2]	[Name]	[Metric]	[Target]
[Channel 3]	[Name]	[Metric]	[Target]

Review cadence: [e.g., monthly channel review; full strategy review every 12 months.]