#17: Hold Off on Indirect Sales Channels With These Clues

Chip Royce, Flywheel Advisors

You’re Selling Direct – Now What?

The truth hurts: your caution protects you from failure and breakthrough growth.

Do you stick with direct sales because you know it works, or because you can’t see another way?

When Direct Sales Feels Safe

Most B2B founders build their first go-to-market playbook around direct sales.

You control the message. You own the data. You protect the margins.

This direct-first approach makes perfect sense when:

• You need quick customer feedback to refine your offer
• Your sales process requires deep product expertise
• The stakes of getting it wrong feel too high

Direct sales create the illusion of control. Your team executes. Your metrics track. Your processes improve.

But something happens when companies mature. Growth stalls. CAC rises. Competitors multiply.

The Indirect Sales Channel Question Arrives

The day comes when someone asks: “Should we work with partners?”

This question creates immediate tension. Your brain races through objections:

• Partners won’t understand our product like we do
• We’ll lose control of the customer relationship
• Our margins will get squeezed
• What if they steal our customers?

Here’s the gut question: Are these valid concerns or convenient excuses?

The data suggests many B2B companies leave money on the table through channel avoidance. McKinsey found that B2B buyers now use ten or more channels in their purchase journey – up from just five in 2016.

Your customers want options. Partners create options.

When NOT to Add Indirect Sales Channels

Not every company should rush toward channel expansion. Four warning signs tell you to hold off:

1. You Can’t Feed The Machine

Partners need support. Training. Materials. Technical resources. Pricing programs.

If your team struggles to support direct sales, they’ll fail spectacularly with partners. Channel relationships amplify both strengths and weaknesses.

Reality check: Does your team have 25% excess capacity to build a channel program?

2. Your Strategy Lacks Clarity

Partners detect strategic confusion instantly. They need clear answers to:

• Who buys this product and why?
• How does the product fit with other solutions?
• What’s the ROI for the customer?
• What’s the ROI for the partner?

If your team gives different answers to these questions, partners will run away.

3. Your Market Remains Unproven

Partners won’t validate your market for you. They expect proof:

• Consistent sales success with direct customers
• Predictable implementation outcomes
• References willing to speak publicly
• Clear competitive differentiation

Channel partners accelerate proven models. They don’t fix broken ones.

4. Your Core Business Wobbles

If your direct business shows signs of instability, don’t distract yourself with channels:

• Declining retention rates
• Rising customer complaints
• Missed product deadlines
• Inconsistent sales performance

Fix your foundation before you build extensions.

The Indirect Sales Partners Who Changed Everything

Companies that successfully expand beyond direct sales share a pattern. They don’t try to boil the ocean with a massive channel program.

They start with one partner. One test case. One proof point.

A B2B software company I worked with struggled to crack the financial services market with their direct sales team. They lacked industry credibility and access to decision-makers.

Rather than hiring more reps, they partnered with a consultancy with strong relationships in the banking industry. This single partnership drove 22% of their revenue within 18 months – at acquisition costs 40% lower than direct sales.

The success came from focus, not breadth. They picked one partner, one market segment, and one clear value proposition.

The Five Questions That Predict Indirect Sales Success

Before you jump into channel partnerships, answer these five questions:

1. Can a partner explain your value proposition in under 30 seconds?
2. Do you have clear evidence of who buys and why?
3. Will you dedicate real resources to channel success?
4. Have you mapped potential channel conflicts and solutions?
5. Can you track attribution and ROI for each partner?

Four “yes” answers indicate readiness. Three or fewer suggests you need more preparation.

Your Next Move

The most successful B2B companies don’t see channels as either/or. They build portfolios that match how customers want to buy:

• Some customers need high-touch, direct relationships
• Others prefer trusted advisors who bundle solutions
• Still others want frictionless, self-service options

Your job isn’t to force customers into your preferred channel. Your job is to meet them where they make decisions.

Start with this question: “Where do our best prospects already seek solutions like ours?”

That answer reveals your first channel opportunity.

Don’t let fear of losing control keep you from the growth that waits beyond direct sales. But don’t rush in unprepared. The best channel strategy grows from strength, not desperation.

Are you ready to test the waters beyond direct? Or do you need to shore up your foundation first?

Either choice beats standing still while your market moves on without you.

Flywheel Advisors’ Chip Royce fixes broken channel programs for B2B tech leaders who want partners that actually sell instead of partners that just show up at your events.

We turn “maybe later” into “why didn’t we do this sooner?” with partner strategies that deliver revenue, not PowerPoints.