Channel Champions

If product is no longer king, what is? Companies like Dell Computers, Lexus, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com have found phenomenal success by coming up with the answer-channels. The channels by which goods are marketed and distributed have become the new drivers of economic success. From these channels flow customer satisfaction, market share, revenue gains and profitability. It’s not so much what you sell today, but how you sell it. And there is no going back. In The Channel Advantage, Booz-Allen & Hamilton consultants Steven Wheeler an Evan Hirsh write about dozens of companies that have excelled in this channel-driven economy. In one telling example, Wheeler and Hirsch analyze the great success of Dell Computer. While Dell makes top-quality personal computers, it’s the company’s direct-to-customer sales channel that sets it apart. By building computers to order, Dell keeps inventory low, lets consumers buy exactly what they want, and pushes prices down by cutting out the middleman. The Channel Advantage examines today’s “Channel Champions,” the companies that have mastered this new environment.