
Title: Why You Should Make Products for Your Customers’ Customers
As the CEO and cofounder of Duda, a leading web design platform for web professionals, agencies, and SaaS platforms, I’ve seen firsthand the importance of targeting small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 99.9% of businesses in America are SMBs. While this diverse market represents an incredible opportunity, it also poses significant challenges.
Direct sales can be a costly and time-consuming endeavor for companies looking to reach this demographic. Instead, I recommend adopting a channel-centric go-to-market strategy that leverages existing relationships and expertise. By doing so, businesses can tap into established networks and scale their impact more efficiently.
Rather than attempting to build countless individual relationships with each SMB, we at Duda focus on partnering with agencies and technology platforms that have already built trust with their customers. These channels provide a cost-effective way to reach and support SMBs without having to start from scratch.
By working with partners, businesses can not only scale their sales engine but also gain access to valuable expertise and insights that would be difficult or impossible to replicate through direct marketing efforts. This approach allows companies to build strong relationships with the right customers while reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
To make this strategy work, it’s essential to focus on several key areas:
1. **Assets:** Providing partners with the necessary marketing and sales assets is crucial for success. These can include brochures, demo videos, sales scripts, and case studies tailored for the SMB market.
2. **Training:** Properly training partners on your product and its value proposition is vital. This includes understanding the specific needs of SMBs and how your solution addresses those needs. Ongoing support and training are essential to ensure partners can effectively promote and sell your products.
3. **Product Tailoring:** It’s crucial to design a product that is easy to resell through the channel. This may mean adjusting features and pricing, as well as creating a streamlined onboarding process that works for agencies and technology platforms.
4. **Channel-Specific Dashboard:** A dedicated dashboard that allows partners to manage multiple clients efficiently is essential. Such a tool should include client management, team collaboration, and multi-account management capabilities.
5. **Expertise Distribution:** By working with channels, businesses can distribute expertise and solutions tailored to the needs of SMBs. This enables partners to provide customized experiences for their clients, further increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
By adopting this channel-centric approach, companies can not only increase their reach but also build trust and credibility with their target audience. By empowering channels to sell on their behalf, businesses can scale their impact while reducing costs and improving efficiency.
In conclusion, it’s essential for businesses targeting SMBs to consider the power of a channel-centric go-to-market strategy. By leveraging existing relationships and expertise, companies can create scalable sales engines that benefit everyone involved – your business, your partners, and ultimately the end-users who are SMBs.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/04/21/why-you-should-make-products-for-your-customers-customers/