One of the many online or remote business opportunities is a position known as a “subagent”, which is also called a channel partner. You can use your own prior experience from working in an industry you’re familiar with to make agreements with master agents who will manage the backend office administration needs of your business while you sell services for service providers or manufacturers in your industry. Subagencies are a more complicated option for online work, but they are very lucrative. If you like making a lot of money and have the ability to maintain long term business relationships, then this business option may be right for you.
What is the Role of a Subagent (Channel Partner)?
Companies in various industries have departments (the channels) within their firms via which their employees service partnerships with external companies (channel partners) to acquire more business
Most people understand the concept of a referral program. The channel is similar to a referral program; in fact some companies only offer referral programs. Other companies have entire business units dedicated to attracting external companies to sell their products. These companies offer commission packages, bonuses, and other incentives to persuade external companies to introduce customers to them.
In the technology industry a service provider like AT&T has a channel department who will appoint channel managers to meet with managed services and consulting companies. The channel manager will build partnerships with companies who sell services, or maybe just administrative services (master agents), and these master agents will partner with smaller companies focused on sales agents, consultants, and managed services.
A company dedicated to consulting or sales will become a subagent with the master agent, and their partnership will enable the subagent to sell and be commissioned by the service providers for whom they choose to sell services. There is no minimum amount of sales needed to retain these relationships, but those who sell more will find they can negotiate lower percentage payments for the management of the backend office administrative work.
Technology consultants and managed services providers will choose the service providers they like best and work with them to acquire customers for them. A lot of the work is done by the channel managers and their support teams, which means there isn’t a whole lot of product knowledge needed. The subagent will introduce their customer to these support teams and then, once the deals are closed, they will be compensated for as many years as the customer keeps the service, which creates residual income.
Each service provider will have different compensation structures, but most are evergreen which means that as long as the customer keeps and pays for the services, the agent will be paid a percentage as a commission. Ideally, when closing a sale, the subagent will expect that customer to stay for at least three years. Typically businesses will stay for much longer, which means the agent will be paid every single month for all those years.
Another industry where this business model works is automotive parts. Mechanics can enter into these subagent relationships to create lucrative partnerships in which they are paid for both the service of the car and the percentage of the parts to fix it.
How to Become a Subagent
If you enjoy the industry you work in and want to create a business based on this model, then reach out to some of the companies you work with to find out if they have a channel program. It’s very easy to find channel partnerships in technology these days. Other sectors include cyber security, VoIP (voice over internet protocol), and network infrastructure. These are some of the top paying channel programs.
You can learn more about my experience as a subagent in About me and the posts How I Make Money Online (Part 1) and How I Make Money Online (Part 2).
Necessary Skills for Subagents:
Communication and organizational skills are important. You also need to be able to learn and retain a lot of information you will need to have on the ready, which means you need to either have a fantastic memory or a binder/online folder with all the details you will need at your fingertips. Your differentiating factor will be your authenticity and people skills; by being more likable, more patient, more positively aggressive, and more organized than your competition, you can stand out, because there is a lot of competition out there. The customers you acquire will expect you to go to those service providers as their advocate, and the service providers will expect you to make sure they know all the relevant details and categories regarding your customers, so it’s important to be great with people.
It takes guts! You need to be a bold, assertive, and “let-things-roll-off-like-water-on-a-duck’s-back” sort of person. No worrying, just doing. Subagents manage a lot of human relationships, and as with all human relationships, people are complicated and can be challenging. You need to have the ability to always remain polite but also be confident at the same time.
Do some research about what external programs are in your industry, and if you don’t find channel partnerships, maybe you can at least find referral programs. Some referral or affiliate programs will pay as much as ten percent of the sale to the person who referred the customer. Do some research and give some thought to it. You’ll discover if becoming a subagent is a good career fit for you.
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