Amazon’s exponential growth is no secret. There are currently an estimated 2.5 million active sellers on the marketplace, with more joining every day. Naturally, increased competition makes it harder to distinguish your brand. This has created a growing demand for agencies and consultants who can help businesses optimize and grow their Amazon channel quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately, not all can deliver results – not necessarily because they are unqualified, but because the agency and the client are mismatched. The key to success is to find the best Amazon partner suited for your business. This is not always easy. To help, we’ve compiled the three most important questions you should ask an Amazon agency or consultant.
What distinguishes your agency from the rest?
The first thing to know is that not all Amazon agencies or consultants are the same. Some are large organizations with many departments while others can be a one-person operation. Size does not necessarily matter, but experience and qualifications do. With this in mind, the first question to ask is: what is unique about your agency or consultancy? If they have trouble answering, consider this a red flag. For example, Channel Key prides itself on three primary distinctions that have taken years of hard work and results to achieve:
- Our Pedigree
Channel Key has a decade of direct strategy management and successful execution on the Amazon platform with a quarter billion in cumulative sales. Our data-driven Amazon strategies and tactics are tested and proven. In other words, we walk the walk.
- Our Boutique Approach
Every business is unique. Customizing a successful Amazon marketplace strategy begins with learning and understanding the particular and often changing needs of your business.
- Our Proprietary Process
Channel Key has developed customized processes to create alignment and maximize results, including our very own proprietary algorithms and technology available nowhere else.
What type of business is your agency best positioned to help succeed on Amazon?
This is one of the most important questions that agencies and consultants will often avoid. A common answer is we can help everyone. This is another red flag. The truth is all agencies and consultants are best suited for clients with particular needs. For example, a small consultancy likely won’t have the bandwidth to build and launch an Amazon storefront for a manufacturer with new products in high-maintenance categories. On the other hand, these consultants may be perfect for managing the day-to-day operations of a small business’s Amazon channel. It just depends.
Channel Key specializes in helping businesses that are brand owners and/or manufacturers and currently have a presence on Amazon. We focus on maximizing sales. This can’t happen without winning the buy box, which is only eligible to brand owners. Registering your brand with Amazon opens the door for exponential growth by providing a host of benefits and tools not available to other sellers, including:
- Greater control over your product listings
- Amazon support for case management and resolutions
- Exclusive search and reporting tools
- Proactive brand protections
- Access to A+ content and Enhanced Brand Content
- Exclusive visibility options like Sponsored Brands, the Early Reviewer Program, and Vine
With these opportunities comes more work. There are many moving parts, levers, and strategies that all need to be fine-tuned and closely monitored to work together. When done correctly, sales can skyrocket. Channel Key’s unique infrastructure includes a wide range of specialists who are experienced and trained in these key areas to provide a comprehensive and holistic approach that is most conducive to success for brand owners.
What can your business expect regarding growth and performance?
Last, but certainly not least, you should always ask an agency or consultant what to expect in terms of results. This will tell you a lot about your prospective partner – especially if they project numbers that sound too good to be true. Beware of agencies that promise exponential growth in a short amount of time. The Amazon marketplace just doesn’t work that way. One of the best ways to get a sense of the kind of results an agency or consultant can provide you is to vet what they’ve done for previous clients. Agencies with proven track records will happily offer case studies detailing not only the results they’ve produced for other businesses, but how they’ve achieved them.
With more than 30 years of combined experience, Channel Key has helped complete more than 4.5 million e-commerce transactions, managed more than 145,000 SKUs, and generated more than $250 million in Amazon sales. We routinely detail the results of various campaigns, tactics, and strategies that have elevated sales and are measurable by data-driven key performance indicators such as conversion rate, return on ad spend, organic search ranking, total page views, advertising cost of sale, and more.
FINAL THOUGHTS | Core Values
A partnership between a business and an Amazon agency or consultant is a big decision that both parties should carefully consider. The most important factor is whether your Amazon partner is the right agency for your business, and vice versa. Channel Key has a successful track record because we are selective about the brands with which we partner. We understand that not every business will be a good fit, and that’s okay. While being a brand owner is a strong criterion, other factors are equally important to us. A successful partnership requires a strong foundation. To help secure this, we work with brands who share our core values:
- OWN EVERYTHING – High Standards and Ultimate Accountability
- POSITIVITY IS A CHOICE – Be Aware and Control What You Can Control
- PASSION FOR GROWTH – Reset Your Bar Personally and Professionally
- ROOT THE PROBLEM – Solve the Root Case, Don’t Band-Aid the Problem
- ADAPT DAILY – Growth Mindset, Mental Nimbleness and Flexibility
- HONEST COMMUNICATION – Open, Effective and Honest Communication
At the end of the day, success for our clients means success for us. As a business, you should seek an agency or consultant that follows this guiding principle, aligns with your company values, understands your particular needs, is open and transparent about how they can help you, and has the record to back it up. If you are interested in learning more about whether Channel Key is the right agency to help elevate your business on Amazon, contact us today for a free consultation.
