Channel conflict management that settles territory disputes on evidence.

Channel conflict management is the work of preventing and settling clashes between channel partners who sell to the same customers, by setting territories, coverage and partner roles on evidence. Conflict builds where partners overlap, and where gaps in coverage pull them into each other's territory. Nextyn supplies the evidence with a territory-by-territory map of outlet density, partner overlap, white space and competitor strongholds, built from field visits and drawing on 15,000+ on-ground field researchers.

A Nextyn coverage and conflict mapping study delivers three outputs: an outlet density map by territory, white space and partner overlap territory by territory, and competitor strongholds in every market covered. Each output comes from field visits and partner interviews, not from partner self-reports:

• Outlet density map: the outlets in each territory and how many carry your brand
• White space and overlap: where no partner covers the ground, and where two or more compete
• Competitor strongholds: the territories where rival brands hold the outlets and partners

Nextyn visits and interviews four groups for coverage and conflict mapping: the client's distributors and dealers, the outlets in each territory, the trade customers who buy there, and competing partners. Field researchers count outlets on the ground in each territory, and interviews explain who serves whom and where partners collide:

• Distributors and dealers appointed by the client
• Outlets and trade counters in each territory, whether or not they carry the brand
• Contractors, installers and trade buyers who choose where to buy
• Partners of competing brands, for their coverage and reach

Nextyn maps channel coverage and conflict in the United States, Canada and Germany, among other markets, with field presence in 85 countries and 50+ languages in-house. Markets and territories are agreed at scoping, starting where partner disputes or coverage gaps cost the most. Recent Nextyn channel work includes distributor and installer research across the United States, Canada and Germany, and mapping of three different routes to the shelf in Canada, Brazil and Mexico.

Nextyn recommends commissioning coverage and conflict mapping before appointing new partners, redrawing territories or ruling on a dispute between partners, while those decisions are still open. A channel conflict example: a new dealer appointed into a territory where two partners already compete. With the map in hand, new appointments go to white space instead, and boundary changes rest on evidence. A map also earns its cost at three other moments: a merger or exit among partners, a new product line entering the channel, and a competitor gaining outlets in a core territory.

A Nextyn coverage and conflict mapping project runs in four steps, from brief to read-out, and nothing is commissioned until the client approves the plan. The client sees the sample, method and price before any fieldwork, and reads every interview with the Nextyn team at the end.

1. Submit the brief: the markets, the territories and the decision the map must settle.
2. Receive a plan within 48 hours: which outlets and partners Nextyn will visit and interview, how, and what the work costs.
3. Approve the plan: fieldwork starts only after sign-off.
4. Review the read-out: every interview read together, showing where partners agree, where they conflict and what is still open.

Nextyn sends a research plan within 48 hours of receiving the brief, stating which outlets and partners will be visited and interviewed, how, and what the work costs. The plan sets the fieldwork length for the markets and territories in scope, so a single-region map and a national network review each get their own timeline. Nothing is commissioned, and no fieldwork starts, until the client approves the plan.

Nextyn's coverage and conflict mapping counts every outlet on the ground, carrying your brand or not, while CRM territory data shows only the accounts your partners already sell to. The CRM shows where you sell, and the map adds the outlets you do not reach and the partners competing for them.