They either own their own businesses or work for dealers or distributors that resell your products or services. This can complicate the effectiveness of any incentive program. Most companies sell through some form of a middleman.
Distributors generally take the billing for the products or services they sell to other companies.
Dealers, which often buy from distributors or directly from manufacturers, sell products or services directly to consumers or businesses. Agents and independent representatives usually sell to distributors, dealers, or end users and receive a commission from the companies they represent. How your incentive program is structured should reflect the type of middleman you want to motivate and your relationship to the companies involved. As with any incentive program, begin by specifying your objectives, if possible in numeric terms. Generally, you should have one primary objective and perhaps one or two others that are related.