Indirect sales encompasses all revenue that flows through third parties rather than a company's internal sales organization. This includes reseller transactions, distributor sales, referral commissions, marketplace purchases, and any deal where an external partner plays a material role in the sale.
The term is broader than channel sales. While channel sales specifically refers to a structured partner program, indirect sales captures any transaction where the vendor is not the entity closing the deal with the end customer. An affiliate link on a blog that drives a purchase is indirect sales. A systems integrator bundling your software into a larger implementation is indirect sales.
Companies track indirect sales as a percentage of total revenue to understand their go-to-market mix. A healthy ratio depends on the business model. Infrastructure companies like Cisco or HPE may see 80 percent or more through indirect. A PLG SaaS startup might start at zero and gradually build to 20 or 30 percent as partner programs mature.
The challenge with indirect sales is attribution. When a customer interacts with both a partner and a direct rep before purchasing, who gets credit? This question drives significant debate and has spawned metrics like influenced revenue and sourced revenue to differentiate levels of partner contribution.
Measuring indirect sales accurately requires integration between PRM, CRM, and financial systems. Without clean data flows, companies undercount partner contribution, which in turn undermines investment in the partner program.