Keep doing what you are good at and look for partners who complement your strengths. For B2B businesses and markets, sales and services is an area where the right partner makes all the difference and gives you more room to breathe while allowing you to focus on keeping and improving your core business.

Ask yourself:

• What are the key industries you want to have covered?
• How strong is the competence level in the area of your products?
• What is the level of market coverage and customer reach? How fast can this be activated?

Your business may already have a good partner in a market, but how sustainable is this partner and how well prepared is this partner in the short, medium and long term in times of disruption?

You might never have thought of entering into a market because it is difficult or unclear what would be the future benefits. How about now when your core markets are lagging and new frontiers might open new possibilities?

These are some of the questions to consider:

• What is your plan if your sales and service partner is running out of business?
• Who is going to support your customers in this market?
• If you work with multiple partners, how do you protect your brand image, pricing and support?
• If your major markets are not working as they used to be, how can you, with minimal resources, open new growth and sales areas?
• Are you sure your local service network will still be functioning in a few months?
• As your competitors are in the same situation as you are, can you take advantage of that by moving faster than them?

When some of your smaller markets need more attention or when they are not generating as many benefits as they should, it might be time to rethink your strategy to overcome the below challenges:

• If you are in a situation where your full attention is needed on your home market, core employees and core customers, who will take care of the above 30 percent revenue markets?
• Is cash flow a concern and are there quick optimizations possible to stay in a market?
• outsource sales, service and support networks without your customers giving up any benefits they believe your brand gives them?
• Is streamlining your distribution network across a certain region a way to save time and resources for your channel management?
• How sure are you that your local channel partner can fulfill payment terms you have extended to them? Is it based on an historical relationship and are you prepared for any default of payment?

Direct sales, distribution or a mixed model? All of these are valid strategies to enter or manage different geographic regions for your organization. They each have different advantages in times of accelerated growth, saturated markets, downturns and disruptive events.

Is a market where you generate five percent of your global revenue worth five percent of your attention during a crisis? Maybe not while you are in crisis mode, but is a loss of five percent market share acceptable?

Focus your attention on where you have the fastest and most visible impact. This is usually where you have a certain physical reach. Rethink your other markets and sectors for short term profitability and long-term sustainable growth.