Unfortunately, there isn’t one list of the best companies with whom you should partner. Instead, finding the right programs to join or companies to invite to your program will depend on your individual goals, capabilities, and more.

This article will dig into the green and red flags you should look for when exploring potential companies with which to partner.

Finding the Best Companies With Which to Partner

Goal Alignment

Similarly, if you’re hoping to grow your ecosystem, you should plan to partner with organizations that will create new opportunities for you.

Audience Overlap

While you may not know the exact accounts a particular organization is targeting before partnering with them, you can ensure you both hope to connect with the same demographic audience. There are free tools like Reveal which allow you to view audience overlap between your CRM and a potential partners, without showcasing your entire prospect/customer list.

Maturity

At less mature organizations, you might be one of fewer partners, which may mean you get additional attention. However, these teams won’t be as established, and will probably have fewer resources.

Program Requirements

For example, some programs may require a set amount of leads delivered per quarter or may have revenue minimums. There isn’t a problem with program requirements, but you should make yourself aware of them to ensure you’re prepared to fulfill them.

Red Flags of Which to Be Aware

The partner organization doesn’t vet you. 

Just like you vet potential partners or potential hires within your organization, any programs you’re joining should vet you to ensure you’re a good fit. If the company you’re looking to partner with lets everyone into their program, they likely don’t dedicate the right attention to engaging partners.

The organization has unrealistic expectations.

Many partner programs have requirements. This is to weed out bad-fit partners or organizations that aren’t prepared to collaborate. However, some programs may have unrealistic expectations, like wildly high revenue minimums or insane lead share requirements.

Be wary of organizations with too high of expectations — it will be frustrating for your team to keep up with impossible standards.

Identifying the Best Partners to Welcome into Your Program

Goal Alignment

Audience Overlap

Resource Availability

Additionally, your potential partner should be prepared to conduct org mapping, introducing each of your team’s key stakeholders to each other.

Red Flags of Which to Be Aware

A partner is only interested in driving revenue.

While revenue is a fantastic benefit for you both, you should each have additional goals tied to your partnership. The path to driving revenue through a partnership isn’t a quick one, so organizations focused only on this key metric will likely churn quickly.

Your potential partner is involved with tons of partner programs.

It’s great to know your partner has a strong ecosystem, but be wary of organizations that are overcommitted to too many programs. These partners will likely be hard to schedule back, they may take weeks to get back to emails, and likely will be slow to complete training.

It takes time and resources to grow partnerships, so ensure any prospective partner is prepared to step up.

Fantastic Partner Programs to Consider

Box

Cambium Networks

Zoom

Zoom partners with various organization types, including service providers, technology service distributors, alliance partners, developers, and more. By partnering with Zoom’s established business, your organization can gain expertise, expand your reach, and stand out in the industry.

Want more examples of the cream of the crop? Read 40 of the Best SaaS Partner Programs (and Why They Are So Good).

Grow Your Organization Through Partnerships

Whether you’re looking to join a partner program or start your own, partnerships can be incredible catalysts for growing your organization. Keep these qualifications and red flags in mind when exploring potential companies with which to partner – a bad fit can damage your organization, while wasting valuable time and resources.

Build a Channel Partner Recruitment Plan + Email — If you’re ready to start recruiting channel partners, this article will help you build an effective recruitment plan. Discover the key strategies you need for recruiting optimal partners, including social media and email tactics.

Adding Partner Types to Your Channel Sales Program — There are various partner types you may consider adding to your channel sales program, but knowing when to add which type to your program can be challenging. Read this article to learn more about the different partner types, including those you may consider adding to your ecosystem.

Building a Channel Partner Go To Market (GTM) Guide — After building the foundation for your partner program, a go-to-market strategy is critical for ensuring you’re ready to leverage the investments you’ve made. This article digs into building an effective go-to-market strategy from planning, to growing, supporting, and engaging long-term.

Buy, Build, or Partner – Weighing the Pros and Cons of Each — A big consideration when choosing companies to partner with is whether their technology can fill gaps within your own. This article dives into how to find such deficiencies and determine whether you should buy a quick fix, build one of your own, or seek partner-based solutions.