Allbound Logo - Partner Programs
RESOURCES

Events

BLOG

The Partner-First Approach to Developing Partnerships That Add Value

Suggested Content

The Ultimate Guide to Referral Partnerships
BY:  Ali Spiric
Grow Together with PRM
BY:  Ali Spiric
Mastering Resell Partnerships: The Ultimate Guide
BY:  Ali Spiric

Partnerships are no longer just a ‘nice to have’ – they’re a must in today’s world. If you’re reading this, you likely already know the value that partners bring to an organization: how they help shorten the sales cycle, increase conversions and drive interest from a wider audience, among other benefits.

But how do you go about developing partnerships that drive real impact and tangible results? Partners are great, but the right partner is irreplaceable.

There are two pieces to this puzzle: finding the right partners who will help you add value to start with and then developing those partnerships to leverage that potential.

What Does Adding Value Through Partnerships Look Like?

As a whole, partnerships provide immense value to the entire ecosystem: to your customers, to your organization and to your partners themselves.

For customers, that means a better product or service.

Exactly what this looks like depends on the partner type and your relationship with them. But, in essence, it involves adding something extra to your product or service that fills a customer need.

That could be anything from additional features to a tech integration to post-sale support or a multitude of other added benefits.

Better Solutions Together

As just one example: independent software vendors (ISVs).

Amiee Keenan is the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at the ISV Society, which helps support and help ISVs create joint marketing initiatives and generate leads. The company was recently recognized as Allbound’s Channel Marketer of the Year.

Keenan explained what adding value to the customer means in her community.

“Basically what we do – or what ISVs do is create solutions for the numerous ERPs [Enterprise Resource Planning] out there, such as Microsoft, Acumatica, NetSuite, Sage SAP and make those solutions even better,

Amiee Keenan

Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at the ISV Society

“ISVs have a really integral part in the ERP process … ISVs can help enhance those systems that partners are selling and make them more attractive, helping meet the customer’s needs.”

Not only is that beneficial for the end-user, but it means that the company itself is able to offer a more tailored, specialized product.

“They can leverage the ISVs that really also concentrate on that buyer in that industry and that niche to leverage each other’s expertise in that area, as well as the solutions that enhance it,” Keenan said.

And that, in turn, can help attract leads and shorten the sales cycle to improve the company’s margins. It’s a win for partners, too, who can tap into a wider network of leads and gain valuable insight for long-term growth in addition to in-the-moment selling support like co-marketing initiatives.

To recap, adding value through partnerships can look:

  • Value for customers → Better product or service.

  • Value for businesses → Increased sales, expanded reach and improved bottom line.

  • Value for partners → Access to opportunities for growth and support.

And the first step to tapping into those benefits? Finding the right partners.

Finding Channel Sales Partners That Will Add Value

What Kind of Partners Do You Need?

There’s no one right answer to this question. There are many different types of partners and the right one for you will depend on a number of factors including your business model, goals and product or service offerings.

That said, here are some of the most common partner types:

  • Referral partners

  • Reseller partners

  • Value-Added Reseller Partners

  • Alliance partners

  • Managed Service providers

  • Independent Software Vendors (ISVs)

What Should You Look For in Your Partners?

Finding your ideal channel sales partner is part knowing what you need, part recruiting from a diverse pool of partners and part offering a great partner experience that attracts top level talent.

We’ll dig into recruiting and retaining further down. In terms of figuring out exactly what you need from your partners, there are two parts to solidifying how you plan to qualify and vet partners:

  • Ideal Partner Profile

  • Partner Scorecard

An ideal partner profile (IPP) is, as the name suggests, a description of the characteristics that the best first partner has. This can include everything from their customer base to geographic reach to technology utilization, and everything in between.

“It is so critical to learn what an ideal partner profile is and do exercises internally with all the stakeholders,” said Dina Moskowitz, CEO and Founder of PartnerOptimizer.

“It plays a role at every stage in the channel.”

To create your IPP, as we covered in our in-depth guide to partner recruitment, start with the following steps:

  • Research competitors in your industry for a sense of the most common partner types and structures.

  • Take stock of your internal CRM data to identify any informal partnerships that are already running in the background, like a consultant managing your software.

  • Dig into support tickets – you may uncover prospective partners who have reached out with an interest in working together.

  • Look at your current customer base for a better understanding of their needs and wants.

Typically, Moskowitz told us, only five to ten percent of the partnerships who are being recruited are actively driving revenue. Recruiting the right partners from the start improves success for everyone involved.

“Make sure that you have the best possible view of who that ideal partner is so that you can be intentional with all of your partner development and partner growth,” Moskowitz said.

DOWNLOAD: The Ideal Partner Profile Template

From there, think ahead about how you’ll be evaluating your partner’s post-recruitment to ensure that expectations are being met from both sides. This is where a partner scorecard comes in handy: it gives you a visual representation of the success of your partnership.

Look at each of these five areas:

  • Training and Onboarding Progress

  • Deals Registered / Support Provided

  • MDF ROI

  • Pipeline / Annual Goal Pacing

  • Successful Plays

Measuring progress with quantifiable metrics and having ongoing conversations about your mutual goals is key to developing long-term partnerships that drives results.

DOWNLOAD: Channel Partner Scorecard Template

Developing Partnerships in Which All Parties Win

Why Be Partner-First & Partner-Led

One of the most important ways to develop partnerships that add value is by providing that value to your partners from the on-set. Give before you get it is true is most relationships and partnerships are no exception.

Taking a partner-first approach to your channel sales is a sure-fire way to make partnerships front and center.

But first, what is a partner-first? And what impact can it have?

We recently dug into these questions, and more, in our first live podcast about transforming revenue generation with a partner-led approach.

“Partner-first, to me, is when a company decides that their go-to-market strategy from a sales perspective is to run everything through a channel partner relationship,” explained John McCabe, Vice President of World Wide Channel Sales at SafeGuard Cyber.

“You build relationships that way, you build pipelines, you extend your sales force and it allows you to have more feet on the street.”

The impact is powerful, both in terms of revenue growth and customer acquisition cost reduction.

Margot Mazur, a long-time strategic channel leader and Senior Manager of Platform Marketing at HubSpot, calls having a strong ecosystem “mission critical” in today’s world.

“That ecosystem will help you drive leads, drive submissions, drive retention and drive revenue down the line.”

Those benefits don’t happen by accident, though. When Mazur hears about a partner program that is struggling to generate leads, she asks:

“Are you sending leads to your partners? Are you promoting your partners? Are you helping your partners? If not, why would you expect them to do that for you,” she said.

“Having really, really strong partner relationships … It helps both of you.”

Nurturing the Partnership at Every Step

As you move towards providing value for your partners, think about the different touchpoints that arise at each stage of the partner journey:

  • Welcome

  • Onboarding

  • Training

  • Prospecting

  • Deal registration

  • Winning deals and celebrating successes

  • Advancing through the partner tiers

At each stage, look for ways to help your partner advance to the next step in a supported, partner-focused environment.

This means sharing leads, for instance, or working together on joint marketing initiatives. It means developing partner content, sales collateral, playbooks and other information to help make the sale. Above all, it means meeting partners where they are at and listening to what they say they need.

DOWNLOAD: The Ultimate Partner Journey Map Template

Of course, foundational to that is having open and honest communication at every stage.

Part of that communication revolves around your goals and expectations with your partner program – both internally and externally. Make sure you have clearly laid out KPIs and metrics that you plan to track, so you can keep everyone on the same page.

“If you are a newer company trying to get market share and bring in business, you’re going to be tracking KPIs based on how many partners you bring in and how much opportunity you create,” said McCabe.

“When you’re a more mature organization, the channel becomes a part of the forecasting that you do with your CRO. All the [sales] reps have to have a cadence and partner daily routine because that’s where they’re getting most of their leads.”

And, of course, you’ll want to have a solid deal registration process and clearly laid out rules of engagement to avoid channel conflict.

Fostering a Culture of Collaboration

A strong culture of collaboration goes a long way in creating a great partner experience and ecosystem that will drive results for all parties involved.

Stanislaw Wasowicz of Smart Recruiters knows this first hand, as he told us recently on our podcast.

The SaaS company works with hundreds of partners, from pre-integrated ISV partners to service partners.

“We have different programs fitting all of them but the red line in between is that call for collaboration … we try to work together at a common goal,” Wasowicz said.

Although Smart Recruiters works with a huge number of partners, Wasowicz doesn’t manage them all – that would be an impossible task. Instead, partners are embedded across the organization. This includes:

  • Co-innovation on the product and R&D side to create joint value propositions.

  • Co-marketing and joint promotion efforts.

  • Collaboration between sales teams on open deals, recommendations and exchanging intel.

  • Embedding the most valuable partners in demos.

“I’m trying to find this balance between breadth and depth, where we’ve built programs that allow us to operate a really decentralized partner collaboration model,” Wasowicz said.

“We essentially try to embed partner motions into every aspect of our organization.”

At each junction, the benefits are exponentially greater because of the collaborative culture that takes full advantage of each player’s strengths. After all, that’s at the heart of partnerships.

“The future is ecosystems. The sooner you can get with that program, the better,” he said.

Build a Parter-Led Program That Drives Results 

As you build and develop partnerships with an eye towards providing value to your customers, your partners and your organization, there are a few things to keep in mind.

How to Optimally Segment Partners

No matter which platform you use to manage your partners, you should be able to segment your channel depending on a few factors. Just like you would segment your sales...

read more

The Ultimate Partner Journey Map Template

Partnering can be a challenging journey to navigate. Whether you’re new to partnerships, or a seasoned channel professional, mapping the partner journey at your organization can ensure everyone is on...

read more

30-60-90 for Partner Leaders

Whenever someone takes on a new role — no matter how experienced they are — it’s essential to establish clear goals. A 30-60-90-day plan defines objectives and breaks them down...

read more

No Easy Button for Channel Sales

Following the precedent set by the last few years, 2023 brings with it no economic guarantees. As channel leaders and CEOs do their best to prepare for a looming unknown,...

read more

What’s New at Allbound, Q4 2022

Watch on-demand to learn What’s New at Allbound. In this quarterly product update webinar, we discuss our latest features and provide actionable examples on how you can improve your partner’s...

read more

How to Become a Partnership Manager

When considering furthering one’s education, one might look into majoring in business, communications, finance, or even veterinary science. But what about partner management? You won’t see many schools advertising, or...

read more

Why I Chose Allbound – Jenna Hanington

Allbound has always placed high priority on our partners and customers, with the goal of providing the best possible experience that will contribute to their own successes. Now, we’re showing...

read more

6 Takeaways from Catalyst 2022

Last week, the Allbound team attended the first annual Catalyst conference in Miami Beach. This two-day event was a true testament to how incredible the partnerships community is. Over 400...

read more

Why I Chose Allbound – Rachel Ward

Allbound has always placed high priority on our partners and customers, with the goal of providing the best possible experience that will contribute to their own successes. Now, we’re showing...

read more

Experiences of a Woman in Channel

In this episode of the Women in Channel Summer Series, Dina Moskowitz sits down with Allbound in a discussion about her experiences as a woman in the channel and female...

read more

Channel Partner Awards Worth Entering

Receiving industry awards is a powerful indicator of success. After all, being recognized by your peers for your partner management skills or the quality of your partner program is both...

read more

The 80:20 rule – does it still apply?

In my experience, vendors accept that a large swathe of their partners will be inactive, or opportunistic. Research supports that there is a Pareto Law of revenue distribution from partners...

read more

Partner Marketing 101

Class is in session! Terry Moffatt, Editor at the Channel Marketer Report, joins us for the Partner Marketing 101 masterclass. In this 45-minute session, we’ll be covering: How to create...

read more

Allbound Overview: Assisting Channel Sales

Allbound for Partner Sales : Allbound helps you support all the stages of partner selling with automated and assisted prospect communication, deal registration, and pipeline management for optimal profitability and...

read more

Channel FAQs

Channels in the technology sector apply to all companies that operate between the vendor (manufacturer or originator of the product) and the customer. These may be influencers, resellers, distributors, or...

read more

Channel Partner Marketing Plan Checklist

Channel partner marketing is an effective way to expand your reach, enrich a partnership, and generate more leads. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all partner marketing plan, you can utilize a...

read more

Introducing Allbound

Allbound Partner Relationship Management (PRM) software empowers partners with improved efficiency, communication, and data-sharing. A complete solution that scales.your program needs.

read more

2022 Channel/Marketing Benchmark Survey

B2B executives are nearly unanimous in their expectation that indirect sales and marketing programs will drive more revenue in 2022. Fully 96% of respondents to the second annual “Channel/Partner Marketing...

read more

Balancing Service and Sales

The great migration of the broader workforce to a remote work reality has created boundless opportunities for partners in the form of additional revenue streams. It has also impacted how...

read more

MDF Program Management Best Practices

Marketing Development Funds (MDF) are the dollars companies put towards their channel partners to help them produce meaningful results. Channel-centric companies usually use MDFs for: Conferences and tradeshows ,Advertising and...

read more

The Channel Business Case for DEI

The channel has made significant strides in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in recent years but still has a ways to go in terms of looking at business...

read more

The Key to a Pipeline of Potential Partners

Just like hiring a new salesperson doesn’t guarantee revenue, a growing channel partner program doesn’t automatically mean higher profitability. The channel manager must audit and optimize all elements of the...

read more

The Top B2B Brand Awareness Secrets

Today, the world of marketing is obsessed with metrics and conversion rates. Due to the increased demand for measurable results, brand awareness often gets overlooked. While it is more difficult...

read more

6 Benefits of Using Channel Partners

Channel Sales—also referred to as indirect sales—utilizes partners to promote products and handle customer relationships on behalf of another entity. Many B2B technology companies large and small find great success...

read more

Channel Partner Management Process Strategy

There are a variety of responsibilities that go into channel management. These tasks include PRM set-up, one-on-one communication with priority partners, onboarding, MDF approvals, and data analysis. While this may...

read more

Partner Pitch Deck Template

How do you get a partner interested in being a part of your channel? One of many important factors is a partner pitch deck! The objective of this example deck...

read more

Channel Partner Scorecard Template

How do you evaluate the success of a partnership post-onboarding? Your partners should have the same common goals that you do. One way to ensure alignment between you and your...

read more

How to Build a Channel Partner Program

Written by Daniel Graff-Radford, CEO of Allbound, the partner preferred PRM (partner relationship management) company. According to the World Trade Association, over 75% of the world’s goods and services are...

read more

Expanding Your US Channel Into Europe

Europe presents a significant opportunity, whether you work with ISVs, SIs, VARs, affiliates, agencies, or other partners. This region represents dozens of countries and thousands of companies to leverage in...

read more

PX is the New CX

Providing a positive customer experience (CX) has always been a mandatory component for any business. But despite all the CX innovations and investments, there’s still quite a gap in the...

read more

Partner Misconceptions About M&A

We are living in a time of unprecedented disruption and increased innovation in the channel. While the pandemic threw a wrench in many aspects of our daily lives and business...

read more

5 B2B Lead Generation Strategies that Work

Most buyers utilize digital channels when they start researching upcoming purchases. This presents unique challenges for B2B marketers tasked with sifting through millions of views and conversions to find highly...

read more

Channel Partner Integration Strategies

Your customers seek software solutions that bridge gaps and interact smoothly with one another in order to amplify process efficiencies and cost savings. Help them achieve this goal by integrating...

read more

Remote Work is Here to Stay

In 2020, the business world underwent what the Times Magazine called, “the largest work from home experiment” of all time. COVID-19 cases now recede for many regions, but it’s clear...

read more

Who Should Run the Channel?

When an organization first decides to implement a partner program, there are a few critical decisions to make off the bat. Determining your ideal partner profile and goals for the...

read more

Channel vs. Direct Sales

Along with identifying a target audience and developing a product or service, businesses also need to consider how to get their offerings to customers. Direct Sales and Channel Sales each...

read more

5 Ways to Improve Forecasting for Channel Sales

Sales forecasts leverage past performance and rolling pipeline data to estimate future revenue. These insights prove key to reallocating marketing budgets, timing product roll-outs, and determining staffing and sales incentives....

read more

Chili Piper Test page

This eBook is based off of a webinar hosted by Scott Barker, Head of Partnerships at SalesHacker and Evangelist & Podcast Host at Outreach, and Greg Reffner, VP of Sales...

read more

Cambium Networks Case Study

"Allbound provides Cambium, and in turn, our partners, a one-stop-shop for our partners’ needs." -Karyn Pastorino, Director – Global Channel Marketing at Cambium

read more

End of Year Planning for Channel Leaders

End-of-year business planning is usually fraught with competing priorities. What I’ve learned after more than a decade in executive leadership is that a lack of proper prioritization during Q4 leads...

read more

5 Tips to Prevent Channel Conflict

Even for the most channel-centric companies, partner conflict is inevitable. Conflict can occur for various reasons such as pricing, poor communication, or even deals poached by the direct sales team....

read more

Channel Leader Offer Template

Starting a channel partner program or hiring a new channel leader is a large and exciting step to take. You want to be sure that your offer letter gives the...

read more

The 4 Stages of the B2B Buying Process

Over the last several years sales leaders have become increasingly interested in how to make their sales process frictionless. A process where obstacles are removed to provide a simple, painless...

read more

The ROI of PRM Systems

To explore the ROI of PRM Allbound sent out a survey to current customers. This survey conculded that, on average, customers see a 61% shorter channel sales cycle after implementing...

read more

WP Engine Case Study

“With Allbound we’re not only able to categorize our partners, but we can also focus on their onboarding experience, as well as equipping them with the resources they need throughout...

read more

Thank you for naming us a G2Crowd leader in PRM!

G2Crowd, the world’s leading business solutions review website, released its Winter 2019 Report on Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Software. Allbound continues to surge forward by being titled “The Leader” in Ease...

read more

PRM is Not for Everyone

The buying and selling landscape has expanded beyond direct sales and marketing teams to now include various partners that sell and market on your behalf. Specifically, organizations are leveraging partner...

read more

CloudBees Case Study

“With Allbound we were able to increase partner registrations 256%. I love Allbound.” 339% Increase in Deal Registrations – CloudBees Partner Engagement Grew Exponentially After Switching to Allbound...

read more

Summer G2Crowd Leader

Allbound Extends Its Leadership Position The Results For The Summer 2019 G2Crowd Grid For PRM Are In When stacked against competitors Allbound rank...

read more

4 Ways to Reduce Partner Churn

The unfortunate truth is that, at some point, you’re probably going to lose a partner; it’s inevitable. Realistically, some partners may just not be the best fit, while for others...

read more

Our First WOTC West–2019

A Necessary Step For Sales Growth Similar to how a CRM manages customer relations, PRM software coordinates the management of sales partners...

read more

Spring G2Crowd Leader

When Allbound stacks up against the competition it's easy to see why our hundreds of customers are thriving and empowering their partners to sell better. Read the report to see...

read more

How to Pick The Perfect Partner Bracket

If you’re running a channel sales operation, you know that finding the right partners is crucial. Currently, 60 percent of channel partners report needing better systems and processes to ensure...

read more

The Ultimate PRM Guide

If you’re like a lot of people, chances are you’ve never heard of Partner Relationship Management or PRM until recently. After all, channel sales and marketing technology has long been...

read more

PRM vs. Partner Sales Acceleration

Sure, innovation sparks reinvention. But what happens when it causes total disruption? Some may write it off as progress; others consider it pure chaos. At Allbound we say, “Innovation is...

read more

Marketing Automation: #NoFilter

Partner programs are an excellent way to increase your sales, meet your goals, and grow your business. Many companies that implement partner networks have reported wild successes...

read more

Simplify Channel Management and Increase Partner Engagement with Allbound

Your Partner Relationship Management Journey Starts Here

Give your channel partner program an in-depth health-check utilizing the four key performance indicators (KPIs) proven to increase pipeline velocity.

As a bonus, you’ll see exactly how you stack-up against fellow industry leaders and get intelligent recommendations to improve problem areas – all in just minutes!

 

Get Your QBR Template

Download Now