A partner program is a simple, cost-effective way to grow your market and increase revenue. By collaborating on marketing material, content creation, and campaigns, agency partners can enjoy a strong partner base as they seek out additions to their audience and enjoy the benefits of an agency partner program. To help develop the best channel sales program you possibly can, we have identified 10 of the best programs to learn from.
Importance of Channel Partner Programs
A channel partner program is a valuable tool because it allows you to focus time and energy on setting up a reliable system and taking a step back, rather than having to continually create new marketing programs and campaigns.
Channel programs have a positive impact on both business growth and success, because they bring in a slew of potential customers that are already on board with potential partners, cut down on marketing expenses and development, and allow you to provide value to yourself while also giving your partner a leg up.
Key Elements of Successful Channel Partner Programs
It is not enough to simply encourage businesses to use a partner program, however; implementing a successful program requires utilizing a few key elements. These include:
Partner incentives
A partner needs to have some incentive to enter into the program and maintain its parameters. Incentives can include partner training, support services, and a partner portal to keep track of campaigns and expectations. Having these systems in place creates an ideal partner ecosystem.
Joint marketing
Joint marketing means sharing both the challenges and the benefits of marketing. By marketing together, a successful channel partner program will provide regular channel management and partner onboarding to ensure that all marketing materials showcase the benefits of both parties.
Sales enablement
Enabling prospective partners to complete the sales aspect of the partnership well is vital. Deal registration will help keep track of sales to keep partners on track, and revenue sharing models allow partners to see results quickly and easily once they have made sales.
Partner tiers
By offering partner tiers for your prospective partners, you can create a system of internal motivation. To establish this framework, you can create partner certifications and offer different products for different tiers to keep interest and motivation high.
Partner collaboration
Partners are just as their name suggests: partners. The system of partnership is not one that focuses on a highly segmented structure, but instead invites partner collaboration and involvement. To help foster that partner ecosystem, be sure to share partner success stories, create platforms on which to share ideas and suggestions, and a resource team from which to draw to retain consistency in marketing posts.
Identifying Ideal Channel Partners
To make sure that customer relationships do not suffer, you must foster your channel partner relationships. This starts with making sure that the partner team you develop is a good fit for everyone on the team. To find the ideal channel partner, consider the following carefully.
Partner types
There are different ways to welcome a partnership into a business model, though the two we will focus on here are technology partners and channel partners. Technology partners are partners who fuse their own programs or developments with yours to promote a product or service to benefit both. A channel partnership involves a direct sales process wherein the partner either markets or sells the product or service of its partner.
Partner experience
A company who has had some experience working with sales initiatives outside of their own can be a boon to a channel sales program, but perhaps more important than that is a company’s customer experience. All of the amazing tools in the world cannot surpass the need for superlative customer service and a solid customer base, and those should be the first things you look to in internal organizations prior to developing a partnership.
Ideal customer profile
Followers and audience size alone are not the core elements needed to determine how well-adapted a company is to being an agency partner. Customer retention and other internal resources are also important factors to consider when evaluating potential partners. Retention cannot be bought or guaranteed, and well-designed customer support efforts make a world of difference in maintaining a consistent revenue stream.
10 Examples of Channel Partner Programs to Choose From
Shopify
Shopify is a user-friendly platform. With a large customer base, it is typically considered one of the most attractive options for anyone targeting e-commerce businesses for a partnership. Because Shopify is well-established, it offers regular updates and improvements to its platform. Its structure allows partners to stay competitive in order to offer plenty of features to prospective clients.
Hubspot
Hubspot is also well-established, and offers a comprehensive suite. Included in its tools are inbound marketing resources, sales resources, and customer service assets. By offering a full range of solutions for prospective clients, Hubspot sets itself apart. Hubspot places a focus on the success of partners, and has a team to provide support and resources in order to help partners grow and develop their business.
Salesforce
Salesforce is a CRM platform, and works well with partnerships and helps optimize partner experiences by providing a large range of applications with the ability to connect and subsequently work with a diverse range of clients. Because salesforce is committed to innovation, it can help partners keep ahead of industry trends to continually offer the best solutions.
Cisco
Cisco differs somewhat from its predecessors, as it has primarily been used in networking, security, and collaboration. Cisco can be used to provide partners with different opportunities to expand and improve referral partner programs. With a global presence and a strong brand reputation Cisco can provide partners with a chance to work with a leader in the industry to lend an air of credibility and potentially develop more sales opportunities.
Adobe
Adobe is a giant in countless industries, and the same is true of partnerships and sales and marketing. Adobe offers powerful tools for creation and marketing, and allows partners to cater to a wide range of different clients in different industries. Marketing tools are critical elements in partner enablement, and Adobe allows you to place a focus on resources and support to help partners succeed.
Microsoft
Microsoft is another easily recognized brand with a broad range of products and services. Some important offerings include cloud computing, productivity tools, and business-related applications in order to provide partners with multiple resources to draw from. Microsoft also has a strong partner ecosystem and enables collaboration and networking opportunities with other partners within the Microsoft ecosystem’s arsenal of powerful tools.
Oracle VMware
Oracle VMware is a program equipped with cloud infrastructure and a host of business applications, allowing partners to work with a variety of clients. Oracle also emphasizes partner enablement and provides training, certifications, and other resources in order to help Oracle partners succeed both in terms of making the most of sales opportunities and making the most of the partnership.
Amazon Web Services
Amazon is another leader in the industry. As a market leader, amazon is a cloud service platform and offers partners the ability to work with the latest in technology and a truly expansive range of clients. Amazon works to be on the cutting edge of innovation and growth, which can ensure that partners have access to all of the latest tools and services in order to remain competitive in the market.
Atlassian
Atlassian has a comprehensive suite of collaboration and productivity tools. Together, these offerings allow partners to cater to a variety of needs related to project management, software development, and team collaboration. Atlassian also offers certifications, training programs, and resources, which allows partners to develop the critical elements necessary to succeed.
Zoom
Zoom has really surged forward as a leader in the business sphere. As the leading video conferencing platform, Zoom has plenty of communication and collaboration features. Partners have opportunities to expand their offerings. With Zoom’s commitment to partner success, collaborators can expect to find dedicated support and resources and co-marketing initiatives. Zoom is a conferencing platform, but can also help partners grow their businesses.
Measuring Success and Continuous Improvement
No matter the channel partner type you have brought on board, it is vital to measure the success of your partnership and continually improve. This can be done through setting measurable goals and continually going over and reworking marketing materials for the partner channel.
Measurable goals
Setting measurable goals means putting a timestamp on goals, identifying the team being evaluated, and setting specific numbers you intend to hit with your strategic partnerships and other measurable key factors. To hit goals, you typically need to provide training programs to make sure sales teams and new partners are prepared to succeed.
Marketing materials
The culture of partnership is important to detail in your marketing materials, as strategic partnerships are designed to draw the eye of prospective customers, too. Carve out your ideal market segment, and collaborate to develop the best marketing materials to target that segment. The culture of partnership is one of collaboration, so partner program marketing materials should be completed collaboratively and regularly to make sure the partner program continues to be lucrative for both parties.
Conclusion
Creating a partner program or a referral program can feel daunting. Fortunately, creating a successful channel partner program to bring in new potential customers while sharing and collaborating on marketing costs can be done with the help of different tools, platforms, and service providers to bridge any communication gaps, and make sure your business is prepared to meet the needs of the partner program. From a platform to help integrate new businesses, to services that both help manage different channel partner types and act as potential partners, themselves, there are plenty of places to turn to help your partnership thrive.
Whether you are eager to establish a successful channel partner program or enhance an existing one, join Zugit today by clicking here to take the next step towards optimizing your partnerships!