As mentioned in Part I of this article, the two elements of an effective sales partner program beside the revenue commitment are: A plausible categorization of the partners into the various partner levels Attractive program-specific benefits for the partners Probably 90% of all partner programs offer the three partner levels Silver, Gold, and Platinum. So, if you design a new program, you can be a bit more creative in naming the partner levels. Sometimes it can make sense to have more than three levels, but that really depends on how fragmented your partner base is. I think it should never be more than five, because then it will begin to be confusing for the partner. In most partner programs, the partner categorization is done based on the performance of the partner (usually revenue they make … Read more
High-tech Sales is often direct but almost always also through partners. Especially for smaller accounts or customers, to which you don’t have easy access (e.g. because of the geographic distance, your positioning or company size), it can be very effective to address such target customers through partners. However, that requires an effective channel management. One success factor in channel management is a partner program. A formalized partner program mainly serves two purposes: You signal to the market that you have many interested partners, in fact so many that you need to manage them through a generic program. That message makes your company appear very attractive for partners and gets them interested in learning more about it. Your sales team can efficiently manage partner prospects by providing information on prices and benefits based on the program. … Read more
