I’ve got a core group of partners who really understand our value, advocate for us, and have gotten really good at selling us (both solo and alongside our team). I want to keep them engaged and rewarded, but also figure out how to replicate that kind of success across the rest of the partner network. What have you seen work well to scale that level of commitment and performance?

Nurturing your top partners is crucial, as they truly grasp the vision. It's essential to convey their immense value not just within the partnership team, but across the entire organization. This means involving the Executive team and other departments in expressing appreciation and celebrating these key partners. Publicly acknowledging and promoting partners for their contributions significantly boosts their credibility and expands their reach to more customers. Cultivating an internal culture that openly celebrates and highlights partners will naturally attract more partners to your channel program. While program growth necessitates building tiers with corresponding benefits, MDF (if applicable), and certifications for higher-tier partners, ultimately, establishing a company culture that prioritizes and goes above and beyond to recognize top partners will foster a very healthy partner ecosystem. Partners value opportunities to expand their customer base more than SPIFs or company swag. Publicly promoting partners and referring them to clients are effective ways to maintain engagement with top partners and foster an ecosystem that attracts other partners to your company, but this takes internal alignment and complete buy in as well.