Partner Activation
Service partner

What kind of incentives (monetary and non-monetary) do you offer partners to get them to activate (as well as to motivate them to engage with the program/refer new business on an ongoing basis)?

1 Answers
Bradley Johnston avatar
Bradley Johnston
Opensend Director of Partnerships
In SaaS partnerships, you'll typically want a mix of monetary and non-monetary incentives to drive activation, engagement, and referrals. Monetary incentives: 1. Rev share/commission. Offer partners a percentage of revenue from referred customers. 20% for year one and 10% for year two is currently what Opensend is offering partners. 2. One-time bounties: payouts for actions like helping your team book a demo. 3. Performance Bonuses: Increasing rewards based on volume or performance (e.g., higher commission rates after X referrals or extra bonuses for hitting revenue milestones). 3. Discounted or Free SaaS – Offering free or discounted access to your software as a benefit for active partners. Opensend provides referring partners with a free B2B account. 4. Exclusive promotions for their clients. Enabling partners to offer unique discounts to their customers as a selling point. Non monetary incentives: 1. Dedicated Partner Support & Account Management – Offering VIP support, direct access to an account manager, or a dedicated Slack channel. 2. Early Access to New Features: giving partners a first look at new features before public release. 3. Co-Branding Opportunities: featuring partners on your website, case studies, or allowing them to co-host webinars and content. 4. Tech Integrations & API Access: supporting deep technical integrations that give partners more opportunities to offer more comprehensive solutions. Best practices for incentivizing activation and ongoing engagement: - Make the process as easy as possible to start. - Gamify engagement. - Frequent check ins and ongoing enablement. - Continuous feedback loops.