Ian Novack

Yes, there absolutely is such a thing as recruiting too many partners. Unlimited recruitment can quickly become counterproductive. Excessive partners tend to compete primarily on price, initiating a race to the bottom that cannibalizes revenue, undermines quality control, and ultimately forces out your best-performing partners. Remember the 80/20 rule... A better approach prioritizes quality over quantity. Every new partner added should directly address a specific need or gap within your current ecosystem—such as expertise in a particular technology or vertical, geographic coverage in underserved markets, or specialization in either SMB or enterprise segments. Strategically limiting partner recruitment ensures that your existing partners have sufficient incentive to invest, innovate, and grow alongside you. This focus maintains quality standards, encourages customer expansion rather than churn, and optimizes lifetime value (LTV). Expansion of your partner network should therefore always be intentional, addressing clear gaps or capacity constraints rather than simply increasing numbers.

We do a few things which I find pretty cool. Partner-Sourced Revenue: Measure and track revenue directly attributed to partners. This includes: Pure outbound opportunities, where partners independently bring new clients. Expansion opportunities identified by partners within existing accounts through service delivery. Impact and Testimonials: Collect and share testimonials from your sales reps highlighting how partners helped shorten sales cycles or significantly increased total contract value (TCV). Include client testimonials to demonstrate tangible outcomes and customer satisfaction resulting from partner involvement. CRM and Partner Tagging: Ensure all partner activities are accurately tagged within your CRM. This should include tracking each partner’s involvement in specific deals. Ideally, record the number of professional service (PS) hours partners deliver and the total number of projects implemented. Tracking PS hours and project completions provides clear indicators of growth, partner engagement, and program success over time.