Answer
There are a ton of options when it comes to setting up a partner program strategy. You will want to first identify which leg of the partner program you are starting out with (Solutions partners, Technology partners - ISVs, Marketplace Partners - GCP, AWS, Azure, etc., Referral Partners, Affiliate Networks, etc.). This will help guide where you should start.
My recommendation is to look at the foundational pieces first and think backward. For instance, if you're starting a Solutions Partner program, you need a way to bring your solutions partner value, a way to collaborate on joint value propositions, and an easy way to communicate with your respective teams. Additionally, you will need to have your legalese ironed out ahead of the conversations with the solutions partner and "What to Expect" when working together.
Some critical tools to get started are fairly basic, but effective:
1. Slack - This is just a given this day and age, but Slack is a great method to communicate and most organizations are open to connecting your Slack instance with theirs through a shared channel. There are some legal considerations that you will want to ensure are in your legal contracts, but this is a great place to start for communication.
2. Share Drive - This is critical as there is a single source of truth. This can be a shared Microsoft Folder, Google folder, or some other collaborative document sharing solution. The key is that all stakeholders across both organizations have access to the information. Too many times there is a single point of failure when building a partnership so if a critical person departs the organization, the partnership dies on the vine. Personally I recommend using a platform like Superglue or another PLM (partner lifecycle management) platform when bringing these new partners onboard.
3. Client/Prospect Share - This is table stakes these days as well, leveraging a platform like Crossbeam and/or Reveal will allow you to identify low-hanging fruit. Whether this is to bolster your relationship with your existing clients by announcing the new relationship and the benefits that your mutual clients can now receive because of this relationship (thereby creating stickiness and ensuring renewals/expansions) or to create ABM campaigns together to pursue overlapping opportunities where your joint value can bring a greater outcome than any competitors. This is a critical step in defining your GTM with any new partner and should be one of the first steps you take in a new relationship.
4. Living Business Plan - This is a shared document that you need to have to ensure that your partner is getting value out of the relationship and that you're growing your own bottom line through the relationship. To Brett Haralson's point, identifying what your metrics are to measure a successful partnership well ahead of partnering with any organization is critical. Spend some time creating your disparate Ideal Partner Profiles for each leg of your program ahead of bringing members into that program.
There are a lot of other technologies that can help for program specific tactical items, like BuiltWith/SimilarWeb for technology programs, Winmo for Solutions Programs, and a slew of new partner platforms that are getting launched daily that can help with your strategic architecture.
Good luck and have fun, this is a very difficult but rewarding stage of the partner program!
