Tony Simon

It should come as no surprise that there is not a single go-to playbook for activating new partners. It's one of the most challenging--and arguably most important--motions for partner programs and every program I've worked with has wrestled with it. It's very important to dial in your Ideal Partner Profile (IPP) and your Joint Value Proposition (JVP) for prospective partners, so you're not just standing on a street corner shouting "WHO WANTS REFERRAL COMMISSION?" to anyone who walks by. Once you're confident you're talking to the right prospective partners and both parties are clear about the value they're both providing and receiving, then the next most important aspect is managing expectations. Be very clear with each other about the immediate next steps once the partnership agreement has been signed. Ideally there is existing partnership business that can be executed right away. If there isn't, be very clear about how you expect the partnership to function, and then follow up and address it if those expectations aren't met by either side. 

Curating a portfolio of technology partners really comes down to customer experience. Are these prospective partners enriching your customers' experience, or are they just creating noise and distraction? Your customers should be able to look at your directory of technology partners and understand immediately why you have partnered with them. By choosing to partner with a technology platform, you are telling your customers "We think this partnership will create a better experience for you, and we fully support this partnership," so you need to make sure that's actually true. Having a desirable logo in your partner directory is nice, but if it creates a confusing or broken customer experience, it could do more harm than not having the partnership at all.

Similarly to the question above, focus on customer experience. To that end, you have to decide your level of willingness and ability to support a tech partner program. Once you announce to the market that you have a tech partner program, you have made a non-zero commitment to maintain that program for its entire lifespan. Does your product team have the bandwidth to support integrations? If not, do you need to hire a 3rd party to build and maintain integrations for you? Will partners be integrating to your platform or vice versa or both? What will the commercial terms be that will result in an optimal experience for all three parties involved (partner commission, customer discount, hybrid, etc.) The important thing is to fully commit at whatever level is right for your business. Sub-par technology or product partner programs can easily become a liability in several ways if not properly maintained.

I'm assuming this question is asking about internal teams referring customers to service partners for services you don't offer directly (aka outbound referrals). In the spirit of the old adage "People will do what you pay them to do," pay them! Even small spiffs like $50 per qualified referral can go a long way toward creating momentum. What's more, your service partners want those leads more than any other partner incentive, including cash, and they should be willing to pay you a commission just like you pay your partners commission for referrals they send to you. Those commissions should offset the cost of the spiffs, and then some, creating an additional incremental revenue stream that didn't exist previously.  In addition to spiffs, proper enablement is key as well. Your internal teams need to know who the service partners, something about the services they offer, and the referral motion should be simple and easy so as not to create additional cognitive overhead in an already chaotic business environment. 

Partner training and certification are foundational to making sure your partners are appropriately enabled to be successful in your program. Just like your sales team, your partners are selling your products to their customers and they need to be enabled similarly. A lot of products and services in the market today are extremely complex and you want your partners to be able to represent you effectively and accurately. Also, training and certification can be used as both a carrot and a stick in your program by using it as a milestone to unlock additional tiers and incentives, and also as a blocker to restrict certain tiers and incentives until a required number of people at the partner have completed whatever training you deem to be required to advance.

I will come back to JVP for this one. Joint value is really the sun and the moon here. You need to be very clear what you are each bringing to the partnership, and be hyper aware of any gaps or overlaps, so miscommunication can be avoided. Make sure your partner incentive packages are configured in a such a way that adds value to everyone involved. And be flexible where you can. Some partners are looking to generate incremental revenue streams through referral commission. Other partners would rather pass incentives on to their customers to maximize the customer experience.  If I had to list exactly three things that are important to kicking off a successful service partner program, I would say: 1. Joint value proposition  2. Ideal partner profile (industry, region, size, etc) 3. Partner incentives - this is a big part of the overall JVP, but it is what is ultimately going to drive growth for your program. 

The thing I focus on the most when selling partner programs to executives is that partnerships is almost always the most cost effective acquisition channel in the entire company. Partner incentives, whether they're percentage-based or one-time payouts are usually a fraction of what your direct marketing team will have to pay to acquire customers themselves.  Partner programs can often serve as a moat for the business, creating additional insulation between your customers and the market. Additionally, partner-sourced deals have a higher close rate, and a higher average deal size. Comparing partner program performance to other acquisition channels in the business is usually a winning strategy. In terms of revenue goals, that depends on your specific business, but it's important to set the expectation that revenue can be slower to realize in young programs and that it can take months to build momentum. Some executives understand this long game, but others don't, which can be frustrating and stressful. I think showing incremental increases from the program while also keeping costs at a minimum is usually enough to satisfy stakeholders while you continue to build momentum.