In the quest for supercharged business growth, accelerated sales, and expanded brand reach, a robust partner relationship management strategy is an invaluable asset. The power of partnerships in driving these goals is undeniable. But to harness that potential, you need to adopt key best practices in partner relationship management.
What is partner relationship management?
Partner relationship management, or PRM is all about building and nurturing strong connections with your business partners. It’s a strategic approach that uses various methods, tools, and software to improve how you work together, communicate, and achieve shared goals.
Think of it as a journey, from finding the right partners to helping them succeed and grow alongside your business. PRM covers everything from onboarding new partners to tracking their performance and making sure everyone is happy and working towards the same objectives.
Ultimately, the goal of PRM is to create win-win situations where both you and your partners thrive. By fostering strong partnerships, you can boost your sales, increase partner loyalty, and build a powerful network that drives long-term success.
Key Elements of Partner Relationship Management
Partner relationship management (PRM) is about building and nurturing strong connections with your partners, and while it can vary depending on your specific needs, here’s what it typically involves:
- Finding the Right Partners: Carefully selecting partners who share your goals and values.
- Getting Partners Up to Speed: Providing them with the knowledge and tools to sell your products or services effectively.
- Helping with Sales and Marketing: Offering marketing materials, product updates, sales training, and access to helpful tools.
- Managing Deals: Using tools to track deals and ensure partners get credit for their sales efforts.
- Tracking Performance: Setting clear goals and regularly checking in to see how partners are doing.
- Rewarding Success: Creating incentives or B2B Rewards like bonuses or discounts to motivate and recognize top performers.
- Open Communication: Keeping in touch, encouraging feedback, and fostering a collaborative environment.
- Using PRM Software: Implementing technology to streamline all these processes and provide a central hub for partner resources and information.
PRM is all about creating a win-win situation where both you and your partners can achieve greater success together.
Partner relationship management best practices to grow your program
Your partners can become a powerful extension of your team, and their success directly translates into yours. By aligning your strategies with their needs and motivations, you’ll not only foster loyalty but also create a highly-engaged partner ecosystem that adds value to your brand and provides an incredible experience for your customers.
Let’s explore the channel relationship management best practices that can take your ecosystem to new heights!
1. Offer On-Demand Resources for Training and Onboarding
A successful partnership begins with effective onboarding and training. Elevate this must-have with on-demand resources that are always available to your partners. Develop a comprehensive library of onboarding journeys, training materials, product information, and sales techniques. Keep the content updated and relevant to ensure your partners always have the latest information. Offer access 24/7 through a dedicated partner portal so your partners can access this information whenever and wherever they need it most.
2. Automate Your Sales Pipeline for Deals and Leads
By automating your sales pipeline, you’re not only streamlining your operations but also equipping your partners to become a powerful extension of your internal sales team. A PRM platform can automate your critical processes like lead distribution, deal registration, and sales tracking. This allows for a fair and transparent process that not only ensures all leads are promptly addressed but also minimizes the risk of channel conflict with other partners or your internal sales team. With instant access to the status of their leads and deals, your partners can also make informed decisions, adjust their approach when necessary, and seize deal opportunities as soon as they arise. This not only boosts their confidence in your partnership but also their commitment to prioritizing your products.
3. Find a Solution that Integrates Seamlessly with Your Tech Stack
If you’re managing your partner activities in a PRM, find a solution that integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack so you’ll have a single, real-time source of truth for all your customer and partner data. Evaluate any PRM’s compatibility with your existing systems, such as customer loyalty CRM or marketing automation platforms. With an integrated solution, you’ll have visibility into your partner ecosystem data across your organization without the manual need to upload or edit data, saving you time and reducing errors.
4. Build Incentives that Resonate with Partners
Partner engagement is the lifeblood of any successful partner program, and one of the most effective ways to encourage engagement is through well-crafted partner incentives. These are not just mere rewards but powerful tools to motivate your partners, align their goals with yours, and foster a proactive sales environment.
To build incentives that resonate with your partners, you need to understand their needs. What drives them? What do they value most? The answers to these questions should be the foundation of your incentive program. Once you’ve gathered this information, tailor your incentives to address these specific desires.
Remember, one size doesn’t fit all. The more personalized your incentives are, the more impactful they’ll be. For instance, if you’re a technology company launching a new product, you might offer sales performance incentive funds (SPIFFs) to encourage partners to prioritize selling a new product. Or, if you notice that your partners value learning and development, offer incentives such as exclusive training sessions or access to industry events. However, incentives are only as good as their accessibility. If the process of claiming them is complex and unclear, partners may lose interest or fail to see the benefits. Make sure your incentives are not just attractive but also easy to understand and claim.
5. Motivate and Engage Partners with Performance Tracking
One of the most effective ways to inspire partner motivation is through a tiered performance structure. Establishing tiers for your partners is much like setting up a game with levels that players aspire to conquer. Each level or tier represents a set of clear milestones that your partners must achieve to move up and earn better incentives or support.
Your performance criteria can be based on many factors, such as revenue targets, number of deals closed, deal velocity, customer satisfaction scores, or even the successful completion of training modules. As partners climb up the tiers, they can unlock benefits like increased funds, higher commission rates, additional training resources, and exclusive access to marketing materials, priority support, or even special recognition within your partner ecosystem. To keep your partners engaged and motivated, provide an automated system that they can access at any time. This system should provide real-time performance metrics, giving partners an instant view of their progress and what they need to do to reach the next tier.
6. Empower Partners with Self-Service Co-Marketing Tools
Self-service co-marketing tools can be a game-changer for your partner program. They not only facilitate independent marketing of your products by partners but also help you maintain brand consistency and messaging. Start by providing basic co-branding materials through your partner portal. These could include:
- Product sheets
- Brochures
- Logos
- Ad templates
Email templates and messaging - Social media kits
To take their marketing efforts to the next level, offer tools that allow them to customize these materials to reflect their co-branding. Allow partners to incorporate their branding into your ad templates or customize email campaigns with their information. These tools give your partners the flexibility to tailor marketing materials to their audiences, increasing their effectiveness and relevance.
7. Get a Single View into Your Ecosystem Analytics
A comprehensive, single view of your ecosystem analytics can provide invaluable insights into partner performance, guide your strategy, identify areas requiring improvement, and enable you to make data-driven decisions that drive growth. Find a partner relationship management (PRM) system with strong analytics and reporting capabilities. It should aggregate data from multiple sources, present it in an easy-to-understand format, be easy to customize, and offer real-time updates so you have the latest data at your fingertips at all times. Some critical ecosystem metrics to track include:
- Sales revenue
- Deal registration
- Lead conversion rate
- Product performance
- Training completion rates
- Partner consumption rates
Regularly reviewing these metrics can help you identify trends, spot potential issues, and most importantly, make data-driven decisions that lead to better performance and growth. But, this is only the start.
8. Streamline Referral and Affiliate Link Management
Referral, affiliate, and influencer marketing have evolved beyond mere buzzwords; they’re now a powerful driver of success in the B2B space. By tapping into the $21.1 billion global influencer market, your company can meet customers’ right where they are and create meaningful connections that lead to sustainable growth. Now more than ever, referral management is necessary to realize the full potential of this new word-of-mouth economy. A system that can automatically track and manage your referrals and affiliate links simplifies this process. Find a system that can accurately attribute leads and sales to the correct partner to maintain trust and transparency within your partnerships.
9. Foster Open Communication Channels
Set up regular check-ins through emails, video calls, or in-person meetings. These interactions should extend beyond just performance metrics and target progress, though. Encourage your partners to voice their concerns, insights into changing trends, and provide feedback during these sessions. It’s important that your partners feel comfortable expressing their thoughts, without fear of any adverse consequences. Anonymous feedback forms or regular satisfaction surveys can provide an avenue for partners to share their thoughts openly.
Proactive partner communication is another vital aspect. Don’t wait for partners to reach out with issues; anticipate their needs and share valuable information timely, such as product or market trend updates. Use newsletters, webinars, partner portals, and social media to communicate. Finally, make sure to celebrate your successes and milestones together, acknowledging your partners’ efforts and their vital role in your shared growth.
10. Continually Evaluate and Improve Your PRM Strategy
Lastly, your PRM strategy should never be static. As the business environment changes, your strategy must adapt to keep up. Today’s market is seeing an influx of value-added partnerships, with resellers and distributors providing massive value to your customers with long-term support services. We’re also seeing the rise of the word-of-mouth economy, as buyers want personalized recommendations for products or services to purchase. And partners increasingly want a partner-centric ecosystem that’s built for their needs. Regularly reviewing and updating your PRM strategy to align with your business goals and changing consumer and partner needs is a must. Do this by asking for partner feedback to get a trove of insights on what’s working in your ecosystem and what needs fine-tuning.
11. Empower Partners
Empower your partners with ongoing access to the latest product updates, sales tools, and market insights. Consider a dedicated team or program to ensure their success. This boosts partner confidence, sales, and strengthens the partnership.
12. Leverage Technology to Foster Collaboration
In today’s digital age, technology plays a pivotal role in fostering collaboration within your partner ecosystem. Utilize collaboration platforms, project management tools, and communication channels to facilitate seamless interaction between your team and your partners. Encourage knowledge sharing, joint problem-solving, and co-creation of marketing campaigns. By leveraging technology, you can break down silos, enhance communication, and create a sense of shared purpose within your partner network.
The Bottom Line
Building a thriving partner ecosystem isn’t just about signing up new partners; it’s about nurturing long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. By implementing these 12 best practices, you’ll create the best PRM program that not only drives revenue but also fosters loyalty, collaboration, and shared success.
Remember, effective partner relationship management is an ongoing process. It requires continuous effort, adaptation, and a genuine commitment to your partners’ success.
By investing in your partners, you’re investing in the future of your business.
