Episode 33: The Right Way to Set up your Partnership, Reseller & Affiliate Strategy: An Interview with Jen Spencer

By Zeeva Viola | May 31, 2017

About Allbound: Problem & Solution

Definitions: Channel Partners vs Referral Partners vs Co-Marketing Partner vs Reseller vs Affiliates

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When should I start thinking about External Partners?

• Affiliates & Co-Marketing – Never too soon for these. Make sure you and your partner are speaking the same profiles/customers. Co-marketing tend to be “nice-to-have”
• Referral Partners – Once you’ve identified the right Product-Market fit. Have an ideal Customer Profile & Buyer Personas built
• Reseller Partners – Most resellers want to own implementation. Make sure your product can support a reseller. Every Reseller is assigned a Customer Success Manager. One reseller could equal 10, 50, 100 customers

“Partners” – The best partners provide you a predictable revenue stream.

Structuring Programs:

• Look at other firms and partners. Learning from Hubspot, Marketo, Salesforce
• i.e. 10% of first-year revenue
• Evolve the program

Implementation:

• Things fizzle. A Partnership is a relationship.
• “Partners are people too.”
• Train, educate. Treat your Partners just like a brand new sales rep.
• Channel people are massively under-resourced
• Outline and structure – online meetings, vs in-person, self-serve. Be transparent and map out in an Agreement.

4 Pipelines:

1. New Customers
2. Renewals
3. Professional Services
4. Partner Pipeline

4 Pillars:

1. Content – The way that knowledge transfer happens. Access to content (ie. training, internal price sheets, playbooks, data, research); PLUS end-user
2. Collaboration – Include your Partners in your product communication, pricing, services
3. Customer Success – How does my customer want to buy? How do they want to be serviced & supported?
4. Culture – Touches every part of your business & approach

The Honest Conversation – Sometimes the timing isn’t right. Be honest. Let’s come back to this in 6 months, 1 quarter.

Exclusives: Think really

MyChannelScore.com

Unusual:

• Completely different vertical or space
• Expand

Show Links:
Jen LinkedIn
Jen on Twitter
Allbound Blog
MyChannelScore.com – Score yourself on Content, Co
The Allbound Podcast on iTunes
Blog Post – “The Subscription Economy: Why Channel Sales is Essential for SaaS”
B2B Growth Podcast
Tiffani Bova