Let’s think of your partner program as a boat; if it has a significant leak, your team can only bail out water for so long before their arms tire and their efforts slow. Likewise, a channel partner team that focuses too much on recruitment and not enough on retention is acting inefficiently and will never see impactful growth.
Why do partners “jump ship?” The short answer is that they stop believing in your products or program procedures as a worthwhile (or profitable) investment of their time. However, the longer answer is much more complex, one which will ultimately fall on your shoulders to answer.
In this article, we’ll discuss:
Partner retention is the process of keeping partners engaged and involved in a partnership or affiliate program. Partner retention is important because it can help to maintain the strength and effectiveness of the partnership or affiliate program over time. By retaining partners, businesses can continue to benefit from the additional reach and expertise that the partners provide, and can avoid the need to constantly recruit new partners. Partner retention is important because it can help to maintain the strength and effectiveness of the partnership or affiliate program over time. By retaining partners, businesses can continue to benefit from the additional reach and expertise that the partners provide, and can avoid the need to constantly recruit new partners. This can help to drive ongoing success for the business.
Partner retention is also important because it can help to foster long-term relationships between businesses and their partners. By providing ongoing support and assistance, businesses can build trust and goodwill with their partners, which can lead to stronger partnerships and more successful collaborations in the future.
Soon-to-be partners should know exactly what to expect from the program and sales process, including the intensity of the onboarding process, the payment structure, and the average sales cycle. What’s more, guide them through parts of your PRM so they can witness what capabilities will (or will not) be at their fingertips for ease of use.
Part of managing expectations is to offer clarity into the specific capabilities of your products or provided services. Educate them on the value of your offering and what product development lies ahead, as well as how these features can supplement their own brand’s specialties.
Your enhanced transparency should naturally entice more partners to join. More importantly, you will filter out those who were never good fits for the program in the first place. Having them drop earlier rather than later spares your team from investing time into a partnership that was never meant to be.
Partners will only stick with your program as long as they believe it to be profitable, even if indirectly. Perhaps they believe your product to be the best on the market and want to leverage it for their customers’ satisfaction, or think that your integrations unlock the full potential of their own offering. Maybe they simply appreciate the boosted bottom line from selling your products in conjunction with their own. Regardless of their reasoning, they won’t put forth the leg work of promoting your technology if it proves not worth their while.
Therefore, one of the best ways to boost partner program retention is to create first-rate materials that sell partners and their audiences on your capabilities. Examples include:
Simply creating the content isn’t enough, though. Using your PRM data and partner feedback, measure the effectiveness of the various materials compared to one another, as well as amongst different audiences. These insights should inform future content development strategies, identify gaps in your repertoire, and let you know which duds to discard.
Select PRM technology enables you to streamline various processes associated with partner content distribution for better overall efficiency. For example, some portals enable partners to co-brand designated materials as needed, rather than put in a request for a channel account manager to manually fulfill.
Additionally, the portal can automatically recommend specific sales enablement content based on partner information submitted during the deal registration. The pre-programmed playbooks will guide partners on what to send to whom and when, lessening guesswork or needed input from channel account managers.
The point is, semi-automating sales enablement lessens process delays and allows scalable growth without hurting the partner experience, all helping to improve retention.
“With today’s PRM technology, partner portal experiences improve because of (and not in spite of) automation. Channel account managers can curate which content and capabilities are available based on individual participants’ specifications, whether that be language preference, industry, etc. As partners onboard and achieve established milestones, the portal can unlock new features and content. Through automation, you lessen the likelihood of partners hitting portal dead-ends or confusion.” – Tori Barlow, VP Marketing Allbound PRM
Let’s return to the analogy of your partner program as a ship; if you struggle to stay afloat, the wisest step would be to stop the source of the leak.
If you utilize a designated PRM, you should be able to track an individual’s and partner groups’ portal logins and content interactions. When combined, this data should illuminate behavioral patterns and junctures at which partners withdraw.
Once you identify the points at which partners frequently “fall-off,” consider what specific elements may dishearten program participants and actions you can take to address barriers. For example:
However, if participants pass the quizzes with flying colors but still taper off, your onboarding process may be too long. In response, consider consolidating lessons when possible or employing more engaging mediums, such as video.
Alternatively, offer extra motivation throughout onboarding. Perhaps achieving certain milestones will unlock product discounts or gift cards, or completing the full onboarding process within a fixed deadline will result in you allotting them their first lead.
Low lead counts can be a symptom of a number of factors, including the competitiveness of your product offering and global events that impact industry behaviors. One potential source is inadequate training. Consult with your Direct Sales department, collect feedback from program participants, and test whether introducing additional onboarding materials improves the average leads per partner.
As with the previous point, low conversion rates can come from several issues both within and outside of your partner program. Consider all avenues—inferior product packages, rushed onboarding, industry trends, etc.
When armed with a hypothesis, scientists don’t just accept it as infallible and yell it from the rooftops. Instead, they consult with others and collectively run tests, trying to disprove their theory.
You should apply this same principle to your data-driven hypotheses. Explain your reasoning to Direct Sales and other departments to gain new perspectives. Ask for the opinions of trusted channel partners and/or run program-wide surveys to collect more feedback.
Additionally, test any significant changes to the program or sales enablement procedures. Let’s say you introduce product demonstrations to help conversion rates; evaluate how often partners send these to prospects and whether this improves conversion rates compared to partners who don’t use these materials.
Remember, you’re not the only company courting partners. If you offer a ho-hum program (or your products are substandard), your partners will pull away in favor of a rival technology provider. Keep your channel program competitive by:
Like all busy professionals, your partners have a lot on their minds and on their plates. Your product offering may fall to the wayside in light of other pressing needs or exciting opportunities. Therefore, regularly find ways to reignite partners’ enthusiasm. Strategies can include:
Consider throwing sales contests (also known as SPIFF campaign) to rouse friendly competition and remind partners of the profit levels they can achieve when they push themselves. The key to successful competition is to define concrete conditions (the time frame, the qualifying products, the “winning” conditions, etc.), and to throw them only a few times a year. Evaluate the results of each contest to gauge the amount of participation and the impact on sales to determine if the goalposts were too easy or too ambitious.
Such incentivizing activities help to retain current channel partners and may reactivate those who previously lost interest.
While opportunities for partner program improvement may be endless, your budget is not. Therefore, you will need to tactically apply your resources to the relationships that will yield the most returns.
Defining a partner tier structure naturally enables you to reward the relationships it would hurt most to lose while simultaneously allowing them to achieve greater potential. Examples of strategic incentives for high-performers can include:
To summarize, reinforce your retention rate by routinely auditing your program to identify sources of friction for partners, rejuvenating your content and perks, and investing in designated PRM software that is easy for participants to use. Such steps ultimately yield a solid foundation on which your partner program can grow.
With over 7 years navigating the intricate realms of marketing, and specifically B2B partner marketing, Nick has forged collaborations with top-tier tech brands, prominent agencies, and some of the industry's foremost B2B publishers and content creators. His deep immersion in both marketing landscapes showcases a trajectory of expertise and innovation. Identifying a significant void in specialized resources, he founded Growann.The aspiration? Deliver unparalleled insights and guidance, carving out a dedicated space where the broader marketing and B2B partner marketing communities can flourish.
