The challenges of partnership

Partnership is a great model in concept, but the execution is very difficult.

The company has to:

• Develop detailed contracts that cover all aspects of a complex relationship.

• Onboard and train the partner’s marketing and sales teams.

• Maintain mind-share as other priorities of the partner inevitably surface.

While the partner has to:

• Sell and then service the relationship post sale which includes nurturing customer relationships to deliver a continued revenue stream.

Resellers = High investment with uncertain return

Success requires the same time and budget as direct selling efforts, but often with worse results.

This is a result of:

• Reseller partners not seeing your product as the primary way to achieve a quota.

• The product being an afterthought until an obvious need is exposed by the customer.

And consider the customers that come from resellers. They most likely:

• Have to go through partners to get support.

• Aren’t getting a high-level of customer care like direct-sales customers.

• Won’t be advocates for the business.

Referral partner programs are easier than reseller programs

With the referral partner model instead of a full reseller arrangement, partners are primarily a way to extend lead generation through a 3 step process.

1. A partner comes across a situation where a need for the product is identified.

2. They refer the lead to the company.

3. The company’s sales team then engages in the relationship to take the driver seat on sales process and make the sale.

This fixes a few key issues and results in:

• A much simpler contract (if any).

• No need to deeply train the partner on how to use and sell the product or service.

Referral partner programs have challenges too

1. Companies still need a way to keep partners at top of mind.

2. There has to be a simple way to track, incentivize and manage the relationship.

3. Partners need to be kept informed on the status and progress of the opportunity.

4. If a partner is only paid when a sale closes companies need a process in place that triggers reward fulfillment so the partner is compensated quickly.

5. While referral partners can produce great in-market leads much of managing partner referrals is being done manually which limits the output of referrals.

The rise of automated referral partner programs solve these challenges

Software to manage referrals has tipped the scale strongly in favor of referral partnerships.

This automated referral software benefits all parties involved:

• Partners

• The company

• The company’s sales team

• The customers resulting from referrals

Benefits of referral partner programs to a company

1. Quality leads: With referral program software companies get the same high quality leads from partners but on a consistent basis and at a larger scale than ever before.

2. Shorter sales cycle: Referral deals move faster through the pipeline. While they are higher quality, sales teams also have access to the partner who made the referral to prequalify the opportunity and enlist their help in making the sale.

3. Improved customer experience: Since the company is in charge of the entire customer journey the customer experience can be made exceptional. This allows the customer to be leveraged later for positive social mentions and peer referrals.

4. Cost savings: By being able to scale the number of referral partners without adding headcount companies get significant cost savings. Everything from operational management, to nurturing communications, to reward fulfillment is automated.

5. Better data: Since the referral partner program activity is managed in the referral program program software and integrated into the sales CRM ,a company can see direct ROI rom referral partners and prove the incredible value of the channel.

Benefit of referral partner programs to partners

1. Add revenue/income: Whether the reward goes to the partner entity or partner advocate (salesperson) or both, the program provides an easy way to get rewarded for the relationship partners already have.

2. No hassle: Nurture emails and a personal webpage allow partners to see their referral activity and reward status. This way partners stay informed and view the relationship with the company as low friction. And with confidence in the system, partners will refer more.

3. Happy customers: Partners can extend their offering to include the company’s product or service to provide solutions that meet the customer’s needs. And since referral leads are the highest quality leads partners know that they will receive proper attention during the buying process.

Benefits of referral partner programs to a company’s sales team

1. Fast leads: Salespeople appreciate referral leads since they can skip emailing and calling to to try and prospect. The partner has all the information needed to generate the opportunity and help sales drive them through the pipe.

2. No new systems: All referral data is in sales’ CRM. With no need to learn a new system sales sales can access referral and partner advocate information in the system they use everyday.

3. Easy partner management: Sales doesn’t have to track which referral partners referred whom and fight for them to get paid. With this done automatically, sales can focus on selling.

Benefit of referral partner programs to customers

1. Needs are resolved quickly: When a customer need is identified by a partner it can be resolved quickly for the customer since partners can easily offer up the company’s product or service as a solution.

2. Work with a trusted advisor: Partners can act as a trusted advisor for a company’s product product or service which puts customers at ease. This also results in referral leads moving more quickly and makes them more likely to buy.

3. Great support: The entire customer relationship is managed by the company so customers customers referred by partners get the same great support as all other customers.

Discover how a referral partner program can deliver amazing ROI with the ROI calculator today!

Learn how to start a referral partner program at Amplifinity.com/referral-partner-program