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Book NowIn the age of digital transformation, the buyer’s journey has been disrupted and the tactics that worked in the past are no longer relevant. The winners of today look at demand generation holistically - leveraging digital marketing (inbound), prospecting (outbound), and partnerships that are all orchestrated via technology (revenue operations).
But here’s the catch: investing in an allbound demand generation engine is risky - it’s time-intensive, costly, and technical, and success isn't guaranteed. But if executed properly, the rewards are a game-changer for your business.
So to make sure you are a winner, we’ve created this obnoxiously long guide to put you on the podium.
Buckle up buttercup!
Who should read this guide
Inbound marketing and demand generation perform poorly without outbound.
Outbound works miserably without demand generation and inbound.
B2B companies that try to separate these activities are doomed.
Here’s why.
The goal of demand generation is to make your target market aware of your product and to build a relationship with target accounts. The goal of inbound marketing is to capture the demand, educating and nurturing target accounts to generate interest in your product.
But inbound is passive and unpredictable. You spend most of your time waiting for inbound inquiries.
Outbound itself is proactive but eliminates the key principle of business: People buy from people they know, like, and trust.
This is the exact reason why demand generation and inbound should both be a part of your marketing mix and support sales with the intent data for hyper-personalized, timely outreach.
Don't break the puzzle into pieces.
The only type of B2B marketing that works is ALLBOUND FULL-FUNNEL MARKETING.
How healthy is your pipeline? Are you ahead, on track or behind?
Here’s the hard truth: 57% of reps aren’t expected to hit their quota this year. 57%! Optimism is one of the great characteristics of a salesman but let's face it, hope isn’t a strategy.
Sales has changed - the buyer has more control than ever before, and it requires a new approach to selling. If you simply rely on others to generate leads for you, albeit referrals from clients or partners or inbound leads from marketing, you lose. That’s right, no quota, no bonus, no President’s Club.
Do I have your attention?
In this guide, you will learn how to take back control of your pipeline. You will discover the who, why, what, and how of successful prospecting:
Don’t be the one who goes home and tells your significant other, “Sorry honey, no President’s Club in Hawaii this year.”
Take back control once and for all.
Prospecting is the art (and science) of creating new business for your product or service. When done right, it’s about engaging with companies who have a problem you know you can solve.
Easy, right?
Not so much. Remember, prospecting is about engaging with companies who don’t necessarily know they have a problem (yet). And often, they don’t know you from Adam.
So how do you create a successful prospecting strategy?
Starting with an effective onboarding process can set the foundation for successful prospecting. Explore HubSpot onboarding services.
Before you even think about writing an email, making a call or connecting with someone on LinkedIn, do your homework. Know who is a good fit for your product or service.
When you map out an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), you’ll understand the characteristics that make a company a good candidate for your business. To generate an ICP, you should do an audit of your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution and understand where you win, and perhaps more importantly, where you lose.
This step is about assigning quantitative data to what’s largely been “intuitive” for you and your team. This requires slicing and dicing all available data using many dimensions, including:
Companies don’t die from starvation; they die from indigestion.
The more focused you are on which plays you are going to run, the more success you will have. And here’s why: your expertise creates credibility. You’ll know not only who to target but how to message to them. Your conversion rate will naturally increase and you’ll create a powerful network effect. So select only a handful of plays, no more than three. Better to be a master of one than none.
Now that you have mapped out your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) by dissecting your existing client list, you can create a list of companies and personas you want to target.
Remember, you want to find companies who already have a need for your product or service. You only have so much time, so focus your efforts where you will have the highest return - i.e. closing deals.
So instead of boiling the ocean, create a strategy around one “company play.” For example, if you are an up-and-coming software company that has had a lot of success replacing a legacy solution in your space, place a disproportionate amount of focus on that play. Does your software solve a bunch of other use cases? Sure, but the legacy takeaway play has a 5x average deal size, 10x total addressable market (TAM), and a 2x conversion rate vs other plays. We don't have a Ph.D. in math but that’s a better use of your time, don’t you think?
There are so many great sales intelligence tools you can use when creating your target list. To get you started, here are some suggestions:
So you know who you want to target and why, but what’s your message?
If you are like most sellers, you skip this step and immediately start sending generic emails about how great you are. But remember, the buyer’s journey has changed. They don’t want to be sold to, they want a solution to their problem. If you position your company as the hero instead of theirs, your “great” email will immediately get deleted. It’s just white noise.
In this information age, you can’t afford to be lazy. You must understand the problem and the impact it has on their business before you engage. Without context, there’s no value created and therefore no meeting is generated. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. When was the last time you responded to a cold outreach?
Was it because the person on the other line talked about how great they were? Didn’t think so.
So before you engage with a prospect, I’d encourage you to use The Problem Identification worksheet that Jim Keenan, author of Gap Selling, created. Keenan outlines a 3 step process to articulate your reason.
Sales, according to Jim Keenan, is about solving problems for customers and making their life better. If you properly assess the problem, impact and root cause, you will influence the buyer to engage with you. It’s one thing to identify the symptom, like a headache, but it’s another to identify the source.
Let’s say you are selling software to a sales manager. His reps aren’t hitting quota. But why? Do they have enough leads coming in? Are the leads coming in the right leads? Once the leads are in, are they converting? By addressing some of these fundamental questions, you’ll be able to identify the source of missing quota. You’ll know if it’s a people issue (reps can’t close qualified deals) or a marketing issue ( we either aren’t getting enough leads or the leads we get are crap).
Try it and see what happens.
There are more channels for reaching your buyer than ever before - email, phone, text, social, etc. The options can feel overwhelming and you’ve probably heard provocative statements like “Cold Calling is dead.” The reality is that the channel isn’t dead. Your stale message is dead.
Use the channel that your buyer uses, not the channel you prefer. You are meeting them on their terms. So let’s explore the 5 most common channels where you can effectively engage with your buyer:
Short Answer: Yes and No
Long(er) Answer:
It depends on the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) of your product or service.
If you target the enterprise in a specific industry, then you have a finite audience and you shouldn’t play the volume game. Do your homework and personalize.
Short(er) Answer:
If, however, your product or service has a ubiquitous need, regardless of industry or company segment, you should embrace a volume strategy.
Intent data empowers you to understand which accounts or leads are actively researching specific keywords online. It significantly improves your connection rate (meetings) because you know who is actively researching solutions that you know you can solve.
The first layer of intent is when a visitor or lead engages with your company - visits the website, reads your content, goes to your pricing page, etc. It’s any activity performed within the “digital walls” of your organization, and it’s a powerful way for you to track their level of interest in your product or service.
Third-party intent, on the other hand, empowers companies to understand when companies are in the active buying cycle but their activity isn’t happening on your website. If you have a long sales cycle (6+ months) and a large average deal size ($100k+), you should embrace this powerful strategy
Remember, the content of your email should be centered around value, not promoting your company.
To which you might say, great, but what does that actually mean? I’m glad you asked!
Josh Braun is a sales consultant who provides great commentary on this topic. He outlines 8 things you should do when generating an email - read his blog here.
But Josh goes a step further to provide a 6 step formula for how you should design an effective personalized email:
Josh Braun is a great resource but there are others who can help you successfully prospect, and ultimately close deals. Take a moment and start following these influencers on LinkedIn:
Sales engagement is the interaction that happens between buyers and sellers. Historically, this has been a manual, burdensome process, but technology has transformed this category to make sellers more efficient and provide a better experience for the buyer.
To be more specific, sales engagement tools combined with a CRM empower sellers to know where their buyer is in the customer journey, so they can communicate with them at the right time with the right message.
It’s ok to combine art and science. Take some of the mystery out of sales and drive better results
There are so many great tools for standardizing a cadence for your prospecting efforts. Here are a few to get you started:
If you thought LinkedIn was strictly a tool for finding a new job, it’s time for a reality check. LinkedIn is the best tool in a reps arsenal. Why? It’s the information gold rush.
LinkedIn has the most up to date information about your target persona(s), and more importantly, it’s free. You would be foolish to not leverage this incredible tool. In fact, if you aren’t incorporating LinkedIn into your outbound cadence, you aren’t prospecting. It’s time to step up to the big leagues, kid.
Because you can quickly access up-to-date and accurate information about your prospect, you can tailor content based on the persona. Remember how we discussed personalized content as an effective tactic for generating meetings? Well, now you know exactly what type of content to use to highlight problems and solutions for your persona.
For the benefits outlined above, LinkedIn is no longer a “secret.” The same principle for email applies to LinkedIn. Don’t be lazy and just automate a bunch of LinkedIn invites. Be intentional, show you give a sh$t and add value.
Every rep should have LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Period. In addition to Navigator, there are some great tools that will help you manage engagement, such as:
Cold Calls are dead, right? The data certainly suggests it is.
According to LinkedIn, less than 2% of cold calls result in a meeting. That means it takes at least 100 calls to get 2 people to agree to a meeting. Yikes.
And the reasons given for this poor conversion rate make a ton of sense:
But a cold call provides something that digital channels simply cannot facilitate- human interaction. A recent article by Salesforce highlights three justifications for cold calling:
Furthermore, is the poor conversion rate a reflection of the medium or simply bad techniques?
Before you start dialing for dollars, be thoughtful in your approach. Have a plan in place. In John Lachtaw’s Sales Hacker article, he provides a 6 step framework for a successful cold call:
By leveraging a framework like the one above, you can generate a script to help you navigate the call. By controlling the structure, you eliminate the inevitable variables of a cold call, and it will naturally give you more confidence because you’ve defined the process.
But remember, even though it’s a phone call, it needs to be focused on them, not you. Here are two great resources covering how to build a personalized script for your next cold call:
Dialers are automated systems that place calls from an outbound caller to a customer.
Manual dialing is not only time consuming and repetitive, but it’s also error-prone. Dialers dramatically increase the productivity of your sales team - directly connecting you to customers as they become available.
Naturally, as digital media became the predominant source of information, marketers focused their strategies to engage with a digital audience. This proliferation of digital marketing, however, has led to widespread digital fatigue.
Now, marketers are looking for ways to differentiate and, perhaps surprisingly, the physical mailbox is a prime target.
According to Sendoso, there are a few reasons why this is so successful:
If you’re convinced that direct mail is an effective way to support your prospecting efforts, here is an excellent guide for how to execute.
In-person events served as a catalyst for accelerating deals through the pipeline by establishing trust/credibility with prospects. The value of relationship-building can’t be overstated.
But if you have relied on-field events, particularly in a post-pandemic context, you are setting yourself up for failure.
If you are creative, digital events can be very effective. According to Topo, 87% of top-performing orgs use high value offers to drive engagement. So instead of a generic webinar, consider hyper-focused digital events with a select audience and topic that demonstrates high value. For example, create a roundtable with executives where they get to hear from your CEO or a thought leader that addresses a specific pain you know they are experiencing. Focus on quality, not quantity.
And the next time you consider a virtual event, think about effective ways to communicate your message. There are companies, like The Sketch Effect, who translate your words into visuals that make your ideas more consumable for your audience.
Did you know that 79% of companies who outperformed their revenue goals had a personalization strategy in place?
Personalization is about being thoughtful and intentional. It’s understanding who you are targeting and why you are targeting them, and connecting a personal trigger to the value your product or service provides.
Personalization isn’t a shortcut. It isn’t “Hey, saw you went to the University of Georgia. Go Dawgs!” That adds no value.
Automate the unnecessary back and forth when coordinating a call with a prospect. Accelerate the process by empowering them to find a time on your calendar that also works for them.
Looking to step up your sales game? Check out this list of the top B2B sales podcasts by Selling Sherpa:
Just because you’ve defined your Ideal Customer Profile, it doesn’t mean that they are a good fit for your company, at least not now. So what if you had a way to identify when a prospect who matches your Ideal Customer Profile was actively seeking a solution? Sound too good to be true?
First party intent is tracking engagement across your digital marketing channels, like website, email, and content. First party intent is standard practice but it’s narrowly focused on those who have engaged with you.
Third-Party Intent collects intent data outside of your “digital firewall,” empowering you with information of what keywords companies and your personas are searching for.
Integrating intent data within HubSpot tools enables comprehensive engagement tracking across your campaigns. Learn more about HubSpot integrations.
The buyer’s journey isn’t linear.
Traditionally, inbound has been defined by attracting prospects through digital channels whereas outbound involves proactively generating interest through prospecting efforts.
The reality, however, is that the buyer’s journey has changed and first touch attribution is not only difficult to track; it’s not as relevant. So stop working in silos. For example, if your company targets enterprise accounts your sales, marketing, and partners are all going after the same contacts. So sure, one channel will get credit based on some arbitrary attribution point, like a form fill or lead-gen report, but who is to say that it wasn’t influenced by another department? What’s most important is delivering the best customer experience, so work in coordination, not silos.
Focus on delivering value and leverage both tactics in parallel in your prospecting efforts to drive the best engagement.
Over 40% of sales reps say that prospecting is the hardest part of their job. There’s no sugar coating it - prospecting is tough. But if you attack it with the right process, strategy, and associated tools, you will experience success.
Alright, it’s time to put some principles to practice. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Why is Nike more valuable than any other shoe company in the world? Is it because their shoes are THAT much better than their competitors? Of course not. It’s the brand.
It’s no different with your product or service relative to the competitors in your category. Your brand matters. It’s what makes you different. And what makes you different is understanding why your company exists and the core values that inform the decisions and actions you take.
Before you engage in demand generation tactics, it’s imperative that you understand your revenue target, your target market and how your audience engages with your business - i.e conversion paths. You need clarity on where you want to go so you can work backward to determine how many leads to engage with, and by when, to hit your revenue objective.
An effective onboarding can set up your team for success with HubSpot’s demand gen tools. Explore HubSpot onboarding services.
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer. To create a buyer persona, you should aggregate data from market research, customer interviews, and feedback from customer-facing employees.
The intent of a buyer persona is to align your marketing strategy with your target customer. By identifying your persona, you can generate messaging on how your product or service addresses their pain points.
In fact, every single marketing activity should answer how your company can solve a prospect’s challenges. By doing so, you’ll attract companies who won’t just buy your product but will also benefit from it in the long-term. And generating happy customers isn’t just good for retention, it’s a great referral engine for future growth.
Like any relationship, it’s a process. Mapping out the customer journey helps inform where your prospect is in the customer lifecycle so you can engage with them in relevant and meaningful ways. The farther they are in the lifecycle, the higher the degree of intent. First comes love, then comes marriage… Anyway, there are 6 stages of a customer journey but the indicators that move you from one stage to the next vary by company.
A visitor is, well, a visitor. It’s someone who shows interest in your company by engaging with some form of content but you don’t know who they are.
What differentiates a visitor from a lead is that you know who they are. Meaning, they’ve given you their information, which shows a higher level of interest.
An MQL is someone who marketing has defined as a good fit for your product or service.
An SQL is someone sales agrees is a good fit and worth pursuing. This also marks the handoff between lead ownership.
An opportunity occurs when there is alignment between the lead and the sales representative - your product or service is a viable solution for what they need.
Congrats, you did it! You tied the knot!
Think of a conversion path like the U.S. highway system. The infrastructure is designed to help you get from point A to point B. You determine your route, but you rely on the system to get you to where you want to go.
Similarly, a successful inbound strategy facilitates a path for a prospect to progress in their journey. Because it’s their journey, not yours. They will engage with multiple pieces of content as they define their problem, identify solutions, and then select a solution to address their problem.
A common conversion path begins with a call to action (CTA), which triggers a visitor to take an action, and then you lead them down subsequent engagement steps with the goal of adding so much value they ask to speak with sales about your product or service.
Building a partner program makes all the sense in the world. When it’s done right, the value of partners is extraordinary:
Unfortunately, most partner programs fall flat on their face. You spend a bunch of money, generate a bunch of meetings, get really excited, and ….silence. Then you get fired.
Don’t let that be your experience.
In this guide, we will share a proven framework to generate a predictable, repeatable partner program. We’ll cover the entire partner lifecycle, including:
Partnerships are created to improve the customer experience, delivering value in areas like support, implementation, adoption, and expertise.
Too often, businesses focus on what the channel can do for their business.
Revenue will naturally come if you focus on the right thing: the customer.
Before you invest in a partner program, assess the current state of your business and determine if a partner program is a viable path.
With a customer-centric mindset, where are you looking for partners to take your business?
With that end state in mind, consider the following to determine what your partnership program should look like:
Now that you’ve determined you have the right foundation in place to pursue a program, the next step is partner identification.
Yes, at a foundational level, partnerships are customer-centric, but it needs to be mutually beneficial for you and the partner.
So as you start to think through which partners you want to pursue, consider these questions:
Map out the natural segments for your product or service. Segmentation looks like the following:
|
Segment |
Description |
|
Independent Software Vendor (ISV) |
Complimentary software solution - product integration, app on marketplace |
|
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) |
When a vendor white labels your software on their paper |
|
Value Added Reseller (VAR) |
Resells your product and attaches services on top, typically with implementation |
|
Strategic Alliance |
Affiliate programs, generally run through marketing campaigns |
|
Distributor |
Purchases and resells software for both und users and resellers |
|
Managed Services Provider |
Manage IT services and can refer or resell |
|
Systems Integrator |
Trusted advisor for the client, building a solution- software+services |
As you think through the operating model for your partner program, there are generally 3 paths to building a program - resale, referral, and influence.
|
Motion |
Description |
Partner Involvement |
Lead Source |
Sales Lead |
Technical Lead |
Paper(Contract) |
|
Resale |
Partner owns the account and drives the sale from start to finish |
High |
Partner |
Partner |
Partner |
Partner |
|
Referral |
Partner introduces vendor to one of their accounts |
Medium |
Partner |
Direct |
Direct |
Direct |
|
Influence |
Partner can influence a deal they didn’t source |
Low |
Direct |
Direct |
Direct |
Direct or Partner |
And the higher the involvement, the more margin a partner should receive - reward the right behaviors.
|
Segment |
Sales Motion |
Incentive Structure |
|
Independent Software Vendor (ISV) |
Referral |
10%-25% |
|
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) |
Resale |
20%-50% discount |
|
Value Added Reseller (VAR) |
Resale |
10%-50% discount on list price |
|
Strategic Alliance |
Referral |
Depends |
|
Distributor |
Resale |
10%-50% discount on list price |
|
Managed Services Provider |
Resale or Referral |
10%-50% discount on list price |
|
Systems Integrator |
Resale or Referral |
|
In the table above, you’ll notice that there is a discount range. To motivate partners, you should create a clear path for how a partner can achieve a higher discount. In practical terms, this generally looks like three tiers, such as silver, gold and platinum. Progressing to tiers is attainable by revenue AND enablement. This is critical if you are signing resellers. You need buy-in from both sales and technical.
|
Scenario |
Direct Physical Presence(Office, Sales, Support) |
Partner Involvement |
|
Expanding to New Territory |
No |
|
When assessing partners within the segments above, you should target prospective partners who display market fit, alignment, and a commitment to work together. Just because you share a common Ideal Customer Profile, it doesn't mean it will lead to revenue.
So you should constantly ask yourself, am I giving more than I’m getting? Remember, these are partnerships. It shouldn’t be one-sided.
What works for one partner doesn’t work for all of them. There are, however, commonalities by segment. So approach partner outreach like you do customer outreach - tailored messaging by persona and profile.
So, as you think through your message, don't overcomplicate it.
Partners need a clearly defined process to ensure they are enabled to accomplish collective goals. Take a crawl, walk, run approach with new partners. They will not be able to resell your product or service on Day One.
A common temptation is to simply repurpose whatever training has already been designed for new hire enablement and repurpose it for partner enablement. Don’t be lazy. Know your audience. Understand what motivates them, what they need to be successful, and how they learn.
Sales Enablement
First, know your audience. You are interacting with sales reps. Do they like enablement? Do you like enablement? Do your internal sales reps like enablement? Of course not! So don’t be tempted to build some elaborate program that falls on deaf ears. Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS).
Here is what reps want to know:
Make your enablement as clear, clean and concise as possible, particularly for referral partners.
As you mature into a true resale motion, it will be important to have a more robust sales enablement program that encompasses areas like:
If you are in software, you should have two components to your technical enablement program- pre-sales and delivery.
Marketing is the third pillar in the partnership, and it’s important that both marketing teams understand why the partnership was created, who the joint solution benefits, and the message to your customers and the broader community.
But beyond the foundational components of why the partnership was created, there also needs to be alignment on tactics that both sides will agree to do, such as:
With sales, marketing, and technical enablement, establish the objectives upfront. In the words of Drucker, you can’t measure what you can’t track.
You need systems in place to support your partners. If you’re just getting started, don’t invest too much in technology - use existing tools like Google Drive. However, as you grow and generate some traction, you will need to invest in a partner infrastructure:
An LMS provides a certification process for partners on different tracks. It’s also a way for you to track how many are certified, how many are in process, and who hasn’t started.
Suggested Tools:
A partner portal serves as a centralized repository for all necessary information for your partners. They can submit leads, access content, seek support and it can be customized by partner tier.
Suggested Tools:
Seamlessly migrate partner data into HubSpot for smooth onboarding and collaboration. Find out more about HubSpot migration services.
Facilitate real-time support and knowledge sharing by creating shared channels for both teams to interact.
Suggested Tools:
Provide high touch, on-site training for your top tier partners, so they have what they need to be successful.
The biggest issue we see in the execution phase is the channel manager focusing on tactics instead of pairing the tactics with key initiatives. If you don’t have alignment with your partner, you won’t see results. Your commercials don’t matter. Your account mapping doesn’t matter. Your pretty dashboards don’t matter.
Now that we’ve made it abundantly clear what’s most important, it’s also critical that you have a governance plan to keep those accountable for the tactics that will be generated
It takes two to tango:
If you both have direct sales teams, you should foster and facilitate as much interaction as possible. Don’t be afraid to let go of some control so those relationships can develop. Their success will ultimately be your success. Have them map out their territories and accounts so they can assess how to work together. They know the needs of the customer better than you do. Remember, partnerships are about driving value to the customer.
Who doesn't like a little competition and making some cash? The behaviors you want to drive should inform the structure of your spiff. We prefer spiffs that are tied to leading indicators that will eventually result in closed-won business. You can do spiffs for closedwon business but reps are already motivated to close deals. So why not focus on areas like certification, lead generation for a specific play or ICP, or pipeline generation that you know will lead to revenue?
Two other tips: Make sure it’s time-bound, and we recommend doing either a kicker for the top-performing rep at the account OR requiring all the reps to hit a certain benchmark before anyone gets paid. Competition and accountability are great motivators.
Awards are a great way to foster trust and loyalty with your partner but also serve as a lead generator for partners because you have given them credibility. You can have a variety of award categories, such as top producer, technical innovation or customer satisfaction.
MDF programs are designed to motivate partners to invest deeper into the partnership by providing financial support for partner-related activities. They should be earmarked for your top tier and typically range from 3%-5% of the total bookings.
To ensure transparency on both sides, you should define approved tactics that the partner can use with these MDF funds. In addition to lead generation, MDF can also be used for enablement activities. Regardless of how you structure it, make sure the program is clearly defined and easily accessible for the partner.
As you continue to scale, it’s critical to have a centralized location, like a partner portal, where your partners can not only access content but easily grab co-branded campaigns for specific plays that they can use for prospecting or deal support. This “campaign in a box” concept will make you a hero with the partner because you’ve not only made their life easier, but you are helping them source or close business opportunities.
PAB’s are a fantastic way to facilitate collaboration and communication between your partners and your executive leadership team. It gives partners a seat at the table. And by doing so, partners can contribute to the overall strategy and growth of the business, driving credibility and trust within our organization.
PAB’s should be limited to your top partners and they typically meet quarterly and then an in-person meeting around an event like an annual user conference
As you grow, it’s critical that you implement systems that can automate manual, time-intensive tasks for your partners- deal registration, reporting, referral payout, lead management, etc. Unnecessary friction kills momentum with partners. They are simply too busy. Don’t burden them with unnecessary requests that could easily be automated.
HubSpot’s technical consulting can help you automate and optimize your RevOps functions for efficiency and scale. Discover HubSpot technical consulting.
Performance should be measured at a top-down and bottom-up level - the overall partner program as well as the individual partners that make up the ecosystem. Analyze the trends at the macro level like partner tiers, partner types, geographies and tenure but also assess the account level for your most strategic partners- pipeline generation, lead coverage, deal velocity enablement by rep, etc.
Those data points will inform future investments, who you recruit in the future, how you will scale the program, and the targets and goals you set for building a predictable program.
Sourcing is king - both from your partners and what you provide for them. Lead origination is what will ultimately define success for you and your partner. Lead origination, however, isn’t the only metric that matters, especially as you build the program. Remember, robust partner programs take time to build, at least 9-24 months. So if you are in the building phase of a program, the KPI’s for the first few quarters should be leading indicator focused, like partners signed, certifications, and pipeline generation.
Narrow the metrics to a handful of KPIs every quarter, no more than 3. Those should be the major rocks that you are measured against, and you should have a regular cadence to track how you are performing relative to the KPI’s so you can adjust accordingly.
Other measurements to look at include:
These metrics will help you understand what’s working and what’s not, both at the program level and at the partner level. It drives data-informed decisions, and it creates accountability with partners around tier promotion or demotion at the end of the year.
Context is key. You should assess these benchmarks relative to your direct sales team. In theory, you should see higher efficiency with partner sourced deals - shorter sales cycle, higher conversion rate, and larger average deal size.
In the formative stages of your program, try to establish a collaborative culture between your direct sales team. The direct sales team should not only see the value of the partner program but understand how it benefits them.
You can model partner programs in an overlay motion - partner sources deal and direct drives deal or you can work in silos. Silos is a more cost-effective model, but it creates barriers with your sales and marketing departments, and it can impact culture. If you are concerned about double paying both departments, you can look at spiffs or reduced commission models but build a model that supports what’s most important to the business. If it’s speed to market, don’t create friction internally with unclear rules and reduced commission.
Your internal marketing team needs to be motivated to help you. If they aren’t rewarded for contributing to partner success, good luck getting their help with all the other initiatives you have going on.
If you have marketing behind you, here are a few metrics to track:
It takes a village to build a successful partner program. And the roles and responsibilities will evolve over time based on the needs of the team. Initially, it might be you leveraging manual systems like spreadsheets and soliciting the support of your marketing team and technical teams. As you scale, however, you will need to assess tools, like a PRM and LMS, to automate tasks and certifications as well as full-time employees to support operations, partner management, and partner marketing.
Enablement, for example, requires someone's full attention because it’s so important to ensure a successful program. You have to build the tracks, create a certification program, and monitor execution.
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