Five Steps to Crafting the Ultimate B2B Partner Program

Intro

In this article, we’ll be diving headfirst into the thrilling universe of B2B partnerships. The B2B sales cycle is a wild rollercoaster ride, full of unexpected twists and turns, but with B2B partner programs, you’ll always be able to manage the craziness effectively.

Feeling overwhelmed by your partners? You need B2B partner programs.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty though, let’s break it down: What are B2B partner programs?

What is a B2B Partner Program?

Well, a B2B partner program, also known as a channel partnership, is an official, super-structured way to manage your partnership with another entity that becomes your biggest fan, promoting and distributing your products to a brand-new audience.

Now, let’s look at a five-proven-step process that will help you craft successful B2B Partner programs:

Step 1: Look for Your Dream Partners

First things first, you have to go out there and find those B2B gems that match your business, like peanut butter matches jelly. Start by reaching out to potential partners and have a good old-fashioned chat. Discuss your mutual goals and what you can bring to the table that they can’t, and dream big about what you can achieve together. Oh, and don’t forget to ask about their past partnership experiences and what they’re hoping to achieve from your potential partnership.

Step 2: Draw up a Channel Partner Agreement

Now, a Channel Partner Agreement is the rulebook for your partnership. It’s where you’ll lay out the nitty-gritty details of your partnership, like what marketing tricks are allowed, what resources both parties are bringing up, and what is expected from the agreement — plus any beneficial incentives attached.

Drafting a Channel Partner Agreement is a very important step in the process.

Step 3: Onboard your Partners

At this stage, you’ll formally welcome your B2B partners to the party. Before a partner starts repping your brand, they need to have a lowdown on how it’s done. This is what onboarding’s all about — it’s how you get to make sure everyone’s on the same page.

During the onboarding process, you’ll let your partners know about your brand standards and your product’s unique selling points. You’ll also provide marketing materials, teaching them ways to present your product in a way that makes it marketable.

Step 4: Draw up SMART goals

Now, after onboarding your partners, you’ll need to track your journey to a successful partner program, and you’ll do that with goals, not by winging it. You’ll also need to be SMART with your goals.

That’s right, we’re talking Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals. Have big dreams for your B2B partnership program, but also personalize your goals for each partner like a tailor making a custom suit. Because your needs and the partnership type will need to be balanced for success to be achieved.

Here are five goal examples to get those wheels turning:

1. Pump up the monthly, quarterly, or annual revenue by X%.

2. Crank up the revenue generated in a specific period by X%.

3. Bag at least X new customers each month, quarter, or year.

4. Round up at least X new customers within a geographic circle each month, quarter, or year.

5. Expand the customer base by X% every month, quarter, or year.

Step 5: Use a PRM Software to manage your partnership

Managing B2B partner programs can be difficult without the right tools. Luckily, your new best friend, PRM software (Partner Relationship Management software), is just what you’ll need to make things easy, and it’s readily available.

This nifty software can help you discover partners, create a partner portal where you oversee what’s going on with your program, onboard partners pretty quickly, communicate with partners, share resources and branded sales goodies with partners, track and measure the success of your partnerships in real time, reward your partners in the blink of an eye, safeguard your brand’s integrity and ward off fraudsters, you name it.

These are just some of the cool things you can achieve with a PRM software by your side, and with that, you’ll have done all that’s needed to craft the ultimate B2B partner program capable of fostering collaborations, mutual growth, and long-term success.

Conclusion

Most savvy businesses use partner program software to manage their partner programs, keeping track of marketing agencies, organizing marketing materials, their partner portal, and giving themselves a front-row seat to watch their successful partner program unfold.

You can have the same experience with our software here at Relavate.

A quick look at Relavate’s features!

With Relavate, you’ll get the one platform to build a partner portal and power affiliate partners to grow your products, and win more customers. Start your experience with us today by clicking here.