If you want to boost sales and also vastly expand your customer base, then you should know that partner programs are a fantastic way for you to do this. It’s no wonder at all why so many companies are now investing more and more in strategizing and design. They’re also investing in things such as reseller programs and implementing referrals too. If you want to experience success here, then it would be wise for you to try and hire a qualified partner manager. They can take care of all these programs for you, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. If you intend to start or if you want to expand your program, then now is the time for you to hire a partner manager. Since this is a very new position, you may not be too sure as to what qualities you should be looking for. If you want to make a positive change, simply look below.
How do you Start a Sales Partner Program?
If you want to determine how you could create the best channel partnership strategy, then you need to make sure that you have a channel partner who can distribute the best goods and services. This starts out with you developing a coherent partner plan so you can reach out to all of the companies you need before you drive growth through the tenacious partners you have. If you can do this effectively, you will have the foundation of your co-selling program.
Why is a Business Partner Program Important in 2021?
In this day and age, things are changing rapidly. Leaders are now starting to co-sell more and more. The main reason for this is because it’s a fantastic way for you to rocket your sales while also gaining a much higher level of engagement. Partner programs can help you to shorten your sales cycle and they can also help you to optimise your workflow as well. If a prospect has a 10% close rate, someone who has gone through a demo and they are already interested may have an interest rate of 80% so you can really see the value here. What’s even more interesting is that studies have shown that the person who is talking will usually over-estimate how much their recipients are processing and then retaining what they have heard. If you ensure that your partners are trained and that your customers are engaged, you can begin to close this gap.
How to Choose a Great Partner Manager
If you want to make sure that you are choosing the best partner, then you have to make sure that you follow these steps.
Strategic Thinking Skills
One of the main responsibilities of a partner manager is that they can help you to strategize your entire sales programs. Candidates who you consider hiring should have very strong thinking skills. On top of this, you should easily be able to set some SMART goals for them. When you have implemented all of this, the manager should then be able to effectively readjust the strategy so that the best results can be yielded.
Data Analytical Skills
Partner programs tend to be the area where data plays the biggest role. Data will give you the insight you need to really make the best strategic decisions. This ultimately means that the person who you hire as your partner manager has to be good at processing data. They need to be able to analyse how a program is going and they also need to be able to calculate the cost per lead. As if that wasn’t enough, they also need to be able to analyse the conversion rate, the partner performance, the churn rate, and more. From this, they should then be able to identify any useful insights you need to make the most out of your strategy by using their data knowledge.
Partner Coordination
From onboarding partners to recruiting and even training, your partner managers will have a ton of responsibilities to manage. They will need to get everything up and running if possible. They will also assist partners with any deals they are making and they will take care of payouts too. On top of this, they will manage the partner lifecycle. For this reason, it’s vital that your partner has good communication skills.
Sales and Marketing Skills
Experience and sales is another way for you to really look for the right partner. You need to make a decision that is based on your strategy. If you have a premium program that recruits just a few partners, but they are all very high-profile then you need to choose a manager who has a very good background when it comes to sales. On the other hand, if you have a partner program that intends to get a lot of partners at once, then you may benefit from hiring someone who has a marketing background.
Solving Problems
Partner programs tend to be vast ecosystems and they involve a lot of partners too. Naturally, you can really expect a lot of different hiccups to happen, throughout the day. Partner managers are usually the first person who people go to when they have a problem. They need to step in at the right time and they also need to offer support. Of course, depending on the issue at hand, they may also need to involve other internal teams too.
Training
The candidate also needs to have very good training skills. In a lot of SaaS companies, partner managers have the extra task of having to train new agencies. They need to do this when the onboarding process is complete. The manager of a B2B tech company has to train partners in implementation as well as teaching them about selling the product. This is not a one-time process at all, because every time a new update happens to roll out, managers have to make sure that they train their partners so that they can keep up with the new capabilities.
Social Skills
This one is a no-brainer, to say the least. At the end of the day, it would seem that partners are the backbone of our establishment. Managers are hired for partner-facing roles, so you have to make sure that they can both communicate and collaborate with partners by using excellent communication skills.