Having a solid partnership can have a monumental impact on your business. If you have a good partner working with you then this can take your business and your sales to that next level. If you have multiple partners working with you then this is even better. That being said, managing different partners can be difficult. If you want some help with that, keep on reading.
What are Partnerships in SaaS?
A strategic partnership is when two companies who have a similar buyer market, work together to try and increase both sales and revenue. SaaS companies will usually engage with other companies that provide a complimentary service.
How do you Manage Multiple Partnerships?
If you want to effectively manage a lot of partnerships, then you need to create a shared vision. You also need to create a roadmap as well. Being transparent is also important so every partner knows where they stand in terms of your overall vision.
What is a Partner Management System?
A PRM is a way for you to provide your partners with a portal or a customer database so they can manage leads as well as their revenue and sales metrics.
Why Is Partner Management So Important?
If you want to make sure that you are managing your partners properly, then you first need to understand why partner management, in general, is so important. Take a look below to find out more.
Create a Shared Partnership
Before you can even begin to formalize your partnerships, you have to make sure that you align your team and your partners. You have to share the visions you have for each other, and you also need to stop any surprises from happening. If you can be as clear and as concise as possible from the start, then this will give your partners a reason to commit more, and it will also help them to meet the goals that you have set for them.
Be Clear
As touched on earlier, transparency is the ultimate key if you want to keep your partnerships as successful as you would like them to be. Be honest about the current weaknesses that you have and also vocalize and advocate for your strengths. If you can do this, then you will soon find that you can then increase your sales potential while also having the chance to close the deal properly. Once your partner can trust you, and the model that you have, you will then be able to invest way more time and resources into helping them succeed, making a better business model overall.
Know Everyone’s Strengths
If you know that you have one partner who is working with you and they are good at sales, but you have another who excels far more at finding new opportunities then you can use this to your advantage. You need to try and find out which partner has which capabilities, and you also need to make sure that you talk openly and honestly with your partners too. If you can do this, then you will soon find that you can come out on top.
Communicate
This may sound somewhat obvious, but it is surprising to hear about how many solid partnerships have failed because communication just wasn’t there. It may be that the partner is doing a very good job, but they are not updating you about everything. If this happens then you may have no way of knowing whether or not, you are hitting your goals. This can lead to some very frustrating scenarios but one way for you to combat this would be for you to set regular communication updates with those who you work with. Communication is great for increasing accountability, and it will also help you to suggest lots of new ideas and approaches to your partners too. There may be systems that focus on managing communication between a partner or a company for example and if this is the case then you can easily capitalise on this. Just make sure that you are aware of how vital communication is and that you are always striving to ensure that yours is the best that it can be.
Know When to Call it Quits
If you want to try and manage a lot of partners at the same time, then you should know that this will take up a lot of your time and energy. When you work with a partner you will create a very close relationship with them and sometimes, you may find that you are even able to form a friendship. When you get to this point, you may find that it becomes even more difficult to have those hard conversations. If you do not feel as though your partner is communicating well, hitting the mark with sales or anything else of the sort then you need to invest more time in their general operation. If you feel as though you have done this but not getting anywhere then this could indicate that you need to make a bigger change, and this could involve letting them go.