A logical structure for your Partner Program Matrix

When people think about partner programs, the Gold, Silver Bronze tiered pyramid or Partner Matrix is what typically comes to mind. Your partner program matrix is often a partnering milestone, so you want to be clear and make sense for your business.

Your Partner Program Matrix is:

-A visual that captures much of what represents your partner program
-An effective communication tool to explain the structure to partner companies
-A gamification path for partners to aspire to the partner tier, to gain the rewards and recognition
-A planning aid in capturing multiple elements and prioritizing the steps to establish your partnering function

Some questions:

1) What should you include in your partner program matrix?
2) How should you structure your partner program tiers?
3) What should you show on your partner program matrix for the public, for partners, for your management, and your partnering team?
4) How do you structure your partner program matrix that captures your plan today and allows for expansion to meet your vision?

Your Partner Program matrix needs to represent three dimensions:

1) the elements of your partner offer
2) broken down across your partner tiers for
3) your different partner types

If your partners’ offer and your tiers are consistent across your different partner types, then you can have a two-tier partner matrix. Otherwise, you may need to show a partner matrix for each partner type.

For example, intelliAd’s partner program targets agency and consulting partner types with a similar set of benefits and partner tiers:

I also like the clarity in Gusto Payroll’s Partner matrix, with an easy Starter option:

At the early stages of a partner program with Referral Partners and Reseller Partner types, then the Partner Program Matrix might be represented as follows

The points are taken from Module 6: Define Partner Program Tiers and Supports Matrix’ of the Tenego Academy’s Program; “Build your Partner Program like a Global Leader” Join us for upcoming live sessions