• Are you having trouble motivating partners to be proactive? – Q: What’s your Partner Proposition?
• Are you finding it difficult to attract new partners? – Q: What’s your Partner Proposition?
• Failing to get your product embedded in your partners’ businesses? – Q: What’s your Partner Proposition?
• Are you talking too low level within your partners’ businesses? – Q: What’s your Partner Proposition?
• Are your partners failing to get buy-in from their frontline teams? – Q: What’s your Partner Proposition?
• Are partner financial incentives not working? – Q: What’s your Partner Proposition?
Your Partner Proposition is core to the function and success of every part of your Partner Program. If your Partner Proposition is not relevant and interesting for the partner, then you don’t have a partner.
• Do you want Referrals and Recommendations from Consulting Partners?
• Do you want Outsourced Service Providers to use and resell your solution?
• Do you want Resellers, Value Added Resellers or System Integrator Partners to proactively resell and implement your solution?
• Do you want to embed your technology within another vendor’s solution or suite? (OEM)
• Do you want vendors to develop their solutions on your platform? (ISV Partners)
• Whether you’re a hardware tech, an on-premise solution, a Cloud-based solution, or a mix…
• Whether your charge model is initial lump-sum license fees or recurring revenue model…
• Whether you deliver through a low monthly fee self-service model or big-ticket license requiring complex solution implementation services…
Keeping it practical, some statements for you to debate and consider the value of your partner proposition:
1) You must shape your Partner Proposition to fit your partners business so that you are helping your partners meet their objectives, as well as your own
• Keep in mind that you may be working with the wrong partners, with maybe subtle misalignments.
2) A partner would send you referrals if they believed your solution was the best solution for their customers, and it didn’t potentially hinder their business in any way
• People want to help their customers, not always considering financial gain
• The slightest doubt about your solution will stop them or slow them down
• The slightest perceived competition to their business will stop them or slow them down
3) A partner would put your solution front and center of their business if it drives the right business for them
• What’s the right business for your partners, from their point of view?
• What creates a competitive advantage for your partners? Are you it?
4) Your partners are interested in solutions that add value to their typical deal shape or customer project
• What gives them more of what they want?
• What makes the projects more efficient?
• What makes their offer more valuable or compelling to their customers?
• Do you offer WOW or substance?
5) Revenue share alone is not enough to interest or motivate partners
• Partners want to make money their way with their plans, not yours. If both are aligned, then perfect.
• Partner Fit / Alignment is first, then Partner Proposition, then Partner Enablement – no point in offering incentives, if they don’t have the capabilities. Help them or guide them at least.
6) If your partners decided to develop a competing solution, would they do it differently?
• What features would they priorities?
• What service and revenue model would they use?
• Assuming that they don’t want to develop a competing solution, then you need to change your shape to fit their needs and business.
Developing your Partner Proposition takes time, effort and constant learning.
It’s challenging to get feedback on the strength of your offer to partners, as you can only tell by your partners’ actions, engagement and progress on your agreed joint plans. (I hope you have agreed plans with your partners)
Your Partner Proposition is core to motivating partners, attracting new partners and driving alignment and engagement from partners touching all necessary levels within the partner companies.
Join us to discuss these points and more, on our upcoming Live Session Workshops on Partner Proposition Development: Your Partner Proposition is not good enough – Partner Program Workshop (Lobby|Free) – 26th Oct
And visit here other Upcoming Live Sessions – Tenego Academy