Feeling overwhelmed by the fundamentals of partner relationship management (PRM)? As a software provider, understanding the basics is important to build a successful, highly regarded partner program, but navigating the terminology can be tough.
In this guide, we’ll cover the ABCs of PRM software so that you can quickly learn the foundations of robust partner programs that drive innovation, growth, and success.
If you’re a software provider that is new to the partner relationship management market, here’s a quick and easy glossary to help you understand the basics.
Partner Relationship Management
Partner relationship management (PRM) refers to the tools, processes, incentives, materials, platforms, and training you use to establish, enable, and maintain a channel partner network. As a result of successful PRM, channel partners help you achieve business goals, such as increased sales or market penetration.
Think of a travel agency; they sell holiday packages from larger travel companies and make a commission for every vacation they book.
The same system is easily applied to the SaaS industry. Large tech companies like Microsoft, Salesforce, Zoom, Adobe, and many others use PRM to sign-up and motivate selling channel partners that reach wider audiences.
PRM is sometimes confused with CRM (customer relationship management), but they are totally different. CRM software manages customer relationships, whereas PRM software is purpose-built to efficiently nurture partner relationships.
Partner Program
A partner program is the package of partner benefits you use to recruit and encourage vendors to promote your software. Successful partner programs include incentives, training, marketing resources, and tiered levels that mobilize and galvanize new channel partners.
PRM programs are maintained and managed using PRM software, a dedicated platform with a partner portal where you can onboard new partners, give updates, and track progress.
Channel Partners
Your channel partners are vendors, affiliates, distributors, tech advisors, software consultants, and resellers that sell your software to customers at volumes that are costly and hard to achieve with direct salespeople.
Anyone who signs up for your partner program becomes a channel partner, and it’s your job to nurture that relationship and support them in making sales. The great news is that PRM software makes it easy to do this.
Channel Sales
Any sales you make through channel partners are known as channel sales. Channel partners may get a commission or other incentive, depending on the channel program. Channel sales are a strong sales strategy because software providers benefit from their channel partners’ authority and word-of-mouth recommendations to the customer.
Additionally, your channel partners can go beyond making sales by supporting the implementation and integration of your software, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and lower churn.
Channel Marketing
Channel marketing is the process of working with channel partners to take your software to market.
This could be co-marketing (i.e., collaborations), case studies, social media campaigns, joint advertisements, or it could be separate marketing that your channel partners do for you (e.g., content marketing, social media campaigns, podcasts, etc.).
Often, software providers offer a robust resource and training library as a part of channel marketing. By giving partners materials and inside knowledge, a channel partner is more likely to impress prospective customers.
Channel Partner Management
Finally, channel partner management is the process of supporting, nurturing, and managing your channel partners through a dedicated platform – your PRM software.
A good channel manager provides training opportunities, marketing resources, customer service support, and any other tools your partners need to successfully promote and sell your software.
Importance of Partner Relationship Management (PRM)
Around 76% of business leaders agree that partner ecosystems will be the main driver of change over the coming years.
Whether you run a software start-up or an established SaaS business, PRM will help you take your business to new heights.
- A well-managed partner program will help you expand into new markets.
- Channel partners allow you to more easily build trust and brand awareness.
- With the right team of channel partners, you can significantly increase revenue faster and at a lower customer acquisition cost than hiring more salespeople.
How Do You Understand Partner Needs Better Than Your Competitors Vying for Channel Partner Attention?
The key to building and maintaining a successful channel partner program is deeply understanding your partners’ needs.
Rather than trying to appeal to everyone, identify your ideal partner profile and offer targeted program incentives and resources.
Tailoring a channel partner marketing program to specific segments requires deep research into partner motivations, requirements, and wants. But this research will help you build an ultra-successful program that keeps partners engaged.
Get in touch today to discover how ChannelBoost can help your partnership program reach new heights.
PRM Communication Channels
The next important aspect of PRM to understand is communication. Partners expect clear, open communication with partner relationship managers, which requires dedicated tools.
PRM software offers a partner portal that opens lines of communication. Within the software, you’ll be able to answer questions, address queries, and offer support when required. In addition, many channel partners want anytime access to sales trackers, leaderboards, and deal approval updates.
Building this knowledge and rapport with channel partners can be as simple as meeting with them regularly so they understand your software and you understand them just as well. Whatever your communication style, establishing open lines of communication is one of the most essential aspects of a successful PRM program.
Building Trust and Credibility in Your Program
High-quality partners have many software providers and channel programs to choose from. Many more software providers are vying for the support of channel partners than partners can engage effectively with. They’ll only sign up for the ones they have genuine confidence in, see a compelling package of benefits, and believe will best serve their customers.
The best way to build a trusted, credible partner program is to establish consistent, reliable, and automated business operations with transparent policies.
Keep your partners updated with upcoming software updates, marketing opportunities, and any changes that could affect their marketing plans. The more you can keep them in the loop with open, honest communication, the more successful your channel sales will be.
PRM Collaboration and Co-Creation
Partner collaborations involve running marketing campaigns with your partners. From social media takeovers and blog posts to podcast interviews and in-person events, PRM collaborations help boost user sign-ups and attract new partners.
Investing in mutual collaboration with your top-performing partners fosters mutual success. It boosts brand awareness and helps establish authority in your software while highlighting the commitment you have to your program.
Some ideas include live ask me anything (AMA) sessions on social media or in a webinar. You could also collaborate on case studies after your channel partner makes a few successful sales. Distributing blogs on your partners website (and vice versa) is also a good way to connect with your partners’ audience.
PRM Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
To perfect a PRM program, regular reviews are a must. This will help you identify pain points for future improvements as your partner program matures.
Identify your KPIs and measure partner performance monthly to keep track of results. Here are key channel partner KPIs to monitor:
- Number of newly enrolled partners.
- The quality of partners (not all are created equal, and some will bring in significantly more business than others).
- Partner onboarding and activation rates.
- Active vs inactive partners.
- Program abandonment rate.
- Partner satisfaction (this will be a subjective measure, but it helps to ensure partners are happy).
- Prospect page engagement.
- Marketing spend ROI.
- Active pipeline value.
- Deal registrations.
It’s good to set goals for your KPIs and then use your data to figure out where your problems lie. For example, if you’re getting great prospect page engagement but low deal activations, it could show that your incentive program needs work.
On the other hand, if you have low newly enrolled partners but high partner satisfaction, your marketing may be missing your target audience.
How to Get Channel Partner and Customer Feedback
Finally, it’s vital to get continuous channel partner feedback to ensure you have a low program abandonment rate. Happy partners are much more likely to support and promote your business, so consistently making improvements based on feedback is an important aspect of PRM.
Use your PRM software to survey partners, ask for feedback, and maintain open communication. Make it clear that you value feedback and be open about the changes you’re making to the program based on partner input.
Be sure to use your PRM software to collect survey feedback on customers’ experiences with your partners. Then, share this feedback with your partners and recognize and promote your partners with the best customer ratings. Create a leaderboard of the partners providing the best experiences and watch as friendly competition between partners drives up the quality of experiences your customers receive from your channel.
Keep surveys short and sweet to ensure partners remain engaged with your feedback requests, and allow open feedback to get fresh ideas.
Ready to Build Your PRM Software?
Building and maintaining a successful PRM program doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By understanding the essentials of highly regarded and well-optimized partner program, you can create a market-leading channel partner program for your software business.
For more guidance in partner relationship management and building your channel partnerships, check out ChannelBoost, Coachbar's channel automation and growth platform.
Get the single tool that lets you discover, onboard, train, and reward technology partners, in one seamless experience. ChannelBoost is the only platform you need to manage your channel partner program, end to end.
