Welcome to the exciting world of partnerships! By joining forces with other businesses, you can open up new opportunities and tap into new markets. But before you can start reaping the benefits of your partner engagement, you need to ensure that your partner is properly onboarded during the first 90 days.
This blog post is your partner onboarding guide to creating a successful partner enablement program and building strong relationships with your partners.
What to expect:
• What is Partner Onboarding?
• Who are the Key Players in the Partner Organization?
• How Does A Channel Partner Onboarding Looks Like?
• 5 Partner Onboarding Best Practices
What is B2B Partner Onboarding?
The word “onboarding” probably makes you think of that first day on the job. You know, the one where you’re introduced to a million new people, given a tour of the office, and handed a stack of paperwork to fill out. While that’s certainly one kind of onboarding, it’s not the only kind. In fact, when it comes to business partnerships, onboarding is essential for ensuring a smooth transition and establishing a foundation for a long-term relationship.
Who are the Key Players in the B2B Partner Organization?
Executive Members
Executive members, including partner/channel managers, are the ones who make things happen — or at least, they’re supposed to. In any organization, they’re the ones with the power and authority to make decisions, set goals, and give direction within the partnership. That’s why it’s essential to involve them early and often in the partnership process.
Executive members will generally be your main point of contact.
Marketing Members
Marketing members are the ones who determine what products and services to promote, how to reach potential customers, and what kinds of messages will resonate with them. They help measure growth metrics, assess marketing campaigns’ success, and provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t.
Marketing members will help you coordinate blog content, events, and social collaborations and be your point(s) of contact to you or your partner’s marketing team.
Sales Members
As the name suggests, these are the individuals responsible for generating partner/channel sales and generating revenue for the company. They’re the ones who work with the marketing members to get partners to sell. Often, marketing members generate leads for sales members to follow up on. They must be knowledgeable about the products or services they are selling and be able to build relationships with potential customers.
Sales members will be the closest to revenue, as well as the closest to prospects. You will need to collaborate very often with these folks, so ensure to be especially intentional in your interactions with them.
Service Members
Service members are the ones who actually oversee the use of the services that the organization provides. They keep the wheels turning and make sure that the organization is actually providing what it promises to provide and that the client receives a maximal value. Additionally, service users are often a major source of feedback for the organization. They can provide valuable insights into what is working well and what needs to be improved.
Service members will protect access to their clients because they are perhaps the most important role responsible for retaining revenue. They require due diligence and clear value props.
How Does a Partner/Channel Onboarding Process Look Like?
A successful partner onboarding process typically looks like a well-oiled machine. All new partners should be given the same information in the same format. Preferably, this would be a partner portal like HubSpot or an LMS (Learning Management System) they can access anytime.
The information should include an overview of the program, what is expected of them, contact information for key people within the company, and any relevant links or resources. Once they have this information, they should be able to easily sign up for the program and start selling your products or services.
A successful channel partner program has three essential components:
Recruitment
The recruitment process begins with identifying which partners have the potential to be successful in promoting your product or service. Once you’ve identified potential partners, you need to reach out and ensure they are interested in joining your program.
Enablement
Enabling your partners means providing them with the training and resources to help partners succeed. This includes everything from product training to sales and marketing support.
Ongoing support
The final component is ongoing support. Even after partners are up and running, it’s important to provide them with the resources and guidance they need to continue growing their business.
Here are the 5 Partner Onboarding Best Practices:
☑ Set clear expectations from the outset.
There’s nothing worse than getting into a partnership and then realizing that you and your partner have completely different expectations. The entire partner onboarding program must be built on clear expectations from the outset. Make sure you both know what you want and what each of you is willing to contribute. This will help avoid misunderstandings and ensure the partnership gets off to a good start.
☑ Communicate and get feedback regularly.
This may seem like common sense, but often times companies fail to do this effectively. By communicating, we mean checking in with partners regularly. This way, you can ensure that they are on board with the project’s progress and that they understand your company’s objectives.
And by feedback, we mean soliciting feedback at every opportunity – after each call, meeting, and deliverable. The best way to get buy-in from your partners is to show that you’re constantly trying to improve the process based on their input. Getting your partners’ feedback helps create a more viable and successful relationship. You can also use their insights to improve future partner relationships.
Keep partners updated on any changes in your business plans. This way, partners are more likely to be involved and invested in the relationship.
☑ Offer training and support.
You need to empower your partner with the knowledge they need about your business, products, and processes. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to provide partner training and support. The important thing is that you find the method (or combination of methods) that works best for your business — and, more importantly, your partners. Some examples would be:
- In-person training sessions: These are where you actually meet with your partner in person and go through the motions together. It is interactive, allowing partners to ask questions and get clarification in real time.
- Webinars: These are especially worth considering if your partners are spread out across different locations. It can be convenient and flexible It can also be recorded and made available for review later.
- Certifications: Certificates from reputable sources can add a lot of weight to your partner’s credentials. It can give them the confidence they need to sell your products and services.
☑ Set clear milestones and KPIs.
Establishing milestones and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) early on will help both parties track progress and measure success over time. Without established benchmarks, it can be all too easy to lose track of what you’re trying to achieve — or worse, end up disagreeing about what constitutes a “successful” relationship.
If you’re looking to measure the success of your partnership program, these are a few KPIs you should be tracking:
First, look at the number of partnerships you’ve formed over a period of time. This will give you a sense of whether you’re growing the program at a healthy rate.
Next, track the amount of revenue that your partners are generating. This will help you assess whether your partnerships are actually driving bottom-line results.
Finally, measure the level of engagement from your partners. Are they actively promoting your product or service? Are they providing valuable feedback?
By tracking these KPIs, you’ll clearly see your partnership program’s performance and where it needs improvement.
☑ Celebrate successes.
Whenever you reach a milestone or achieve a goal, take a moment to celebrate with your new partner. This will help create a strong bond between you and foster a spirit of cooperation moving forward. It helps nurture a sense of camaraderie and teamwork and also provides a much-needed boost of motivation. So take a moment to raise a glass and toast to your mutual success — you deserve it!
By following this effective onboarding program, you can ensure that your new partner feels valued and supported and that your partnership gets off to a great start!
BD Paths’ Takeaway
In order to ensure that your partners are fully (and properly) onboarded, you need to ensure that they have a complete understanding of your organization, your brand, and your target market. The best way to do this is to put them through an extensive onboarding process that covers all of the key players in your organization and gives them a comprehensive understanding of your product or service.
And that’s a wrap! Make sure to tick all those boxes so you can set your organization up for success when onboarding new channel partners. So go forth and onboard with confidence!
If you need a little extra help getting started, we at BD Paths are always here to offer consultation and resources.