Effective partner enablement is not a one-time event; it is an ongoing process that should be constantly tweaked and improved as your business evolves. In this blog post, we’ll provide clear information about the start of the partnership and then the ongoing.

Let’s take a closer look at the partner enablement process, including some key tips for setting up new partners for success and making sure your channel enablement efforts are always moving in the right direction.

What to expect:

1. What is Partner Enablement?

2. Partner Enablement vs. Sales Enablement

3. Why is Partner Enablement important?

4. The 3 Phases of a Partner Enablement

– Phase 1: Discovery and Expectation Setting

– Phase 2: Overview and Initial Training

– Phase 3: Review and Evaluation

5. What happens next?

– Consider the right KPIs

– Set clear next steps and a regular cadence

– Enablement never stops!

Introduction

Choosing a fully qualified ideal partner is one thing, enabling your partners to sell and market your products is another. You want to provide them with the tools they need, but you don’t want to hold their hand through the entire process. That’s where partner enablement comes in. So, what are the best practices to keep your partners up-to-date and provide everything they need?

The onboarding process should be clear and concise, giving partners the information they need to get started selling your product or service. Once they’re up and running, KPIs can help you track their progress and identify areas where they need more assistance.

As your partners become more successful, they’ll need less enablement from you, but it’s still important to provide them with resources and support as needed. By following these steps, you can ensure that your partners are able to sell your product or service effectively and efficiently.

What is Partner Enablement?

Partner enablement is a term you might hear thrown around a lot in business circles, but what does it actually mean? To put it simply, partner enablement is the process of equipping your channel partners with the on-demand tools and resources they need to increase ROI.

This can include everything from providing partner enablement training and support to giving them access to marketing materials and sales resources. By investing in a partner program, you can help ensure that your partners are able to sell your products and services efficiently, ultimately leading to more sales for your business.

Partner Enablement vs. Sales Enablement

Both terms refer to ways of improving performance within an organization, but there are some important distinctions between the two. Sales enablement is all about helping salespeople be more effective. This might involve providing them with training on new products or new selling techniques, giving them access to useful data and analytics, or equipping them with the right tools for the job.

Partner enablement, on the other hand, is all about helping an organization’s partners be more successful. This might involve providing them with marketing resources, training them on how to use the organization’s products and services, or giving your partner access to special offers and discounts.

While both sales enablement and partner enablement are important, it’s important to remember that they’re two different things.

Why is Partner Enablement important?

Business-to-business (B2B) organizations have long recognized the importance of empowering their channel partners to sell their products and services. By providing your partners with the right tools, training, and resources they need to be successful, businesses can maximize their reach and sales potential and there will be an increased chance to perform better. 

In today’s competitive marketplace, partner enablement is more important than ever before. It’s essential to give your partners the tools and information about your products to make their enablement experience simple and efficient.

By making it easy for partners to do business with your business, you can build stronger relationships, increase sales, and ultimately create a competitive advantage.

The 3 Phases to Build a Partner Enablement Strategy

Enablement is a bit like training wheels for new sales reps on your partner’s team. It helps them get up to speed on your product and how to sell it effectively. But once they’re off and running, you don’t need the enablement program anymore. Right?

Wrong. Just like training wheels, enablement is an essential part of getting new partner sales reps up to speed. And, you can’t just take it away once they seem to have the hang of things. Enablement is a three-phased program that should be woven into the fabric of your organization.

So, how do you create a partner enablement strategy? You must build a roadmap, set the targets you expect, and track your business objectives to enhance your partners. Here’s a look at how we do it at Vidyard.

Phase 1: Discovery and Expectation Setting

The discovery phase begins with a bang…or should we say a kick-off meeting? This all-important meeting includes the assigned partner enablement manager (or partner manager, depending on your size), the assigned sales rep from your business, and of course, the partner’s team members. This includes your and your partners’ sales and marketing team.

Together, this dream team will get to the bottom of what the partner does best, and how your company can help them continue to succeed. By the end of the meeting, everyone will be on the same page and ready to move forward with the next phase of the project. So mark your calendars and set aside some time to meet with your team…it’ll be worth it, we promise!

Phase 2: Overview and Initial Training

The best part of having a Learning Management System (LMS) is that you can offer in-person or virtual partner training sessions. If you have a live person to train your partners, you’re all set. If not, there are webinars that are available that will help get them up to speed on how to use the software platform and make sales.

Plus, after the initial setup and rollout, you can usually offer user training as an ongoing service so that your partners always feel confident about their ability to sell products and increase their sales. And, of course, once they’re trained users of the platform, they can always come back for more help if they need it.

However, not everyone has access to an LMS, and there are pros and cons to using one. It’s been said that a live session is worth its weight in gold. And when it comes to learning how to use your company’s product, that adage couldn’t be more true. Led by your skilled partner enablement manager, these sessions offer a quick feedback loop that helps partners understand how your product works. 

Skipping the pre-recorded videos and written guides, these interactive sessions are designed to answer questions on the fly and ensure that partners are able to use your product confidently on their own.

So, investing in a Learning Management System is a great way to ensure that your partners are always able to sell confidently and increase your company’s bottom line. And if you are unable to invest in one, or do not have the capacity to set one up, then live sessions will do wonders as well.

Phase 3: Review and Evaluation

After the technical and sales onboarding is complete and the partner has had a chance to get acclimated to your solution, you and your partner should hold one or two 30-minute evaluation sessions. This is an opportunity for the partner to check in on their progress and to identify any areas where they may need help.

To prepare for these sessions, you will need to review your partner’s activity within the solution (if applicable) and assess their overall adoption of the partnership. After the kickoff meeting, it’s time to get to work and understand the goals that were established during the meeting. What does your partner want to achieve? Once you have a clear understanding of their goals, you can begin to craft recommendations that will help your partner achieve those goals. 

These meetings usually take place in the month after the technical onboarding, giving the partner time to get used to your solution and iron out any wrinkles in their understanding. By taking a proactive approach, you will be able to help partners make the most of their investment and achieve success.

Training is an important part of the certification process, but it’s not always the most exciting thing for partners. By the time phase three kicks off, most partners are eager and excited to move as quickly as possible with their go-to-market plans.

While it’s understandable that partners want to get started on their go-to-market plans as soon as possible, it’s important to make sure that they understand the platform and any certification process before moving forward.

What happens next to your partner enablement plan?

Consider the right KPIs

There are a few Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to consider when thinking about how to further improve your enablement program.

One important metric is measuring time to value for your partners. This can be defined in multiple ways, but essentially it’s about timing how long it takes for your partners to start seeing results from working with you. This could be measured in terms of closed-won deals with new clients, or it could be something as simple as co-marketing events completed with a partner. It all depends on the stage your program is at in its maturity.

Another important metric to measure is the time it takes for partners to successfully complete onboarding. This can be tracked by measuring the length of time it takes for partners to complete all the necessary tasks, and comparing it to the average time it takes for other partners. 

Last but definitely not least, when it comes to exiting onboarding, consider measuring your strategic or channel partner’s satisfaction with the onboarding experience. This can be done by surveying partners after they have completed onboarding, and asking them how satisfied they are with the process (akin to your typical NPS score that customer success leaders use).

By keeping an eye on these metrics, you can ensure that your partners are always moving forward and seeing the fruits of their labor. You can also get a better sense of how successful your exit onboarding process is, and make necessary adjustments to improve it.

Set clear next steps and a regular cadence

This is especially important when it comes to Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs). Now, you might be thinking, “Why do I need to have a QBR? Aren’t they just a waste of time?” And to that we say, “Noooooo wayyyy!” QBRs are actually a really important way to keep everyone on track and aligned with the company’s goals and objectives.

So, how do you make sure your QBRs are effective? First, determine the who, what, when, where, and why of moving forward. You need to answer questions like:

• Who needs to be involved?
• What needs to be discussed?
• When will the meeting take place?
• Where will it be held?
• Why is this important?

Once you have those answers, ensure you clearly communicate the purpose and intent of the QBR to all attendees. This will help everyone come prepared and ready to discuss how things are going and what needs to happen next. So go ahead and get those QBRs on your calendar — your team will thank you for it!

Enablement never stops!

Enabling your partners is never a one-and-done deal. You need to constantly empower them to work with you, and this requires more than just a one-time training session.

Consider regular lunch and learns for your partner, where you can keep them up-to-date on new developments and changes within the company. Pre-recorded video content is also a great way to ensure that your partner always has access to the latest information. 

And don’t forget about active “re-training” where it makes sense—partners always have new employees, so it’s important to keep everyone up-to-date on your products and services. Make sure to highlight your simple, clear resources over time—as your partners’ business evolves, they’ll need to be able to find these easily.

This partner enablement guide is designed to help you get the most out of your partnerships. By following these tips, you can ensure that your partners are always empowered to work with you successfully. If you ever need a little extra help, we at BD Paths can provide additional support through our resources and consultation services to help you get back on track! So don’t wait—empower your partners today!