Complementary Partners Are Essential To Your Business

It's important to understand if yours is a real partner program or just an affiliate program in search of leads and transactions.

An important first step is to develop a partner rating process that enables consistent terminology for your staff and also enables your business development team to prioritize how it spends its time and resources.

Most Growable Partners (MGPs) are the core of your business.  The strategy is to nurture them and convert them to MVPs.  Their characteristics include:

• They opt-in to receive your communications and meet with you periodically [online and in person]
• They allow you to speak with others in their firm
• They consistently refer and/or close a minimum number of sales opportunities for your products and services
• They make you visibile in their facilities [online and offline]

Most Valuable Partners (MVPs) are elite members of your partner community.  The goal should be for 20% of your partners to be MVPs. The strategy is high level partnering through recognition, customized solutions, programs and learning relationships. They possess all of the MGP characteristics plus:

• They tell you what you need to do to be successful – no guesswork
• They provide suggestions for improving your business
• They consistently refer or close a high number of sales opportunities for your products and services
• They refer you to new potential MGPs

Second Tier Partners (STPs) are partners whose commitment level and results would not be affected by your 1to1 time investment. They do not present the opportunity to become MGPs. You retain them and attract new ones through your BizD process.  Their characteristics include:

• They opt-in to receive your communications and will speak with you on the phone and online
• They sporadically refer or close new sales opportunities for your products and services

Below Zero Partners (BZs) will never justify the time required to partner with them.  The strategy is to eliminate their misperceptions or to subtly encourage them to become someone else’s partner. Their characteristics include:

1. They are not willing to speak or meet with you and do not opt-in to receive your communications
2. They are not willing to allow you to build rapport with others in their firm
3. They do not dedicate basic resources to refer or close new sales opportunities for your products and services

Targets are those with whom you'd like to establish a 1to1 relationship because they suggest future MGP potential.

Make sure that your partner team is not only oriented towards recruitment and managing STPs, but that you also have the calibre of staff to develop MGPs and MVPs?  Otherwise, top partners will lose interest and leave for a better opportunity.

Before contacting a partner, make sure that you know about their company and the person with whom you'll be speaking relative to their history with your firm.  Don't make the conversation only about what they're doing to help your company.  Why not send an email asking to set up a convenient time and agenda rather than expecting them to be ready to talk with you at that moment you call.

Complementary Partners Required For "Whole Product" Solutions

Except for early adopters and true innovators, most people are pragmatic when it comes to making their buying decisions.  They don't want to spend time or money finding or creating the ancillary components associated with the product or service that they buy from you.  Instead, they prefer buying from a company who not only provides an excellent product or service, but who also connects them with the right complementary partners who can fill in the gaps necessary for a "whole product solution". Most likely a partner has chosen you because your products and services fit into the total solution that they offer to their customers.

If you are a "market maker", you create an umbrella under which some of your partners will develop their total business.  In other situations, partners who have a mainstream business can differentiate themselves by offering their customers your products and services as a complement to theirs.  In either situation, a win/win bi-directional relationship is essential for success.  Discover and apply the keys to success unique to your partner program.