I’m often asked, “What are the best strategies to effectively activate partners after onboarding?” There are no magic tricks, but there are definitely some actions that can make the difference between a mediocre and a powerful partnership. Based on my experience, these are the 10 tips that I learned and applied over the years.
1. Strategic Welcome
The first impression is crucial for any relationship, and partnerships are no exception. A strategic welcome is more than just a friendly email or a phone call. It’s a way to show your partners that you care about them, that you understand their goals and challenges, and that you are ready to support them in their journey.
Provide partners with clear, concise materials that highlight your value proposition and make them feel like an integral part of your team from day one.
At isendu we revamped our onboarding process, resulting in a 20% increase of partner engagement during the first 2 months.
A strategic welcome should include:
- A personalized welcome kit with relevant information, such as your partner program overview, benefits, expectations, and contact details.
- A welcome call or meeting with the key stakeholders from both sides, where you can introduce yourself, set the tone for the partnership, and align on the next steps.
- A welcome email with a summary of the call or meeting, a clear action plan, and a timeline for the activation process.
2. Personalization
No two partners are the same, and neither should be your approach to them. Personalization is the key to building trust and rapport with your partners, and to delivering value that meets their specific needs and preferences.
Tailor your approach by understanding the unique strengths and goals of each ones.
By personalizing our approach, we saw a 22% rise in partner generated leads during the quarter, compared with other partners with whom we used a standard approach.
Personalization can be achieved by:
- Segmenting your partners based on criteria such as size, industry, location, maturity, and performance.
- Creating partner personas that reflect their characteristics, motivations, pain points, and goals.
- Tailoring your communication style, frequency, and channel to each partner persona.
- Offering customized solutions, incentives, and support to each partner segment.
3. Regular Communication
Communication is the lifeline of any partnership, and it should be consistent, clear, and timely.
Maintain regular communication. It’s about providing relevant updates, resources, and support when they need it.
With partners who received regular, targeted communications, we achieved an 18% higher customer retention rate than those who didn’t.
Regular communication can help you to:
- Keep your partners informed and engaged with your product, program, and company updates.
- Educate your partners on best practices, tips, and success stories from other partners.
- Solicit input from your partners on how to improve your product, program, and partnership.
- Address any issues or concerns that your partners may have before they escalate.
4. Clear Objectives
A partnership without clear objectives is like a ship without a compass. It can drift aimlessly and end up nowhere.
Whether it’s training, a co-marketing campaign, or sharing success stories, make sure partners know what’s expected.
With clear objectives, we have seen a 28% increase in active partner participation for joint marketing activities.
Clear objectives can help you to:
- Define the scope, expectations, and responsibilities of each partner.
- Align your partners’ goals with your own and with your customers’ needs.
- Making Partners more active and involved in joint activities.
- Measure and track the progress and performance of each partner.
- Celebrate and reward the achievements and milestones of each partner.
5. Training & Resources
Your partners are an extension of your team, and they need to be equipped with the right skills and tools to succeed.
Provide training sessions, knowledge bases, and ongoing support. The better equipped they are, the more likely they are to champion your products or services.
Providing top-notch training and resources led to a 33% increase in partners closing deals faster, reducing the sales cycle by 19%.
Training and resources can help you to:
- Empower your partners with the knowledge and confidence to sell, implement, and support your product or service.
- Enable your partners with the access and autonomy to use your platform, portal, and systems.
- Engage your partners with the content and collateral that they can use and share with their prospects and customers.
- Enhance your partners’ capabilities and competencies with ongoing learning and development opportunities.
6. Feedback Loop
Feedback is a two-way street, and it should be solicited, given, and acted upon regularly.
Encourage partners to share their insights and challenges by setting up an automatic and simple process, such as recurring surveys. Their feedback can lead to program and product improvements.
Implementing changes suggested by partners has led to improved partner satisfaction and retention, as well as targeted optimization of product features.
Feedback loop can help you to:
- Understand your partners’ satisfaction, challenges, and suggestions regarding your product, program, and partnership.
- Identify your partners’ strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement.
- Recognize your partners’ achievements, contributions, and value.
- Improve your product, program, and partnership based on your partners’ feedback and insights.
7. Recognition & Rewards
Recognition and rewards are powerful motivators and drivers of loyalty and retention.
Partners who feel appreciated are more likely to stay engaged and motivated.
Partners who felt recognized and rewarded for their efforts contributed to a 25% increase in referrals.
Recognition and rewards can help you to:
- Appreciate your partners for their efforts, results, and impact.
- Acknowledge your partners for their innovation, creativity, and excellence.
- Incentivize your partners to achieve and exceed their targets and objectives.
- Inspire your partners to continue and expand their collaboration and cooperation with you.
8. Data-Driven Decisions
Data is the fuel of any partnership, and it should be collected, analyzed, and used to make informed and strategic decisions.
Monitor and analyze data to fine-tune your partner program. What’s working? What isn’t? Use this data to adjust your strategies.
Data-driven decisions helped us allocate resources more effectively, resulting in a 10% reduction in the cost per acquisition through partners.
Data-driven decisions can help you to:
- Validate your assumptions and hypotheses about your partners and their behavior, needs, and preferences.
- Optimize your processes and practices to increase your efficiency and effectiveness.
- Experiment with new ideas and initiatives to test and learn what works and what doesn’t.
- Innovate and iterate your product, program, and partnership based on data and evidence.
9. Regular Check-Ins
Check-ins are essential touchpoints that can help you to maintain and strengthen your relationship with your partners.
Schedule periodic check-ins to ensure alignment, identify opportunities and areas of improvement.
Regular check-ins increased cross-collaboration, with 36% of our partners expressing a desire to expand their relationship with us, including introducing other partners.
Regular check-ins can help you to:
- Review and evaluate the status and performance of each partner.
- Discuss and resolve any issues or challenges that may arise.
- Identify new opportunities and increase cross-collaboration.
- Plan and execute the next steps and actions for each partner.
- Realign and reaffirm the objectives and expectations for each partner.
10. The North Star: Customers’ Needs
The main goal of any partnership is to create value for the customers, and that should be the guiding principle of all your actions and decisions.
The net result?
Increased value, satisfaction, and stickiness for our customers.
Understanding customers’ needs can help you to:
- Focus on the problems and pain points that your customers are facing and how your partnership can solve them.
- Deliver on the promises and expectations that your customers have from your partnership.
- Delight your customers with the benefits and outcomes that your partnership can provide.
- Retain and grow your customers with the loyalty and advocacy that your partnership can generate.