Published on
January 13, 2025
How to Create a Sustainable Partnership Pipeline by Sourcing and Onboarding the Right Partners
Eva Fayemi of Bond Agency walks partnership managers and heads of partnerships through a strategic approach to building a sustainable partnership pipeline. From defining an Ideal Partner Profile (IPP) and sourcing potential partners to onboarding and maintaining high engagement, it offers practical steps to minimize churn and maximize partner engagement.
Building a sustainable partnership pipeline is crucial for businesses that aim to scale their Partnerships. A robust pipeline ensures long-term growth by fostering meaningful, value-driven partnerships. However, sourcing the right partners and onboarding them seamlessly can often feel like a complex puzzle.
I’m Eva Fayemi, Co-Founder & CEO of Bond Agency, and I’m excited to share this post to walk you through the essential steps to create a partnership pipeline that not only supports steady growth but also minimises churn and maximises engagement. By the end, you’ll have actionable insights to establish and maintain partnerships that drive success.
What is a Sustainable Partnership Pipeline?
A partnership pipeline is a structured process that helps organisations identify, qualify, onboard, and manage partners. Its key elements include:
- Identification: Finding partners who align with your business goals.
- Qualification: Ensuring they meet criteria that set the stage for success.
- Onboarding: Seamlessly integrating them into your ecosystem.
- Maintenance: Keeping relationships active and mutually beneficial.
A sustainable partnership pipeline promotes steady growth by reducing churn and fostering strong engagement. It ensures your partners are the right fit and equipped for long-term collaboration.
How to Establish a Sustainable Partnership Pipeline?
1. Define Your Ideal Partner Profile (IPP)
What Is an IPP?
An Ideal Partner Profile (ICP) describes the type of business or partner that would benefit the most from collaborating with you. It ensures your efforts are focused on the right targets.
Factors to Consider:
- Industry and market segment
- Business size and maturity
- Shared values and goals
- Potential for mutual growth
Pro Tips:
- Analyse successful partnerships from the past to identify common traits.
- Use data-driven tools like customer surveys or analytics to refine your IPP.
2. Source Potential Partners
Where to Find Partners:
- LinkedIn: A goldmine for professional connections and networks.
- Industry Events: Conferences and expos are great for face-to-face interactions.
- Referrals: Recommendations from past or existing partners often lead to high-quality leads.
- Existing Customers: They may have connections within their network who align with your goals.
Pro Tip:
- Leverage Kiflo combined with your CRM to streamline sourcing efforts, track interactions, and keep everything organised!
3. Qualify Potential Partners
What Is the Qualification Process?
Qualification involves evaluating a potential partner’s compatibility with your goals and values.
Key Criteria to Consider:
- Their ability to provide value to your audience.
- Their willingness to invest in the partnership.
- Alignment with your ICP.
Discovery Call Tips:
- Prepare a checklist with questions about goals, challenges, and expectations.
- Take notes in Kiflo in your Partner Pipeline to store information after your interviews
- Focus on building rapport and uncovering mutual benefits.
4. Onboard Effectively
Phases of Onboarding:
- Introduction: Set expectations and share your vision for the partnership.
- Sales enablement: Create a nice welcome kit with useful sales enablement materials.
- Training & Certification: Provide tools and continuous training for success.
- PRM onboarding: Give a tour of your PRM and processes to streamline the collaboration.
Tools to Support Onboarding:
- Knowledge bases, Partner portals, One pager, Pitch Deck, FAQs, ect..
- Project management tools for shared goals.
- Access to your PRM
5. Maintain Your Pipeline
Keep Engagement High:
- Define a GTM plan.
- Regular check-ins to assess progress.
- Co-marketing initiatives to drive mutual benefits.
- Open communication to address concerns proactively.
6. Measure Your ROI
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
- Number of leads or revenue generated through partnerships.
- Partner retention and satisfaction rates.
- Engagement metrics, such as co-marketing activity or referrals.
Kiflo is an excellent tool for tracking your partnership KPIs, offering clear overviews and detailed reporting. Bonus: its native integration with HubSpot makes it a breeze to use and ensures your data is fully optimized.
Over time, don’t forget to gather feedback from partners to identify areas for improvement, and adapt your approach to ensure ongoing success.
In Conclusion, creating a sustainable partnership pipeline requires a strategic approach to sourcing, qualifying, onboarding, and maintaining partnerships. By regularly reviewing and refining your process, you set the foundation for lasting success, steady growth, and thriving collaborations.
About Bond Agency: Since 2020, Bond Agency has been helping B2B tech and SaaS startups accelerate growth through strategic partnerships. We specialise in strategy development, execution, and providing fractional partner teams, focusing on scaling businesses in the EMEA and USA. With a diverse network of affiliates, tech integrations, and B2B influencers, we’ve delivered impactful results across industries including hospitality tech (e.g., Mews), MarTech (e.g., Hotjar), and SaaS (e.g., Revenue Hero). Learn more: www.bond-agency.io
