Partner Relationship Management: 3 Best Practices To Follow

Best Practices in PRM

While everyone may have their own thoughts and processes when it comes to partner management, there are some well-established best practices throughout the industry that you can follow.

Following these will allow you to build a robust and attractive partnership program. This in turn will attract high quality applicants so you can keep your sales incoming.

Strategy #1: Onboard The Right Partners & Get To Know Them

Thorough onboarding is the first best practice to implement. Onboarding should be all about finding high-quality candidates and introducing them to your brand. This provides a chance to get to know your future partners and establish a good rapport.

Adding a personal touch to a typically robotic process can set you apart from other programs. This will make your partners feel like they are an integral part of your company.

Strategy #2: Prioritize Training & Incentive Programs

Training is a big part of a partnership that most programs neglect. A partner is there to sell your products or services for you, so it makes sense to ensure they understand what they are selling.

Not only will it ensure they aren’t spreading misinformation it will also empower them to increase their sales since they have all the information.

Incentives are also a key part of a partnership program because it’s what any partner is looking for. When you have competitive incentives, high-quality candidates are more likely to choose your brand over your competitor.

Incentives can come in all shapes and sizes, but the most common is cash. You may also want to think about developing an incentive ladder, so partners are encouraged to continue to sell and grow their channel to reach better incentives.

Strategy #3: Integrations For Better Customer Experience

Your partners should have a well-designed portal and platform from which they can view their sales as well as communicate with you. Having clear information displayed will help motivate your partners and provide an easy reference to see how they are doing.

Having a good partner relationship management software like Kiflo can provide more than just a good customer experience. PRMs also allow you to keep things organized and track leads, deals, commissions, and more.

Using a PRM can definitely make your and your partners’ lives easier.

Benefits of Applying PRM Best Practices

Applying these PRM best practices will assist you in creating an attractive and robust offering for your partners.

Not only will they be well prepared to sell, you will have a better connection to your partners. Partners who feel appreciated and have a personal connection to the brand typically have higher conversion rates because they feel more empathetic to you and your company.

Developing a personal connection helps to cultivate the partner relationship so that it lasts longer and provides a better return on investment.

Optimize Business Operations & Maximize Performance

Optimizing business operations is a key aspect of ensuring your partner program is successful and provides maximum performance.

Your partners can sell their hearts out and bring in tons of traffic and referrals, but if your business can’t handle the inflow, then you are losing money.

Be sure to prioritize the inner workings of your business so that you are a good partner as well. When partners see the hard work and effort you put into the business, it shows them that you take the partnership seriously and are ready to support their efforts.

Provide Transparency with Partners

Being upfront and honest with partners helps to build trust and respect. Being transparent about your practices and expectations is important to set boundaries and come to a good understanding.

This doesn’t mean you have to share all of your bottom-line numbers, or how much you profit off their sales, but providing them clear information such as their sales numbers and commission can go a long way in earning their trust.

A PRM like Kiflo can track a wide variety of information and can provide a perfect solution to offering partners transparency with their deals.

Increase Collaboration & Cultivate Strong Relationships

Collaboration is one of the best ways to build strong relationships in life; the same goes for partnerships.

Collaborations like featuring partners, providing custom marketing material, or simply asking for feedback, can help cultivate strong relationships with your partners. These relationships are much more beneficial than one-off partners that don’t buy into your brand.

How To Choose The Best PRM Software

While it’s possible to run a partnership program without partner relationship management software, it’s incredibly time-consuming and stressful. There is so much data and information to track that it can take an entire day to organize and keep things up to date.

So while PRMs may cost money you will see an ROI almost immediately.

Choosing the best PRM software comes down to what you are looking for and how you’d like to manage your partnership programs. Different PRMs focus on certain aspects of the programs and each offers unique advantages over others.

How Kiflo PRM Software Drive Sales Growth with Partners

Kiflo offers a robust PRM solution built and designed for SMBs that provides users with numerous features to create their partnership program how they see fit. Whether you are running a referral, affiliate, or reseller program, Kiflo can help support and manage your partner relationships.

Kiflo provides features such as onboarding, commission tracking, training, and automatic payouts. The PRM can significantly simplify the management process, allowing you to spend more time with customers and other aspects of the business.

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