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Partner activation, enablement and tiering
Recruiting partners is a solved problem for most B2B SaaS teams. Activating them is not. The typical program has a long signed-partner list, a short producing-partner list, and a tiering model based on company size rather than on anything a partner actually does.
This topic covers tier design that rewards producing behaviour, enablement built around the moments a partner has to sell without you in the room, and readiness scoring so you can tell an under-invested partner from an unqualified one before you spend another quarter on them.
Written by Chris Lavoie, founder of Partnership Mastermind.
Quick answers
- What should partner tiers be based on?
- Observable producing behaviour — registered opportunities, certified sellers, joint customers, retention on partner-influenced accounts — not company revenue or logo recognition. Tiers based on size reward partners for who they already were; tiers based on behaviour reward them for what the program needs next.
- How do you know if partner enablement is working?
- Measure the share of partners who complete a first independent selling motion within a defined window after onboarding. Course completion and portal logins measure attendance; first independent deal measures activation.
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