As agents and their clients spend more on hosting, the agents gain more and more partnership benefits. Its most effective if those markets are difficult to reach on your own. Company size: Mid-MarketIndustry: Software DevelopmentPartner program types: SI, Reseller, Tech, Referral, Distribution. Copyright 2022Referral Rock Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you are established, it means you have sufficient funds, personnel, and expertise to manage a partner program. Here's how a referral partner program can work for you. The Allbound team handpicked each partner program example in this list based on their recent growth, strategic prowess, and unique perspectives from which we can all learn. If this is your case, youre in the prime spot to start a SaaS partner program. This should include: Of course, before you have real proof of concept, some of this may need to be more manual. Given how central accounting is to a companys workflow, Xero integrates with over 700 other business applications, ranging from time-tracking to eCommerce and point-of-sale management. Vidyard partners receive the following benefits: Key Takeaway: Equipping partners with free versions of your tool allows them to understand how it works, the benefits, and be able to communicate those points to their prospects from first-hand experience. I helped them solve problems that they might not have known how to solve otherwise in Close. Partner program types: Consulting, MSP, Cloud, Consultant, SI, Tech, Reseller. Their message? In the beginning, a big point of friction was the tech we were using to manage the program. Company size: Mid-MarketIndustry: Software Development Partner program types: Tech, SI, MSP, Agency. Thankfully, theres a lot of good SaaS referral software(like ours at Referral Rock!) Optimizelys strategy of granting certification badges demonstrates how a SaaS partner program can simultaneously enhance its partners credibility with customers while elevating its own profile (think of the certification badge as a mini-billboard). Introducing partners to the tools they can use to track their progress is also vital. As a bonus, partners that start off as low-commitment referrers may later choose to play a more active role in the sales process. SaaS businesses often implement referral programs as a lead generation tool for increased customer acquisition, with rewards and incentives given to both new and long-term customers. Key Takeaway: Offering a free program tier for SaaS partners can open the door for additional revenue opportunities in the future. Key Takeaway: Focus your partner program page on benefits, not features, to best sell the program to potential SaaS partners. For the best program engagement metrics, invest in a strategy that customizes the experience to individuals needs. March 16, 2023 18 min read TABLE OF CONTENTS Think of the most popular referral programs. And of course, using referral software for your SaaS program can help streamline the entire process and give you a lot of data and insight on how youre doing. I tried to understand how they were using Close, how it was incorporated into their offer, and how they service their clients. Company size: Mid-MarketIndustry: WebOps, Technology, Information, and InternetPartner program types: Reseller. Industry: Software Development Social Media, Partner program types: Agency, Affiliate, Referral. offers partners a premium partner experience through priority email and live chat support, educational resources, and a dedicated newsletter, along with a partner listing in their Experts Directory. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. 1. We sat down with James Urie, whos currently managing our Partner Program here at Close. All have the potential to widen your company's distribution and sales - as long as you select the right type for your business needs. Unbounce can help you make easy money. Mike Coleman, Channel Chief at First Orion and Mike Otting, Senior Vice President of Platform and Wholesale at First Orion both emphasize that it is crucial to get internal buy-in and access to necessary tools. SaaS Partner Program - A Full B2B Guide - Scaleo Blog An effective SaaS affiliate program will look different from company to company. Powell believes in long-term partnerships not just contracts and commissions. It positions itself as part-spreadsheet, part-database, with functionalities that enable teams to stay organized and get things done. As a bonus, partners that start off as low-commitment referrers may later choose to play a more active role in the sales process. He noted that partnerships should be a strategic decision in the company. Their pricing is also customized based on the size of the partner agency, making them an affordable option for smaller agencies something unique in the industry. Their program gives partners a variety of marketing resources, such as banners, images, social posts, and more to promote their product. They also add extra value to the purchase hence the common term value-added resellers. Resellers are trained to assist customers in using the software, all the way from installation and customization to customer support. Unbounces B2B partner program offers partnership opportunities for agencies and also integration partnerships for app developers. Gain visibility into partner actions and engagement with Allbounds PRM platform. Take into consideration the importance of recurring revenue in a business model that requires less upfront cost to the customer relative to the one-time charge . Broader Network 2.4. Notion also does a great job of laying out their reward structure, providing a robust FAQ section, and making their program as transparent as possible to build trust with new users. Revenue dashboard in commercial marketplace analytics - Partner Center Building a SaaS Partner Program: A guide | peopleHum If they can see gains beyond familiarity with the platform and ease-of-sale, they are more likely to invest their time. Agent/broker partnerships. It can help you scale up your marketing and sales efforts . In turn, SPH achieved three times revenue growth and attained 161 new customers for Monday.com. Event date: Tuesday - June 6 th, 2023 Business track: 9:00 AM Pacific Time / 12:00 PM Eastern Time Technical track: 10:30 AM Pacific Time / 1:30 PM Eastern Time Register now. For example, partners gain access to detailed sales resources, including an exclusive community where they can address questions to Drift and learn from other resellers. The goals for this bootcamp include: Key Takeaway: Face-to-face time can create immense value when it comes to deepening trust and strengthening relationships. For example, if you have consulting agencies and coaches in your partner program, are you helping them with extra training or content to help their clients be more effective with your product? Company size: EnterpriseIndustry: eCommercePartner program types: Referral, Affiliate, Agency, Consulting, Tech. A free subscription to Xero for their own practice, A dedicated account manager and 24/7 priority support, Online training opportunities on the SaaS partner portal, Up to a 30% discount on subscriptions that can be passed onto the client, Assistance with client migrations and implementation. Why are referral partners better than reseller partners for SaaS? Early adopters helped them see the value of the PRM investment and communicate that upstream to the C-suite, so executives can see that theyre investing in solid processes, procedures, and tools, Partner program types: Cloud Services, Tech, Channel, SI, Three benefits to being in their partner program immediately, The goal is for partners to understand the real sales process. 1. Visit their partner program page, and you see messaging geared toward referrers. The initial decisions you make when first forming your SaaS partnership program will directly impact future success. Your SaaS should have a service worth sharing to referred customers, an attractive incentive to motivate sharing, and a frictionless referral process. After all, theres something about stories that stick in peoples brains in a way that metrics do not. Benefits of being a Ryder partner include: Key Takeaways: Marco de Paulis, Director of eCommerce Partnerships at Ryder stopped by the Partner Channel Podcast and offered the following insights on succeeding in partnerships: You should really think about various metrics and data points that you can track to best show the value of your SaaS partner program. Click now to learn more about Verb Partners. Learn the ins and outs of crafting a sales pitch that motivates your prospects to action. Tell us about your biggest fans (other than your mom). Seventh Sense integrates with HubSpot and Marketo to find the best days and times to send email campaigns, making sure to send them when theyve got the best chance of being read. Company size: EnterpriseIndustry: SaaSPartner program types: Reseller, Referral, SI, Tech. Leanplum also provides a public directory of Leanplum partners. By responding with flexibility and compassion to partners struggles with issues like inflation, you can dramatically strengthen the relationship. (No developers required), More brand awareness and referrals from your best customers through on-brand sharing experiences, Increase referrals from your business partners & website affiliates with the best tracking and payout management, See how our platform has helped businesses across all industries, Live that automation dream with integrations for any type of business, In-depth documentation about the types of integrations and the third-party guides, The definitive guide to everything Referral Rock, Product help documentation to answer just about any question, In-depth technical guides for third-party systems, Read about referral and affiliate programs, growth marketing, and more, The best of what weve learned through our years of referral programs and marketing, Run an affiliate program that can multiply your sales and raise your bottom line. Working with partners who are appropriately aligned with your business goals not only increases their likelihood of success but also helps safeguard your brand. Sharing resources and branded sales assets, Measuring the success of each partnership in real time, Safeguarding the integrity of your brand and preventing fraud. Often, your partners are also your best users be sure to tap them for their feedback when developing new product features. This creates a larger pool of participating affiliates, which leads to: A referral program offers a top marketing channel for SaaS, but effective partnerships require the right planning, implementation, and tracking. No matter what type of reward structure you choose, make sure your users are automatically rewarded. A channel partner agreement is the blueprint of what each party expects from the partnership. Building a community of like-minded partners and customers fosters relationships and inspires new ideas, all of which strategically contribute to the programs engagement levels and stickiness. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. So, I started to stoke the fire with those relationships. Learn which KPIs you should track and how to effectively analyze the results, Repeatable Processes Are the Secret to Partner Operations Success. This strategy grants newcomers the chance to experience your partner program at no risk or cost, easing any hesitations they may previously have. Partner program types: Tech, SI, MSP, Agency. James, who currently runs the partner program, spoke with the head of partnerships at Zapier to get some insights early on. Our partner program is mainly set up for referral partners, current customers who love our product and want to promote it. Referrals are more likely to purchase from you, and more likely to stick with your software in the long run. are eligible for access to the following: A partner portal gives your partners and customers with self-help tools, marketing content, and training where and when they need it. A study by Crossbeam found that 36% of companies expanded their partnerships team during the pandemic, developing clear roles to manage and grow their B2B partner programs. If youre starting a SaaS referral program, there are a few guidelines to get you started. We were handing a big workload at the end of every month to our finance team, and they were pinging partners via email to get details from them to figure out how to pay them. B2C vs. B2B SaaS Referral Programs 4. We dig into them in detail to explain exactly what makes them stand out. splitting your partner program by purpose makes it easier for both you and your partners to manage. Why Every SaaS Needs a Referral Program (with Examples) - GrowSurf While some integration partnerships have monetary rewards attached to them, the real value in this partnership is the brand awareness and sales your SaaS companies concurrently bring to each other. Partners customize and optimize Drifts conversational chat AI for the needs of their clients, and sell these versions on their own sites. Having an affiliate link for partners to use, How to build your own SaaS partner program in 8 steps, B2B partner program examples you can learn from, Recurring percentage of revenue brought in by referrals, Special discounts for the customers they bring in, Extra training or support for their referrals, Increased promotion of the partners and the services they provide, Co-marketing or lead generation opportunities, A simple, obvious way to sign up for your partner program, Having a clear space where you track new partners and manage those relationships (like a CRM or dedicated partnership platform). When observing this top SaaS partner program example, there are two primary lessons we would want you to glean. If the answers to the three questions above are YES, then youre ready to start a partner program. NetSuites referral partnership program exists alongside several other types of partner programs, including reseller and agency partnerships. And if theyve earned swag, send them a notification that their reward is on its way. These tools also provide you with in-depth analytics and reporting to optimize your campaign. For example, if a partner is active in Marketing Nations ongoing threads, they are consistently reminded by others of what they can achieve while receiving non-monetary value from the program. For every person who joins and installs Dropbox, well give you 16 GB of bonus space. Consider how extensively you want to widen your reach: Also, determine the unique advantages a particular partner will bring to your business. Companies running some of the top partner programs in the world have entire teams dedicated to managing and working with these partners. Although it isnt a money-saving strategy, it can create immeasurable value between your team and your highest value partners. Company size: EnterpriseIndustry: SoftwarePartner program types: Agency, SI, Tech, ISV. Their partner list includes some big names, like Salesforce and Google, so partners can be sure the program is well run. Cumulative incentives give users the opportunity to earn cash, credit, or points for every referral they bring in. achieved three times revenue growth and attained 161 new customers, integrates with more than 30 related partners, our dedicated B2B partnership program guide, the A-Z of setting up a channel partner agreement, Brand Ambassador Program Examples: 10 Brands Doing Them Right, Compare the 21 Best PRM Software for 2023: Partner Management Software Solutions, How to Start an Affiliate Marketing Program: 8 Steps to Success, Gamified Referral Programs: How to Ramp Up Your Referral Programs Fun Factor. A reward structure basically covers who will get the reward, and when they will get it. But in case you need more inspiration, here are some examples of well-executed SaaS referral programs. All in all, your partner program is far more likely to be successful if you know your partners needs, challenges, and how you can help make their life easier. Offering a public directory of partners can help customers find the help theyre looking for and increase business for your partner. Partner program types: Referral, Affiliate, Agency, Consulting, Tech. Partner program types: Strategic Alliance, MSP, Ecosystem Partners, Solution Providers. Seventh Sense helps agencies increase their email open rate and engagement for their clients by optimizing email send time and frequency. How to Realign Your Partner Model and SaaS Company with Referral Both freelancers and agencies can take advantage of perks including: Discounts on products and services from leading software companies, The Partner Academy which supplies in-depth courses, study guides, and exams. Their pricing is also customized based on the size of the partner agency, making them an affordable option for smaller agencies something unique in the industry. The firm provides a range of IT consulting, advisory and software to companies in all verticals. Your entire ecosystem, including tech infrastructure and personnel, should be positioned to handle this growth. Acquia is the platform behind some of the biggest sites on the web, with customers ranging from Princess Cruises to the Australian Government. When you have enough partners to segment them into different funnels, you can tailor your offerings to what really matters to each profile, as Typeform has done. Now that you have your key pieces in place, its time to promote your program. Expert partners must pass a certification test and hit quarterly retention goals, but in return, they are rewarded with a public directory listing on Pipedrives site, 20% referral commissions for life, and a free Pipedrive demo account. They also offer different types of partnerships, called partner tracks: They have a separate program for consultants and agencies looking to add Keap into the services they offer to clients. If you had to create an elevator pitch for our SaaS referral marketing program, what would it be? Most importantly, a partner agreement defines the resources each party brings to the table, and the duties each will accomplish. While most of the incentives weve covered have either been discounts, cash, or credit, Drifts referral program uses swag to drive referrals. Know which tech youll need, and set a clear milestone that will signal the time to switch to a dedicated partnership software, like PartnerStack. Are there tiered rewards, or is there a reward limit? The program provides strong training and custom marketing materials to help partner agencies market their SaaS services. Follow these key steps to create and measure the effectiveness of your SaaS referral program. Acquia is one of the leading web content management tools, allowing users to build, deploy, manage, and massively scale content experiences. And then we moved to PartnerStack, which makes managing the affiliates, adding leads, the referral links, all of that stuff really easy. If the vendor negotiates a deal with the lead, the vendor will pay the referral party a percentage of the contract for a designated amount of time. Another program advantage is that partners receive early access to their B2B products. Bonus, they can even apply learned strategies to their efforts to promote your SaaS products. Yet, amazingly, they went from 100,000 users in 2008 to over 4,000,000 in just 15 months. This SaaS partner program from project management tool Teamwork offers commission tiers, meaning the more you refer, the more you earn. Your program should prioritize recruiting SaaS partners whose B2B clients are happy and see great results, as this will ultimately lead to strong retention rates. SaaS, being cloud-based and typically on-demand, can run referral programs entirely online. Postcron helps users save time scheduling and posting content on all their main social media channels. If youve created a SaaS platform that people love with great customer service to match, youve probably already collected a fair amount of raving fans who love your brand. Company size: EnterpriseIndustry: Software DevelopmentPartner program types: Strategic Alliance, Tech, Solution, Channel. 2- Evernote. In a referral partnership, you select existing customers to refer your software to their friends, family, and others theyve already developed a relationship with. Launch an on-brand referral program in days, not months. The partner channel has played a critical role in the software industry, but with the adoption of a SaaS-based business model, a referral partner program has become even more important. And thanks to their dedicated partner portal, its easy for affiliates to access these resources, track sales, and reach out with any questions or concerns. Comprehensive documentation on your product takes effort, but helps your partners integrate easily with your product. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.