There have been countless changes across the world, especially over the last couple of years, but one thing is more evident than ever before. People are looking for instant results, information, and gravitate towards things that are easy to understand, quick to use, and give them the desired results. Therefore, it is critical if you want to put yourself ahead of your competitors, to have a portal where your partners are able to find information at the tip of their fingers, across the globe operating in different time zones. A Partner Portal makes it easier to interact with your channel partners as it often allows for communication occurring on one platform and has the ability to be accessed from anywhere at any time by multiple resources.
What should a Partner Portal include to ensure effectiveness?
- Personalized access
- Onboarding automation
- Programs library and management
- Training and certification
- Business planning and contract management
- Incentive management
A Partner Portal should have the tools that enable your partner to access your company information to help them align their marketing or sales initiatives to yours to achieve both businesses’ objectives. It is important to note that the Partner Portals are used to assist existing partners and not necessarily used to find new partners although they can be used as a selling point to new partners.
What makes a good Partner Portal?
- The platform must be organized and easy to understand and navigate
- The content has to be relevant, accurate, and informative
- The support mechanisms must be robust and reliable
The greatest advantage of a Partner Portal is that it never sleeps. Your partners can connect, search, and retrieve information at any time and from anywhere. This allows for processes to be more streamlined and no delays which is a more effective way to support your partners.
Relying on channel partner sales teams is a delicate process as they have to manage and focus on many other product portfolios therefore it is critical to equip them with the information they require with an easy, quick, user-friendly process to ensure they drive your sales.
Ultimately a Partner Portal forms part of the relationship management between you and your partner. Therefore, understanding that making it a seamless process to adopt and onboard them is key. It also builds trust and credibility with your partners which speaks volumes for your brand and encourages reciprocal loyalty.
Ubunye values our partners and is in the process of developing the 2gether platform where the partners will be able to log on, trace, and manage their sales. We look forward to launching the platform and are continuously investigating ways to increase value for our partners.
