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In this guide, we will discuss some of the traits we look for in partners that have a higher chance of success in a lead generation partner program. This is part 3 of our four-part series built to help you maximize your partner program results.
In this program your primary lead type will be top of funnel leads meaning they are showing interest through activities but are not necessarily a “please call me to take my money” form submission. The form submissions may come but we suggest that partners selected for this program should be able to drive sales velocity by proactively engaging with leads as they interact with your content via, emails, assets and landing pages. Partners in this program will have selected prospects that meet their basic MQL qualifications such as: company size, vertical, location, and contact type prior to any campaigns being launched. When leads are generated in Honey they will be from the pre-selected prospects that are now leads because they have taken actions to click, read, and/or submitted a form to your marketing content.
There are a few commonalities between the partners we have seen be successful with converting leads from partner programs over the years. Some of these traits include:
Let’s talk a bit about each trait, how they apply, what to look for.
This is a bit of an obvious one, but still important to look for in a partner. Your partners are all in different stages in their business journey and while all seem to be interested in generating more revenue, their actions are not always aligned. Because of the nature of the top funnel leads you are looking for someone who isn’t afraid to do some leg work. Granted these will be leads that are engaging with your content, but that does not exclude them for the activities work required to convert a lead to a closed sale. Look for indicators that they are in a growth pattern and are tenacious or go getters.
Quick note: You may be tempted to look for a partner with the highest volume in sales, but be cautious in many situations high volume partners employ inside sales to manage the volume and they are typically not hunters.
A lot of this program is white glove but it’s no secret you will need willing participants in the program. Partners will have to answer a few questions, be willing to jump on calls, and initiate a few requirements to ensure the program’s success. While we do have methods to mitigate and ensure a campaign release if a partner is not as cooperative, this of course is never ideal and the results are usually similar. Look for a partner who has engaged with you and is open to communication. They should be excited to generate leads.
Quick Note: One requirement needed is DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail), this requirement needs the partner to update their A record so that emails that are sent from GlassHive are in fact authorized by the partner. This greatly increases email deliverability and engagement in the program.
Ask your partner “what is a lead to you?” “What is a MQL for you?” “Do you categorize your leads?” These are very important questions because it will let you know their willingness to engage in follow up with the majority of leads in the program. Partners will get to select important qualifiers for their potential leads to ensure quality and incentivize partners to follow up. However, some partners may want to wait for specific action form submissions being the most popular. While they do happen, we suggest that “working for a paycheck is better than waiting to win the lottery.” A proactive approach always yields better results. We recommend a strong follow up process for leads that have generated one or multiple activities.
Ask a partner a few status questions about their sales process like “what is your current process to convert a lead into a sale?” “How many activities on average do you find it takes to convert a lead?” “What is your follow up process?” These questions go a long way to help you understand the sales maturity of a partner. What you should be looking for is consistency in their process and an emphasis in sales activity generation.
Quick note: The average lead requires 8-12 follow up activities to convert it into a closed sale.
In order to keep this information simple to consume and easy to remember, we have split these onboarding topics into a series. You should expect to receive the next topic soon but if you would like to keep reading please click on any of the following links below.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.