Managing payments for international channel partners comes with serious obstacles! You can see how tricky it gets handling different currencies, time zones and banking systems across the globe.
Businesses are worried about slow payment processing and frustrated partners because they’re stuck with old-school payment methods that don’t cut it anymore. Your partners might start looking elsewhere if they have to manage delayed payments or confusing transaction tracking. Plus, these payment problems can hold you back from growing your business in new markets where you could be making big money.
There’s a much better way to manage all your partner payments. With the right system in place, you can keep your partners satisfied and stay ahead of your competition, too.
Let’s talk about five payment problems you could be dealing with right now and look at some reliable services that’ll make your life easier!
Uneven Performance Among Partners
Top-performing partners can drive most of your revenue. About 20% of partners usually generate up to 80% of total partner revenue – this kind of revenue concentration puts your business in danger in a few ways.
Your business can become quite vulnerable when you depend too heavily on just a few high performers! Just losing one serious partner relationship could tank your revenue overnight. And you’re probably wasting time and resources trying to support partners who aren’t pulling their weight.
Smart businesses have found useful ways to improve their struggling partners’ performance. A big software company rolled out a new intensive training program. They focused on teaching lower performers better sales techniques and deeper product knowledge. Those partners then improved their revenue by 40% in just six months.
You, too, can learn from a telecommunications company that came up with another useful answer. They matched their struggling partners with their star performers. When successful partners mentored the weaker ones and shared winning strategies, partner satisfaction shot up by 65%!
Looking to learn more about an incentive, rebate
or reward program for your business?
DemoCurious about costs?
Try our instant pricing calculator:
The way you distribute your resources makes a change, too. One company was giving equal attention to partners regardless of performance. After switching to a support system based on each partner’s potential and dedication, their program efficiency jumped by 30%.
Your partner program needs some clear goals and good support to succeed. One dedicated IT company created different training paths for partners at different levels. They rewarded improving partners with extra resources. Within two years they had three times as high-performing partners.
Modern partner management technology helps you detect and fix performance problems early. These tools can give you an idea about what your partners are doing and automatically supply training resources when needed. You’ll catch struggling partners early on and can step in before relationships deteriorate.
Low-performing partners might leave gaps in your market coverage or deliver inconsistent service. Your customers can end up with changing experiences depending on which partner they work with. That’s not good for your brand’s reputation!
Improve Partner Commitment
Partner disengagement silently drains your business revenue! You can lose useful sales opportunities when your partners stop caring – this hurts your profits and damages your entire business network. Other partner relationships start to crumble too as the effects spread.
Keeping your partners excited doesn’t need tricky services – but you need a good game plan. You should first learn why they originally joined forces with you. Maybe they’re struggling without enough input or the partnership isn’t paying off like they hoped. Once you find the real problems then you’ll know what needs fixing.
Co-marketing campaigns light a fire under disengaged partners. Your joint marketing work can create wins for everyone involved. Your partners feel more connected to your success while you draw fresh customers – this also shows your partners that you’re committed to growing their business, too.
Nothing motivates partners quite like delivering hot sales leads. Real money-making opportunities get partners moving and selling again. Quality leads prove that you want them to succeed. Partners who receive promising leads naturally want to jump right in and close more deals.
Your communication makes or breaks partner engagement. Quick and regular check-ups help you catch problems early before they snowball. You should share success stories and celebrate achievements as a team. Your partners need updates about new products or features that improve their sales potential.
Smart training changes struggling partners into top sellers. You should give them focused materials that start with their challenges. Your training should stay quick and useful. Focus first on teaching skills that directly improve their sales numbers.
Your incentives have to match what you’re asking partners for. Try giving stepped commission rates that give extra rewards to high achievers! You can add bonuses when partners reach goals. Make sure everyone knows how your reward system works.
Strong partnerships grow through steady attention and effort. You should monitor successful strategies and adjust your strategy whenever needed. Always listen to what your partners tell you. Their achievements directly improve your company’s growth and market position.
Improve Partner Onboarding Process
Your partner onboarding process can make or break your channel partnerships right from the start! You’ll usually see new partners give up before landing their first sale – this happens mostly because they feel lost and frustrated. You can dodge this problem with a useful onboarding plan.
Getting partners ready for action is your biggest hurdle. You need to guide them through the new systems. Help them get familiar with your products and help them adapt to different ways of doing business. Businesses dump way too much information on their partners all at once too.
When you break everything down into easy and manageable steps, it works way better than hitting partners with everything at once. You should start with teaching the basic elements first. Then, slowly build up their knowledge! Partners actually remember what they’re learning instead of feeling swamped.
The right online tools can smooth out your entire onboarding process. With a useful partner portal, you’ll have all your resources neatly organized in one place. Your partners will find training videos, product guides, and support contacts whenever they need help.
Your partners need regular check-ins during those first few months. Set up weekly calls to help with questions and find feedback – this shows your partners you have their back and keeps them actively involved.
Your training should kick off with skills that partners can use instantly. Start with basic product knowledge and selling techniques first. Once your partners nail these fundamentals, you can move on to the harder facts.
Smart businesses know that different partners need different approaches. What clicks with a big distributor probably won’t work for a smaller reseller. When you customize your programs to partner types, you see much better results!
Tech giants like Microsoft and Cisco nail partner onboarding. They map out clear paths, give you useful training materials, and give you dedicated support teams. Their partners always know what’s coming next and how to crush their goals.
You should lay out reasonable expectations from the start to stay away from problems later. Let your partners know how long onboarding usually takes. Tell them what goals they should hit along the way – this builds trust and keeps more partners involved.
Your onboarding process gets better when you listen to their feedback. Ask your partners what’s working and what isn’t working. Take their suggestions and use them to create an even smoother experience for future partners.
Protect Brand Through Training
Partner training protects your brand image and keeps your message steady across every market. Your partners might damage your reputation or confuse customers if you don’t train them the right way.
You’ll find partner training easier thanks to modern technology. When you learn how Management Systems can give you a main center for your training materials, your partners can access these resources whenever they want, no matter where they are. You can also track who finishes their training and how well they perform.
Your partners are more likely to complete engaging and entertaining training programs. You can keep their attention with quick video lessons, interactive quizzes, and game elements. You’ll also improve completion rates by making the content mobile-friendly. Your partners can learn during their spare time on any device.
Your partners need some real incentives to make training a priority. When you give certification programs, you give them something useful to show their expertise. Your partners can impress customers with professional badges and certificates. You might also reward top performers with benefits like exclusive market plans or sales opportunities.
The numbers show that partner training pays off. Your well-trained partners generate more sales and less customer complaints. Your brand message stays steady across all regions too. Partners who know your brand also make less mistakes in the field.
Quality training also creates stronger partnerships. Your partners will stay around longer when you support their growth. They’ll represent your brand better because they understand what makes your products. Regular updates through training keep them sharp on new products and industry changes.
Smart businesses track their training programs. You can see how fast partners master new material and track their platform usage – this information helps you fine-tune your training to make it even more useful for everyone.
Invest in Partner Support Resources
Your partnerships need regular support to grow and get real results. You might think support isn’t a big deal. That’s a rookie mistake that many businesses make!
You should start with useful onboarding and training to set your partners up for success. Your partners won’t be able to sell your products until they know them inside and out. You’ll also need to keep running some regular training sessions so everyone stays updated on what’s fresh in the market.
Technical support matters. Your partners will run into tricky technical problems and customer questions they just can’t manage on their own.
A dedicated account manager changes everything for your partners. You should give each partner their own point person who knows their business – this personal connection builds trust and makes solving problems way smoother.
Your support strategy needs to match each partner’s situation. Your smaller resellers might just need basic tech support and some training. Your bigger distributors usually want the complete package like round-the-clock support.
When you keep tabs on performance, it shows you where your partners need a helping hand. Regular check-ins and looking at the numbers show which partners are crushing it. These partners could use extra support – this hands-on strategy keeps partnerships fresh and active.
When your partners feel taken care of, they’ll work harder for you and stick with your brand. You’ll see that they push your products more and step up their customer service game. Happy partners bring in more sales, too.
You should put all your support resources in one accessible place like a portal. Your partners shouldn’t have to go on a wild goose chase for training materials or technical guides. One main location saves everyone time and cuts back on problems.
The latest support systems now come with innovative automated tools and self-service options. These work alongside your support team and help partners find answers faster. Just remember that for hard situations, nothing beats having a real person step in to help.
Create Incentivization Programs
You unlock more commitment and energy from your partners when you can give them a combination of fun rewards. Your partners will naturally want to work more for your company when they feel appreciated and liked!
Each partner gets fired up by different types of rewards, too. Some partners get excited about earning extra cash and commission checks. Yet others light up at the chance to win trips or experiences! Even something as easy as shouting out your partners’ achievements in front of others can make them feel. Just watch how hard they’ll work after being named Partner of the Month.
When you make your incentive program feel like a fun game, it gets the partners hooked. You can let them rack up points and climb through different levels to unlock even better prizes. Because the rewards are real and tangible, this setup taps right into your partners’ natural desire to compete and crush their goals.
Travel rewards motivate partners like nothing else. Your partners will push themselves harder than ever when an all-costs-paid Hawaiian vacation is on the line. These experiences create long-term memories and make your partners feel more connected to your business.
A great combination of quick wins and long-term prizes keeps your partners motivated. Small bonuses for hitting their weekly targets give them regular wins to celebrate. On the other hand, bigger rewards for annual achievements welcome steady effort throughout the year.
Your business sees positive results when you nail your partner incentives. Partners stay longer and put in more effort for businesses that reward them well. They’re also more excited to promote your products. These motivated partners love jumping into product training and building their skills.
Modern incentive programs use tech to automatically track progress and hand out rewards. Your partners can check their status anytime and see what they need to earn their next reward – this crystal-clear view keeps them locked in and chasing their targets!
Your program needs to stay fresh and relevant as times change. What got partners excited last year might fall flat now. Smart businesses ask their partners about what drives them. They adjust their programs based on that feedback. Taking a look at competitor reward programs also helps you stay ahead of the game.
Level Up Your Incentives and Rewards
Strong partnerships need you to learn about what your partners need and ways to give them the tools they need to succeed. Your business will see some better results, deeper connections and positive long-term growth when you make partner success your number one focus!
A well-designed partner program can lay the groundwork for future wins and accomplishments. You’ll protect your brand reputation through the training for your partners too – clear and open communication stops problems before they even start. The right combination of rewards keeps your partners motivated and involved. Your partners will know you’re invested in their achievements when you give them reliable support and useful resources.
Level 6 helps to elevate your business through proven incentive programs that work. You’ll improve your sales team’s results and create happier employees through our complete suite of services. Our custom programs feature branded debit cards, employee recognition systems, and sales incentives customized just for your company’s goals. Your success starts with results-focused programs built specifically for your preferences (we make it easy)!
Get in touch with us for a free demo and find how we help ambitious businesses crush their sales targets and maximize returns!
Claudine is the Chief Relationship Officer at Level 6. She holds a master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology. Her experience includes working as a certified conflict mediator for the United States Postal Service, a human performance analyst for Accenture, an Academic Dean, and a College Director. She is currently an adjunct Professor of Psychology at Southern New Hampshire University. With over 20 years of experience, she joined Level 6 to guide clients seeking effective ways to change behavior and, ultimately, their bottom line.
