1. Right time to start partnerships
Are we too early for partnerships? How many customers do we need to have to start partnerships?
Ans: There is no time as too early for partnerships, SaaS partnerships can start from customer / client no. 1. However, choose the appropriate partnership type based on the several factors deciding it.
2. Identification of ecosystem partners
How to identify ecosystem partners?
Ans: The process is very simple, we need to map the customer journey before, during and after utilizing your product. Eg: For an employee performance evaluation SaaS tool which primarily analyzes data processes, potential partnerships can be:
- ISPs, Cloud Service Providers, – which are all prerequisite for data processing
Data Management System tools, Workforce management software etc – tools required while executing the task - Employee training tools / services (for poorly performing personnel), incentive management tools (who is eligible to get incentive)
- Process review tools – when overall performance is under review
The above examples are not exhaustive. With more understanding of the processes, more partnership types can be derived.
3. No. of partners in a geography
How many partners can we have in a region?
Ans: It should be derived from understanding various factors like the market size in a region, importance of the market, inherent strengths to get customers in the region, size of the partner, their reach and the resources available to manage partners etc.
3. No. of partners in a geography
For Eg: USA is a geographically a large country and an important market for everyone. So giving solo with a partner is not advisable. It can be divided into regions, industry, customer size (SME, Enterprise etc). So you can compare the performance between the partners and also will not loose out the whole market if one particular partner does not perform.
However, if it is a small country in southeast asia, it is advisable to go with one large partner with a revenue target for enjoying exclusivity. Because the market is small there will not be many partners available, also economics will not work out to manage multiple partners.
4. Exclusivity
Can we give exclusivity to partners?
Ans: Giving exclusivity to a region where your direct sales team is not operating (language sensitive countries like Japan, Korean etc) will be fine. However, even in those cases tie them to a targeted revenue. Upon achieving the number it will be renewed.
To give exclusivity to the region where your direct sales team is operating, please consider the following
- 3-5X of revenue you are expecting from regional team
- But a more practical approach would be to look at the partners’ strength in a particular industry, geography, certain set of customers, and give exclusivity for that. Again tie it to a revenue target
- Instead of a single exclusive partner, two partners with a geographical division to assess the performance of the partner, when you do not understand the ground reality directly
5. Stickiness of partners
How to ensure stickiness of partners?
Ans: Partnership is a two way street. The more you expect from a partner, be ready to give a lot to them. Contribute by way of sharing leads, visibility, recognition, training and in turn ask for exclusivity or minimum revenue commitment.
6. Outcome from partnerships
What kind of results can we expect from partners?
Ans: Partnership can be for visibility, lead generation, revenue generation, service / maintenance and for partner training. Depending on the stage, product maturity, direct sales presence and many others to decide the type of partnership and the type of results we can expect from them.
7. Working with SIs
Who can work with the system integrators? What do we expect from them?
Ans: Below are the top few parameters to be kept in mind:
- Product maturity, certification, data protection – should be at enterprise level and that to country specific
- Product integration opportunity – SIs will not be interested in reselling the SaaS product but the integration opportunity comes along with that. Value of that opportunity should be above USD 200K+ for small SIs, and for large SIs it should be millions of dollars to attract their attention
8. Do’s and Don’ts while dealing with SIs
What are the Do’s and Don’ts while dealing with SIs?
Ans:
- Understand the org structure and be clear that you are talking to the person who is directly dealing with the customer
- No free POC
- Ask for introduction with the clients when they regularly ask for decks, proto types to show to the customers
- Brand name – as much as possible demand for visibility than white labeling
Reach Out
If you have any queries regarding SaaS partnerships, feel free to book an appointment with the Koot team.
We are more than happy to help you in this journey.
