What margin should we give partners, and how do we stop channel conflict?
The short answer
Publish one margin table and one deal registration policy, then hold the line. Sensible bands are 10 to 15% for referral, 20 to 30% for partners carrying the sales cycle, and up to around 40% for strategic multi year commitments. Freshworks runs almost exactly that publicly, with a 72 hour deal registration window, so you can point at a real precedent instead of arguing from first principles. Conflict is never solved by rules alone: it is solved by paying your own reps the same on a partner deal so nobody has a financial reason to go around the channel. Exceptions kill programs far faster than low margins do.
Go deeper, your way
5 hand-picked resources, 1 India-specific, 5 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
▶️ Video
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Why we picked it
Lemkin answers live questions on partner margin and on your own reps undercutting the channel, which is the pair of problems you cannot solve separately. Blunt numbers on what a partner discount should be and what breaks when direct and channel meet in one account.
Why we picked it
Published margin bands from an Indian origin company: 10 to 15% referral, 20 to 30% solution provider with deal registration protection, up to 40% strategic, plus a 72 hour deal exclusivity window.
Why we picked it
The clearest single explanation of the five partner types and what each is worth, including real margin bands (20 to 30% for VARs, 5 to 10% for referral) and how to compensate your own AEs on partner deals.
Why we picked it
Named teardowns instead of theory: Shopify, Microsoft, AvePoint, Nintex and Lookout, with what each does differently on onboarding, automation and partner performance.
Why we picked it
A small company showing its own numbers: their partner manager took the program from under 4% to 10% of revenue in a year on 20% of his time, which is a realistic target to plan against.
