Article · 10 min read

The Path to SaaS Channel Readiness: Reseller Partners

Laurella Jose · PartnerStack Free Intermediate

The useful argument here is about sequence: start partners on commission where you still fulfil the order, and only move to true margin based reselling once your systems can handle it. Saves you from launching a price book you cannot operate.

  • Channel comes in two steps: commission based resellers who hand the deal back to you, then margin based resellers who buy licences and fulfil themselves.
  • Running a reseller program needs four roles: enablement, a partner manager for reps, portal operations, and finance.
  • Partners sit on a spectrum by post sale involvement: consultants, agencies, ISVs, system integrators, VARs, then MSPs.
  • Do affiliates and referrals first, so your enablement material has already been iterated twice before resellers see it.

The question it answers

  1. A reseller wants to carry us. How do I build a price book for partners without my own sales team undercutting them?

Read with it

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  2. Written by people who have built channel programmes for decades, and it asks the questions nobody thinks of first: who collects... Chanimal Article · 12 min read How to Determine Your Reseller Margins, for SaaS, VARs, Retail Chanimal
  3. Puts the channel decision in Indian terms: banks, NBFCs, industry associations and the large system integrators as routes to... Kae Capital Article · 14 min read Go-to-Market Strategy for Indian Startups: Distribution Channels That Actually Work Kae Capital
  4. A live Indian example of tiering done as a published rulebook rather than a negotiation: an entry revenue threshold, then... Zoho Article · 6 min read Zoho Partner Tiers and Partner Value Scoring Zoho
  5. Video · 40 min From Outbound to Channel Partnerships: Your Burning Sales Questions Answered by Jason Lemkin Jason Lemkin
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