Article · 10 min read

Zoho partner program: how Zoho is driving partner-led growth in the AI era

Bharti Trehan · DQ Channels Free Intermediate India

An interview with Zoho's global partner program director covering 3,000 plus partners, zero entry fees, three tiers, and the deliberate push into tier 2 and tier 3 India through distribution.

  • 3,000-plus partners across 100 countries, spanning resellers, distributors, affiliates, ISVs and GSIs like TCS, Infosys, Deloitte and PwC.
  • Zero entry fee, with three tiers (Authorised, Advanced, Premium) judged on revenue growth, capability and customer success.
  • Growth is coming from tier 2 and 3 India: Indore, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Guwahati via distribution partners.
  • Zoho has priced AI into the products rather than selling it as a premium layer partners upsell.
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It answers 3 questions

  1. How do I design a partner program from scratch: tiers, margins and enablement?
  2. How does Zoho actually reach tier 2 and tier 3 India through partners?
  3. How did Zoho and Freshworks build partner engines that carry real revenue out of India?

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