SaaS publishers and the implementation of their partner strategy

Over the last few years, PAD (Partners & Alliances Development) has helped more than 30 SaaS publishers in France, from small to large organisations, to structure and manage their sales partner networks. It's this experience that we'd like to share with you.

Observatory

The success of a SaaS publisher's partnership strategy depends on the same 'best practices' as those used by a traditional publisher:a clear strategy emanating from general management, a relevant value proposition, internal alignment of skills and organisations, operational programmes, management tools for monitoring partners' business.

Points to watch and indicators

Here are some points to watch and indicators specific to managing a network of partners reselling SaaS services:

1. Must-have partners: setting up a network of commercial partners will enable you to sell more of your solutions more quickly, and therefore to reach the financial break-even point sought by all SaaS entrepreneurs more quickly.
2. Must-have offer: Clearly position your offers in relation to customers' critical uses and needs. Your partners' sales teams will be more effective as a result.
3. Easy to do business with. Propose a robust service offering that is easy to understand, easy to sell by sales staff and easy to configure by consultants.
4. Value proposition. Share your business vision and ambition with your partners and clearly demonstrate a financial profitability that is motivating for them.
5. Partner profile. Look for business partners who will use your platform to deliver their own value-added services and provide "last miles" for customers.
6. Strategic partners. Recruit partners who see you as a strategic driver for their own revenue growth.
7. Building customer loyalty. Help your customers develop their use of your services thanks to the expertise, intimacy and proximity provided by your partners.
8. Governance. Clarify and clearly define the mutual responsibilities of the publisher vis-à-vis the partner, the publisher vis-à-vis the customer, and the partner vis-à-vis the customer.
9. Partner remuneration. Introduce a remuneration scheme that encourages customer loyalty, increased usage volumes and the acquisition of new customers.
10. Motivating the partner's sales staff. Don't forget that it's your partners' sales staff who will carry your offer. A level of remuneration in line with their expectations is therefore essential.
11. Partnership contracts. Formalise contracts that clearly define customer ownership, customer billing methods, customer consumption records, support levels, exit clauses and remuneration periods.
12. Training. Invest in real sales training, not just to sell your services but also on how to sell SaaS services.
13. Programmes. Optimise your costs by setting up partner programmes supported by processes and an extranet that automate the business relationship with partners.
14. Management tools. Implement the KPI measurement and management tools you need to monitor revenues and costs per partner and make the right decisions.

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Best practices

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The financial constraints of the SaaS model encourage the use of commercial partners to sell everywhere, faster and in greater volume. To avoid the classic 60% failure rate when setting up distribution networks, it is highly advisable to structure and manage the recruitment and development of your partners. It's the job of PAD (Partners & Alliances Development) to provide you with its tools, methodology and expertise. This will save you between 9 and 24 months in setting up your network!