Organization spends lot of energy and resources in recruiting partner. Some does very good job of using web as a tool to educate and collaborate with partner. I specifically would like to discuss key ingredients of good partner engagement portal. Partners generally may only spend few minutes at your portal, so it is important to make sure that you provide your partners with what they need in a visually organized and appealing way. You should start with two simple objectives;
- Why do you need partner engagement portal?
- How will this help my partners get to where they need to go, quickly?
We have seen several partner portals, which are cluttered with information. It doesn’t even brand company products and services appropriately. It seems like partner portals are afterthoughts.
Why do you need a partner engagement portal?
Your partners are looking to quickly gain access to your information they need to better sell and market your solution. Please remember they need precise information quickly. Providing them with easy access to this information is key.
- Latest resources, training material available to them (i.e. new or added materials to the resource library)
- Relevant News and information
- Information on spiffs and promotions
- Links to key parts of the partner priorities
- Access to their partner executives
- How are they doing as compare to other partners?
- Lesson from trenches
Once you have made a list of the things you want to communicate to your partners, develop how you will organize this information.
Another way to make sure your partners engage is to ensure that the information is current. Updating your page frequently with new, interesting content will encourage your partners to visit more often.
You should not clutter the pages with content that is not appropriate to all partners.
Help your partners get to where they need to go, quickly?
Your partners have tens, if not hundreds of priorities. By implementing the portal with quick access to what they need most, they will more likely use your partner engagement portal and provide you the information you are looking for. Some organizations make it harder for them to navigate the will not only deter partners from using it but also in the end, give you less satisfied partners overall.
Some of the key aspects of partner engagement are;
- Priorities
- Priorities Status
- Market Development Funds (MDF)
- Library Resources
- Training / Certification
- Channel team
- Incentives and Promotions
- Compliance
- Partner communication
- Account Management
You need to make sure that partner engagement is visually appealing and allows the user to quickly see the information you want them to see. Keep in mind that this is partner engagement portal, not a website.
Overall, it is THE place to access content and provide information. Keep it simple but organized to provide your partners the best experience possible.
