After more than twenty years devoted to indirect business and several hundred engagements with companies of every size, we have acquired a few strong convictions. They do not come from a textbook: they come from networks that took off, others that stalled, and the decisions that made the difference between the two.
Today they form the foundation of the PAD Method®. Here they are, one by one.
01 Make indirect business a genuine company-wide project
A partner strategy does not concern only the Channel Managers. It involves executive management, sales, marketing, pre-sales, technical and support teams.
In the field, the difference shows very quickly. When the network is one team’s business, partners wait weeks for a technical answer, marketing discovers them at campaign time, and the direct sales force sees them as competitors. When executive management champions the topic, everyone knows their role.
Indirect business must be championed at the highest level of the company.
02 Structure before executing
Opportunism is one of the main enemies of indirect business. Before recruiting partners, you must define a vision, a go-to-market, objectives and priorities.
Recruiting before defining your target is like opening branches before choosing your markets: you end up present everywhere and effective nowhere.
Strategy must always precede execution.
03 Be genuinely Channel Ready
Before asking partners to invest in your company, you must give them good reasons to do so: a robust offer, customer references, profitability, ease of collaboration, reputation…
An integrator hesitating between two vendors does not just compare products. They compare how easy it is to sell, the margin they will make, the time needed to train their teams and how far they can trust the support.
A partner will invest in your company if your company is ready to invest in the partnership.
04 Build the right network, not the largest
The number of partners is not a performance indicator. Partners must be chosen according to the markets to cover, the categories sought, the partnership models and their potential.
A network of a hundred partners of whom twenty are active costs more, and often brings in less, than a network of thirty well-chosen, well-supported partners.
Network quality prevails over size.
05 Recruit with method
A good partner is not recruited simply because they show interest. Ideal profile, qualification, value proposition, potential, mutual commitments…
Nobody would hire a salesperson on enthusiasm alone. Yet a partner represents your brand to your customers, often for several years.
Partner recruitment must become a genuine sales process.
06 Nail the first 100 days
Signing a contract is only the beginning. Onboarding must enable the partner to understand the offer, build up skills, identify their first opportunities and quickly win their first deals.
Most of it is decided in those first weeks. A partner who closes a first deal quickly invests more. A partner who closes none ends up turning to other suppliers.
The quality of the launch largely determines the success of the partnership.
07 Build an attractive value proposition and partner programme
A partner must understand why it is in their interest to invest time, resources and money in your company. Two tools answer that:
- The value proposition answers “Why work with us?”
- The partner programme answers “How will we succeed together?”
One without the other is not enough. An attractive value proposition without a programme creates expectations nobody meets. A detailed programme without a value proposition attracts nobody.
08 Make partner profitability a priority
A partner does not develop your offer to please you. They develop their own business: revenue, margin, services, recurrence, required investments…
If selling your solution earns them less than selling a competitor’s, no incentive programme will make up for the gap for long. Understanding your partners’ economics means understanding their commitment.
Profitability is one of the main drivers of their engagement.
09 Turn the partnership into a joint project
High-performing partnerships do not live at the pace of opportunities. They rest on business plans, shared objectives, action plans, mutual commitments and regular reviews.
The difference between a supplier and a partner often comes down to that document: a plan built together, signed off by both management teams and reviewed every quarter.
The business plan turns a commercial relationship into a genuine joint development project.
10 Steer the network as a strategic asset
A partner network must be steered with the same rigour as a direct sales force. Mapping, business plans, convergence, profitability, KPIs, quarterly reviews, Channel Manager performance and an executive cockpit make it possible to know where to invest and how to progress.
No company would leave its direct sales force without objectives or follow-up. The indirect network, which often weighs as much in revenue, deserves the same standard.
What is not measured is difficult to steer.
A shared conviction
These ten convictions are not independent. They form a coherent whole:
- Vision guides the go-to-market.
- The go-to-market determines the network to build.
- The value proposition attracts the right partners.
- Onboarding makes them operational.
- Business plans organise their development.
- KPIs and governance make it possible to steer performance.
Each principle reinforces the others. Neglecting one weakens all those that depend on it.
Conclusion
Respecting these ten convictions is already a decisive step towards a successful partner strategy.
The PAD Method® gives them structure, coherence and steering tools, through 38 performance levers, to turn these principles into measurable results and lasting growth.