Channel Data: Tracking Partner Program Performance

Research Brief
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Channel Data: Tracking Partner
Program Performance
Six channel program areas contain
the data needed to determine
performance
The interrelationships between
metrics across these areas provide
a unique perspective on the
capabilities of the program
as a whole
Examine both leading and lagging
indicators for an accurate view of
overall effectiveness
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of briefs about collecting channel data at
the partner level, channel program level and addressable market level.
As aircraft technology developed during the early decades of the 20th century,
a set of six flight instruments soon became standard – air speed, altimeter,
turn and bank, vertical speed and heading. While their look and feel has
changed, these instruments are still used today by pilots to manage
the flight of their planes.
B-to-b channel leaders, whether they oversee large multi-tier reseller programs
or alliance partner programs, should use standard program metrics to track
their progress and detect signs of upcoming opportunities or trouble. In this
brief, we describe metrics that can help channel leaders monitor and manage
the success of six channel program areas.
One: Recruitment
Insight into partner recruitment progress is provided by metrics related
to partner recruitment goals, partner profiles and conversion ratios by
recruitment stage (see the brief “Introducing the Channel Recruitment
Waterfall”).
• New partner acquisition. To evaluate a channel program focused on
identifying a new pool of potential partners and converting them, start
by setting a target number of partners – based on the quantity of potential
partners that are aligned to the solution, how many of these will be needed
to reach revenue goals, and the organization’s capacity to onboard and
manage new partners. Compare that target to the number of potential
partners attracted and how many of them convert to prospects and actually
join the program.
• Onboarding engagement. Of the partners that sign up, track those that
become active vs. those that don’t, and how long it takes them to become
active. A lag may be a sign that the organization needs to develop an
activation plan to drive engagement or that it is signing up the wrong
partners. As partners go through the onboarding process, it’s important to
track the reasons for any dropouts.
• Ongoing development. After the first year of the partner lifecycle, continue
to track partner development by identifying which partners remain engaged

Research Brief
and produce revenue. Leading suppliers review past
applications to determine whether qualification guidelines
need to be adjusted, and weigh historical partner
performance against a capacity plan and recruitment targets
to stay on track (see the brief “Partner Capacity Planning:
Using Data to Drive Growth”).
Two: Enablement
Enablement starts once partners sign up for the program
and continues beyond the first year as they receive ongoing
product, sales and marketing training. Start by tracking
metrics that show which partners are fulfilling their enable-
ment commitments, and correlate this level of engagement
with participation in other activities (e.g. demand creation,
product launches, incentives).
• Training and certification. A channel program can track
the total number of partners committed to the supplier
relationship by measuring how they are trained by role type
(e.g. sales, marketing, technical sales). Also track early-stage
certifications and who is actually taking the training – gaps
may indicate partners that are willing to train but need
better delivery methods (e.g. on-demand, mobile) due to
lack of bandwidth.
• Partner types and specializations. Once partners have
completed their initial training, track any specialized training
by role to determine the success of these programs as
partners engage in revenue-related activities. If the program
has different types of partners (e.g. distributors, resellers,
OEMs), track training by partner type to determine if there
are gaps in delivery.
• Impact of enablement. Compare training completion
metrics to deal size metrics to determine whether training
is helping partners upsell prospects. Metrics that show the
relative effectiveness of programs and tactics in driving
demand (e.g. generating leads, increasing lead velocity) can
indicate where more training can make a positive impact.
Three: Demand Creation
Many metrics can be used to track the effectiveness of
partner-led demand creation efforts (see the brief “Navigating
Channel Leads Through the Rearchitected Waterfall”).
• Marketing effectiveness. Leading channel marketing
organizations track their effectiveness at both the tactic level
and in terms of contribution to pipeline. At the tactic level,
they track how much they spend to generate a qualified
lead, and they may separately track automation qualified
leads and telequalified leads to determine which is more
cost-effective. They also compare partner-generated leads
vs. channel marketing sourced leads. To calculate marketing
contribution to pipeline, organizations should track the
ratio between how much was added to the pipeline and
how much was spent on the program. For example, if the
program created 100 leads valued at an average selling
price of $25,000 and each lead cost $750 to generate
through teleservices, then the ratio of marketing’s pipeline
contribution to marketing’s program spend would be 33:1.
• Lead conversion. As partners interact with marketing
during the execution of a marketing play, specific lead
conversion metrics can indicate their degree of commitment
to service-level agreements and their effectiveness at
following up leads. Two conversion rates are especially
useful indicators: when marketing hands partners a lead
and when they register it in a deal registration system (i.e.
the conversion rate between marketing qualified lead and
sales accepted lead); and when partners create leads on
their own and when they are reported in the pipeline (i.e.
the conversion rate from sales generated leads to sales
qualified leads). Tracking the velocity of leads in each
demand waterfall stage can reveal partners level of
engagement in demand generation efforts.
• Marketing balance. After developing expertise in delivering
partner-led marketing programs, it may be necessary to
track the overall costs of these programs. For example,
distributor-led programs that target smaller value-added
resellers typically require 25 to 30 percent of the lead
generation investment in order to communicate to partners
about the programs. Otherwise, there is a significant drop in
adoption (more than 25 percent) for these programs.
Four: Sales Performance
Most companies track lagging indicators that show what has
been sold, and some are beginning to examine predictive
metrics that can spot selling trends within the channel. A com-
bination of lagging and leading metrics is required to improve
insight into the channel’s capacity to achieve sales goals.
• Sales history. Topline sales, sell-in vs. sell-through, and
sales by partner type are key to obtaining a broad view of
channel selling capabilities. Beyond these standard metrics,
channel organizations should look to identify trends by

Research Brief
reviewing year-over-year sales, sales by trained or certified resources, and
pipeline volume (a sure measure of reseller activity).
• Partner performance. Metrics that can help channel leaders drill down into
individual partner performance include total revenue and units by partner,
deal-size growth (increased average selling price) and pipeline accuracy (both
overall and by partner).
• Closed-loop reporting. Gaining a full view of a channel lead generation
program’s ROI requires end-to-end metrics. By tying marketing automation
platform data to its sales force automation program, channel marketing and
sales leaders are beginning to track results for specific campaigns. Campaign
source, which describes the origin of a lead, can analyzed in order to see
which programs are outperforming others, or which are effective at filling the
top of the demand waterfall (e.g. inquiries) vs. the bottom of the waterfall
(e.g. sales qualified leads).
Five: Adoption
Partners engage with suppliers primarily through partner portals and email
newsletters sent by suppliers. As suppliers enlist partners into their programs,
they direct them to the portal to take learning courses, engage in marketing
activities and complete a variety of other actions. Adoption of content and
activities on the portal is usually an accurate indicator of success or failure for
any supplier initiative.
• Portal adoption. Most channel programs track how partners interact with
the partner portal and consume its content. This includes reporting on the
ratio of users vs. total partners, the ratio of emails opened vs. sent, and
visitor behavior (e.g. visits per month, page views per session).
• Partner commitments: planned vs. actual. As channel programs evolve,
they look for greater commitments from partners, tracking how many
partners complete joint business planning, the number of partner sales and
marketing resources engaged in the supplier’s program (e.g. by tracking
pipeline by rep and content usage), and how many partners have adopted
demand creation programs.
• Long-term adoption. Long-term adoption metrics track changes in partner
mindshare (e.g. how many partners have developed three-year plans, the
level of participation and frequency of partner advisory meetings, how much
share of wallet the partner has earned through its relationship with the
supplier).
Six: Partner Incentives
The final category describes to what degree partner behavior can be influenced
and tracked through the use of incentives. Incentive metrics also illustrate the
level of interaction by partners and how easy suppliers make it for partners to
engage in the market development funds (MDF) or co-op process

Research Brief
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permission from SiriusDecisions, Inc.
SiriusDecisions is the leading global B2B research and advisory firm. We deliver the actionable intelligence,
transformative frameworks and expert guidance that equip executives to modernize and elevate sales, marketing
and product performance. SiriusDecisions is based in Wilton, CT with offices in London, Montreal, San Francisco and
Waltham, MA.
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siriusdecisions.com
• Incentive utilization. Track the quantity and percentage of partners using
incentive programs, including data that indicates the level of activity and any
early indicators that can show whether the program is succeeding or failing.
• Play execution. Once partners claim their incentives, analogous to
redeeming airline points, it’s important to track whether the play or
marketing activity actually gets executed, which partners are active vs.
inactive and ROI by incentive type. These metrics offer insights into usage
and execution capabilities that are useful for both supplier and partner.
• Process efficiency. Organizations should consider tracking the efficiency
of internal processes (e.g. how long it takes them to process claims) as well
as partner-facing processes (e.g. the number of partner proposals submitted
vs. those approved). They also should look at the amount of unclaimed funds
to better understand programs that are favored by partners vs. those that
are ignored.
The Sirius Decision
To create a complete picture of a channel program and its ability to support
partner processes and drive partner performance, track metrics for multiple
program categories. For example, by tracking metrics for recruitment,
enablement and demand creation, suppliers can understand where they
need to improve as they add or reduce partners. This end-to-end perspective
enables channel leaders to respond as business conditions change either by
re-engineering or fine-tuning their programs based on a data-driven, holistic
approach.

Channel Data: Tracking Partner Program Performance

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