According to recent research conducted by Accenture, 77% of partners stated that they have more choices of providers than they had three years ago.

With rapid technological progress, the business world has seen a significant power shift between large technology suppliers and strategic partners, with the latter now having more alternatives.

The two main reasons for this are:

• Rising customer expectations for personalized solutions
• A broad set of providers/vendors with different offerings to satisfy customer needs

To generate the most from the partner program, providers must go beyond transactional partnership models and focus on the competency areas and moments that matter to the partner.

Businesses/vendors must orchestrate an ecosystem of 3C’s to attract partners:

• Co-innovation: Explore co-innovation opportunities with partners using Solution funding, developer toolkit, and solution marketplaces.
• Co-investment: Rethink the co-investment approach. Think about how partner and provider contributions are assessed and tracked. Incentivize partners for meeting sales targets generating leads and referrals.
• Collaboration: Achieve cooperative relationships with partners across multiple channels by providing them training about your product and values, inviting them to webinars or events, etc.

12 Types of Channels Incentive Programs with Examples

1. Value-added reseller (VAR)

2. Sales performance incentive funds (SPIFs)

3. Market development funds (MDFs)

4. Cooperative funding (CO-OP funding)

5. Deal registration incentives

6. Enablement and training incentives

7. Loyalty incentives and partner retention

8. Rebates incentives

9. Referral incentives

10. Influencer Channel

11. Solution development funds

12. Staffing or embedded headcount