Building Blocks of MSP Channel Success Part 1 – Customizing Partner Programs

The Key to Unlocking MSP Partnering Success

Throughout my 22 years in the MSP channel, 13 of which were on the vendor side, I’ve observed several common mistakes vendors frequently make when engaging with MSPs. This blog series aims to help vendors with new technology avoid those errors and expand beyond the traditional VAR channel to tap into the MSP market.

The core principles you’ll discover here are basic yet fundamental for engaging with MSPs. There’s no secret sauce or silver bullet, but it isn’t rocket science. Building win-win partnerships with MSPs requires a distinct approach, and in this series, we’ll discuss key strategies when selling to MSPs and how to build a successful MSP sales team.

Let’s start with building out your partner program. It may not be a glamorous topic, and many overlook its importance during their initial foray into the MSP world, but it’s an essential component for creating the foundation of your relationship with MSP partners. You may have the best new solution for managed service providers. Yet, MSPs still need and want to understand your partner program and how it benefits them and their customers before they will consider a partnership with you.

Why the MSP Channel Is So Attractive to Channel Vendors
The MSP channel presents a wealth of opportunities for vendors looking to broaden their market presence and drive valuable annual recurring revenue growth. Success in this fast-paced, competitive landscape allows you to be quick and nimble, adapt to emerging trends, and stay ahead of the curve. One proven strategy for success in the MSP channel is the development of customized partner programs that cater to the unique needs and expectations of MSPs and their clients. They can also be a total waste of time and money if not structured correctly.  Let’s explore the importance of customization and some practical insights for creating tailored partner programs that maximize the potential of your MSP channel partnerships.

Understanding the Unique Needs of MSPs
A successful vendor tailors their program to meet the specific needs of different MSP partners, not themselves! This may seem obvious, but I can’t count the number of vendors that have struggled because they entered the channel with a lack of understanding or had misconceptions about what the MSP channel wants and expects from its vendors.

Today’s most successful vendors in the MSP channel tailor their partner programs to their partners’ specific sizes, types, and aptitudes. By offering flexible, scalable programs with multiple support levels, they attract and influence MSPs to select them as the best vendor partner for their current capabilities. 

Actionable suggestion: Conduct market research and partner feedback sessions to better understand MSP needs.

To develop a tailored partner program for MSPs, first, gather their feedback on the following:

1. What they like and dislike about other vendor partner programs.
2. The quality of your current partner training and enablement resources.
3. Their expectation of sales, marketing, and technical support from vendors.
4. The benefits or incentives they desire from an active vendor engagement.
5. How Important a tiered program structure is, and suggestions for differentiation.
6. Their preferred communication channels and frequency.
7. The essential tools, resources, and ongoing support they need for long-term success.

By understanding the diverse needs of your MSP partners and tailoring your programs accordingly, you can establish strong, lasting relationships.

Creating Flexible and Scalable Partner Programs
No one size fits all, and MSPs aren’t all the same. As MSPs grow and evolve, so do their needs and expectations from their technology partners. To cultivate long-term relationships with MSPs, vendors must develop flexible and scalable partner programs to meet their partners’ changing needs.

For example, a top MSP vendor leader in cloud-based data backup and recovery implemented a tiered partner program to support MSPs at different stages of growth. The program consists of multiple partnership levels – Registered, Silver, Gold, and Platinum – each with its own set of benefits and requirements.

1. Registered: This entry-level tier is designed for new partners and provides basic sales and marketing resources, along with partner portal access and online training.
2. Silver: This tier, which is suitable for MSPs with more experience and a growing customer base, offers additional benefits, such as deal registration, increased margins, access to marketing development funds (MDF), and dedicated account management.
3. Gold: This tier targets established MSPs with a proven track record. It offers enhanced benefits, including higher margins, priority support, greater MDF, eligibility for market expansion incentives, and advanced training.
4. Platinum: The highest tier, Platinum, is reserved for elite MSPs with extensive experience and a large customer base. Platinum partners enjoy the highest margins, priority access to leads, dedicated technical support, increased MDF, and exclusive invitations to the vendor’s industry events.

By offering a range of partnership levels with varying benefits and requirements, this vendor has attracted a diverse set of MSPs and supported their growth over time. This approach helped it build a robust partner ecosystem and ensures that its partners remain loyal and engaged as they scale their businesses.

Actionable suggestion: Develop a flexible partner program structure that can be scaled up or down depending on partner requirements.

Segmenting your partner program to accommodate MSPs at various stages of growth and development is crucial. Here are some specific steps to take:

1. Assess your partners’ capabilities, including technical proficiency, market presence, and customer base.
2. Define tiers with varying benefits and requirements, such as Registered, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
3. Establish clear, achievable criteria for each tier.
4. Offer tier-specific benefits catering to each MSP’s unique needs.
5. Implement a structured onboarding process for new partners.
6. Continuously evaluate and adjust the program based on performance and feedback.

Providing Personalized Support and Enablement
Make support a key benefit of your partner program.  A successful MSP partnership extends beyond the initial onboarding process. Continuous support, training, and enablement are essential for helping MSPs fully leverage your solution and deliver exceptional value to their clients.

Do NOT under-invest in this area. MSPs have very little tolerance for poor support and inadequate training caused by vendor growing pains.

In recent years, a leading vendor that provides IT management solutions observed that their MSP partners were struggling to maximize the potential of their software, leading to suboptimal results for their clients.  The vendor developed personalized training and enablement materials tailored to each partner’s specific needs and capabilities to address this issue. This customized approach significantly improved partner performance, leading to increased client satisfaction, higher retention rates, and, ultimately, greater revenue growth for both the vendor and its MSP partners. 

Actionable suggestion: Develop a customized partner enablement strategy.

To provide personalized support and enablement to your MSP partners, follow these steps to develop a partner enablement strategy tailored to each partner’s unique needs and capabilities:

1. Assess needs and gather feedback: Understand your partners’ technical expertise, market focus, and client base. Review support tickets and maintain a feedback loop.
2. Develop customized training: Offer tailored training programs covering product features, industry best practices, and use case scenarios.
3. Create tailored resources: Develop targeted materials like whitepapers and product guides. Provide them in various formats to cater to different learning preferences.
4. Offer dedicated MSP support channels: Establish MSP partner-specific support channels, including dedicated teams, email, chat, and phone support.
5. Track and measure progress: Monitor partners’ engagement and use performance metrics to refine the enablement strategy.

Customizing partner programs is vital for vendors looking to succeed in the MSP channel. By understanding the unique needs of MSPs, creating flexible and scalable partner programs, and providing personalized support and enablement, you can unlock the full potential of MSP channel partnerships.  By being agile, you can also capitalize on emerging trends, adapt to the changing landscape, and foster long-term, successful partnerships.  Investing in understanding, supporting, and enabling your partners is the key to unlocking growth and driving success with managed services channel partners.