Partner Segmentation

What is partner segmentation?

With partner segmentation, you categorize your business partners into distinct groups based on various characteristics, like their size, market focus, expertise, or performance. Just like how you’d segment your customers to better cater to their needs, you do the same with your partners to tailor your engagement and enablement strategies. In the tech industry, for instance, you might segment partners into resellers, system integrators, or independent software vendors, depending on the role they play in your ecosystem.

These are some common criteria you can use for segmenting your partners:

• Location: Helps you tap into local customer bases, managing logistics, understanding regional market trends, and complying with local regulations.
• Industry or niche: Allows for specialized support and marketing efforts tailored to the specific needs and challenges of each sector.
• Company size: Different-sized partners have varying resources, bandwidth, needs, and decision-making processes.
• Sales performance: Recognizing high-performing partners allows for tailored incentives, rewards, and recognition programs to encourage continued success.
• Revenue: Partners with different revenue or sales volumes goals may require different levels of support, incentives, or access to your resources.
• Partner type or service model: Distinguishing between what partners do and their role in your ecosystem, such as distributors, resellers, value-added resellers (VARs), implementation partners, or affiliates, means you can provide relevant tools, training, and incentives based on their role.
• Customer base: Understanding the different types of customers that partners serve can help you tailor marketing collateral, product offerings, and support materials.
• Partner lifecycle stage: New partners may require more onboarding and training, while established partners may need more advanced resources and incentives to maintain loyalty.
• Engagement level: Differentiating partners by their level of engagement with your ecosystem can help you allocate resources effectively.

Choosing the right segmentation criteria depends on the nature of your business, industry, and specific goals. Segmenting your partners helps you better understand them, so you can develop personalized support, communication, and incentives. This, in turn, boosts their performance and strengthens your partnership.

Related content:

Partner Operations | Partner Persona | Partner Personalization | Partner Scoring