Partner program fees filter out resellers worthy of collaboration – partner

Reseller not interested in working with partners not willing to invest
By Scharon Harding -Solution Provider

Partner programs with price tags help resellers find fellow solution providers who are commited to the offerings, Brandon Klayman, CEO of solution provider Conscious Commerce, has told Channelnomics.

Although partner program enrollment fees can be a “barrier” to some resellers, it helps legitimize programs, Klayman said.
“I see it as a good thing because it will strengthen the partner force that we’re creating and get people to put some skin in the game – put some money down – and actually move forward,” he told Channelnomics.

Resellers who are interested in spending money on their partner programs are of more interest to solution providers looking to partner up with other resellers, Klayman added. This is because those who are only interested in freemium programs are “always looking for the free stuff”.
“[Price tags] help us because in my perspective, we’re not interested in partnering with people who are just looking for free stuff or resources because that’s not our business model,” Klayman said. “Nobody’s going to make any money unless you actually put money in or invest into a platform.”

Klayman pointed to the problem of resellers who “do nothing”. For example, some resellers miss three opportunities to update an innovative product before noticing their trial has expired, he said. As a result, price tags are needed to help increase partner engagement, forcing them to accelerate adoption, launch and delivery of solutions considering the money they invested.

The comments follow client engagement software vendor vCita’s announcement this week of its new program aimed at helping resellers with digital marketing for SMBs via its vCita Pro offering.
The program comes with a price tag, which Klayman said is beneficial for companies like Conscious Commerice looking for collaboration-worthy resellers.

“The [price] barrier is actually good for us because we need to gauge, discern and better filter out players who really want to take this brand to the next level and really do something with it for their business,” he explained. “So I like that it’s in place, and if you can’t afford it, then maybe you made the wrong choice in general just simply getting into business.”

In addition, Klayman said the current state of the economy should not affect reseller business.

“The greatest thing I can tell people is regardless of economic and market conditions, we’re small businesses,” he explained. “I don’t care what the economy is right now; it doesn’t matter because we’re so small it’s almost like the sky’s the limit. We’re not dealing with larger economic influencers…so there’s always going to be an opportunity.