Channel Partners: 4 Ways to Build Trust

By Scott Moyer

Channel partners are the bread and butter of many companies. So, what’s the best way to get your company’s partners to stay with you year after year and send you customer after customer? Give them a great experience and a profitable decision every time they work with you. In other words, give them reasons to trust you.

1. Deliver on Promises

Resellers and service providers are looking for companies with a proven track record who are known for keeping their word, and do not make false promises.

So what if, no matter what you do or how hard you try, you simply can’t deliver on your promise to a customer? The best thing to do is provide an alternate solution that is more than fair.

For example, DriveSavers promises, “We can save it!”, meaning we can recover any data from any device. There are, however, situations when we are unable to perform a successful recovery. For this reason, DriveSavers has a “No Data–No Charge” policy. This means that if we are unable to get the customer what they need, we don’t profit. In fact, if we don’t perform a successful recovery, we actually lose money. This policy guarantees to our partners that we will do everything in our power to deliver on our promise. And if, for whatever reason, we are unable to deliver on our promise, we offer a fair solution.

2. Offer Better Incentives

For any business to partner with your company, there has to be something in it for them. Approach the challenge of incentives from multiple angles.

Reward your channel partners for doing business with your company, and reward customers for doing business with your channel partners. Offer exclusive extras to your channel partners such as webinars and podcasts to help keep them knowledgeable and ahead of their competition. This will not only act as an added benefit for your partners, it will also act as a tool to showcase your company’s knowledge, ability and expertise.

Your partnerships should be two-way streets: if you want your channel partners to send customers to you, you should send customers to them. Recommend members of your partner program to customers requiring products or services that your company doesn’t offer.

3. Be Fair

All of your channel partners should get the same offers, same tools, same access, etc. And it should be easy for them to see that they are getting equal treatment.

To do this, DriveSavers has a page on our website that can be logged into by any of our partners. They see the same messaging and have access to ordering the same free marketing materials, Web tools, etc. They know they aren’t missing out on any benefits being offered to other partners.

4. Minimize Risk

Channel partners are seeking services that complement their business model without needing to invest in inventory or other related costs. If partnering with your company can only make them money, what reason will they have not to do so?

Chances are, your company is not the only choice for whatever service or product you offer. Businesses need a good reason to partner with your company rather than one of your competitors. Many factors go into this decision: quality of work, cost, commission, customer service and more. Trust is the one factor that overrides and often encompasses all others. Give businesses every reason to trust you. Your partner program, your business and your income will grow.

Scott Moyer is president of DriveSavers Data Recovery, responsible for the ongoing development and execution of DriveSavers’ alliances and channel programs and strategies.