5 Tips on Qualifying Partner-Referred Leads

An effective partner referral model should triple your lead volume and brand awareness.

However, partner-sourced business can be trickier than marketing or outbound-sourced business because it includes a number of complex factors that aren't present in business that originates from within a company. Sales reps have to consider a number of factors that they don't have to worry about with other types of leads: can the partner help advance this deal? Is the lead working with the prospect on a deal, and is the timing of that deal going to affect mine? Does the lead have an acute need, or is the partner referring them to fulfill a quota? Has the partner qualified the lead already, and is our lead qualification criteria aligned?

Throwing partner leads over the fence to sales reps without a defined process in place is the same thing as throwing marketing leads over the fence with no qualification criteria. Sales reps will become overwhelmed, and partner-referred business will become more of a hindrance than a help.

To ensure that your sales reps understand partner-referrals, and that your partners understand your sales process, design a simple process for all partner referrals.

Clearly Define Your Target Audience to Your Partners
Before you ask partners to refer business to you, make sure they know to which types of prospects you sell. Create a short list of the qualities your sales reps look for in prospects, and make it easy for your partners to find it. When considering which criteria is most important in your leads, go beyond basic data, such as company size or industry. Instruct your partners to look out for specific business events, types of software used, etc. You can easily find out how big a company is, but your partners may have access to key insights that are more difficult to find. Uncover these insights, and partner leads will score higher, and move through the funnel faster.

Clearly Define Your Partners' Business to Your Sales Team
If a partner refers a lead to you, chances are high that your partner is doing business (or hoping to) with that lead. If your reps know how your partners do business, they'll know more about the leads they get from partners. The more a rep knows about a lead, the better, so bring partners into the office or onto phone calls with sales reps to cover their business.

Set Up Scoring for Partner-Sourced Leads
If you use a direct partner-referral model (as opposed to an affiliate program or partner marketing program), partner-referred leads should already be qualified by the time they reach your reps. Partner-sourced leads should fall somewhere between sales accepted leads and opportunities. If a partner has spoken directly with them, they don't require initial follow up and nurturing. Add extra points to partner-sourced leads so they fall in the right place in your funnel.

Create Specific Follow Up for Partner-Sourced Leads
Because partner-sourced leads should already have some familiarity with your products or services by the time they reach you, you don't want to give them an initial overview ' they've hopefully had one. You don't control your partners' business, so you don't always know what they tell the leads they send your way. Find out first what these leads know, and why they're interested in your products. Add this extra step to your lead qualification process, and you won't have to design an entirely new system to follow up with partner-sourced leads. Determine in which stage of your sales funnel they belong, and you won't have to backtrack later.

Share and Track Target Account Lists
Your sales reps and your partners' sales reps should have a copy of each others' top 25 target account lists. Your partners refer business to you because they think your products and services add value to their offerings for their customers. If they make progress with an account you're targeting, they can open up the deal for you ' and vice versa.

A word-of-mouth endorsement from a partner can propel a lead through your funnel faster than any other form of qualification or marketing. Keep the communication channels open with your partners, and you may see your referral business grow faster than any other aspect of your organization.