What are the best practices for creating and delivering effective partner onboarding and training programs?

To create effective partner onboarding and training programs, assess partner needs through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Analyze partner profiles and segments to understand their goals, challenges, and learning styles. For example, Salesforce conducts thorough partner assessments to tailor its training programs, ensuring they align with partner objectives and provide relevant, actionable insights. This approach helps define clear program objectives and metrics, leading to more successful and engaged partnerships. Understanding partners' unique needs ensures the training is impactful and valued.

Segment your onboarding. No "one size fits all onboarding". Think about all of the different partners you have, or at expect to have over time. Their use cases, needs and expectations are all different. You need to have multiple types and levels of onboarding so that it feels inclusive to all types of partners and partner members. It takes more work to create multiple onboarding paths, but the rewards far outweigh the work to create them.

In my experience, effective partner onboarding starts with a needs assessment to align goals. One thing I’ve found helpful is using varied delivery methods like videos, webinars, and quizzes, while customizing content. Regular evaluation and ongoing support foster lasting partnerships.

One of the most important things you should do when creating a training program is to make sure new team members understand how the partnership works, its governance model, etc. And as a strong partnership includes lots of informal guidelines and behaviors, you can can not expect new people will know how to behave and won't create issues in the system without proper training.

Design your partner journey by mapping out key stages, milestones, and touchpoints, ensuring they align with your partner value proposition and expectations. For example, Microsoft’s Partner Network offers tailored paths for different roles, including sales, marketing, and technical support. This approach ensures flexibility and adaptability to different partner types and levels. By creating clear, role-specific tracks, you provide structured yet adaptable support, enhancing the overall partner experience and driving mutual success. This strategic design fosters engagement, satisfaction, and long-term partnership growth.

When creating partner onboarding and training programs, use diverse delivery methods to meet varying needs. Combine online and offline, synchronous and asynchronous, formal and informal, and self-paced and instructor-led formats. Leverage videos, webinars, podcasts, eBooks, quizzes, and games for engagement. For example, Cisco's Partner Education Connection uses an LMS to centralize and track training, making it accessible and interactive. By using a mix of media and platforms, you cater to different learning styles, ensuring comprehensive and effective training for all partners.

Customize your partner onboarding and training content to be relevant and tailored to your partners. Avoid generic or outdated material and simplify complex jargon. Use clear, concise language and align content with your partner's brand, voice, and culture. Highlight your unique value proposition. For example, Microsoft's Partner Network tailors training modules to specific partner needs and roles, ensuring relevance and engagement. By personalizing content, you enhance learning effectiveness and strengthen partnerships.

Evaluate your partner onboarding and training programs regularly to ensure effectiveness and improvement. Use surveys, tests, quizzes, interviews, and analytics to measure satisfaction and performance. Analyze data on partner behavior and outcomes, such as sales, retention, referrals, and advocacy. For example, Salesforce evaluates its partner training through feedback surveys and performance metrics, identifying areas for improvement. By continuously assessing and refining your programs, you can enhance their impact and address any weaknesses, ensuring ongoing success.

Engaging partners goes beyond initial training; it involves fostering long-term relationships through ongoing support, communication, and collaboration. Establishing a partner community for sharing best practices and resources can be invaluable. For instance, Microsoft’s Partner Network offers continuous training, support, and a community platform where partners can network and learn from each other. This approach boosts loyalty, commitment, and advocacy, ensuring partners feel valued and integral to the brand’s success. By maintaining engagement, you create a thriving ecosystem where partners are empowered and motivated to achieve mutual goals.

Onboarding and training are not only necessary for one party, but also for both sides. The need for a training/change management process is crucial so everyone will learn how to operate under the new partnership's guidelines. It is imperative that any new employee, whether from either side, goes through such processes. Usually, those who created the partnership fully understand the needs, boundaries, etc. It is essential to ensure that newcomers will comprehend it as well.

Creating effective partner onboarding and training programs also requires fostering a culture of feedback and iteration. For instance, Salesforce’s Partner Program emphasizes continuous improvement by regularly gathering feedback from partners and incorporating it into training updates. This iterative process ensures that training remains relevant and impactful. Additionally, consider incorporating gamification elements, like badges or leaderboards, to make learning engaging. By blending structured learning with interactive elements and responsive updates, you can ensure your program evolves to meet partner needs effectively and keeps them motivated and invested.