Partner training
Training your network
Why training your partners makes sense
"A learning curve leads to an earning curve"

Growing your business through partner training

It’s no secret that your internal team is your organisation’s greatest asset. However, you should bear in mind that it isn’t your only asset.

An organisation doesn’t operate in isolation. Its growth and success are also dependant on its network of partner relationships.

 

Your partners’ success is your success and in order for your partners to be successful, it’s your job to support them in every way you can. Training plays a pivotal role in this. If your organisation trains its network of partners, you empower the people outside of your organisation to contribute to your business goals.

 

It results in:

  • more trained resources
  • more efficient collaborative processes
  • more revenue

Plus, it turns your partners into advocates and your advocates into your most ardent sales representatives.

 

In short, it will grow your business.

A massive opportunity, especially now

In these unprecedented times, many organisations are cautious when it comes to future plans. However, many others use this moment to accelerate their organisation’s digital transition and see new business opportunities.

 

“With massive disruption comes massive opportunity. I've seen many organisations rethinking their business model, with digital learning becoming an enabler to help them extend reach, drive new channels or implement new business approaches”, says Russell Donders, imc’s Director of International Markets. “(Digital) partner training is definitely one of these opportunities to grow businesses in challenging times.”

Partner training in an extended enterprise

The approach of empowering partners through training, is often referred to as Partner Training or Extended Enterprise Training.

But what is an extended enterprise?

An extended enterprise acknowledges that its growth and success is (partly) dependant on its network of partners. Therefore, it invests in its partner relationships and strives for optimal communication and collaboration with these partners, ultimately, to achieve shared business goals.

 

Aligning and training are essential in leveraging the collaborative relationship of all the partners involved in this extended enterprise.

 

And that is not just sales partners. Customers, members or even the general public can also be valuable partners who can contribute to your business goals. Keep that in mind when we are talking about partners; among all those external audiences connected to your organisation, there might be more potential partners than you think.

Competitive advantage

As most organisations fail to effectively empower external audiences, partner training (or extended enterprise training) will create a strong competitive advantage in your target market.

 

Ultimately, unlocking all that extra market potential will result in increased earning potential.

Or as our imc board member, Wolfram Jost, puts it: “a learning curve leads to an earning curve.”

Wolfram Jost

Wolfram Jost, imc board member

What about not-for-profit organisations?

The concept of an extended enterprise sounds perfect for businesses, but what about not-for-profit organisations? Such entities often don’t see themselves as businesses or any form of commercial enterprise, for that matter.

 

Thankfully, the principles and ideas of extended enterprises for commercial entities also work well for non-profit organisations.

 

Remember that the word ‘partner’ can refer to all kinds of external audiences. If you run a not-for-profit organisation, the extended enterprise concept and the idea of training the partner network can also apply to e.g. your members or volunteers. Educating those external audiences will help your not-for-profit organisation achieve its goals, even if these goals are not primarily commercial.

How to get started with partner training

The concept of partner training sounds good in theory. But, how does it work in practice?

You may be worried about the logistics, the complexity or data security, data privacy, and compliance. All these thoughts conjure up many red flags in your mind and cause alarm bells to ring.

 

In other words, the mere thought of partner training is causing you to break out in a sweat.

 

But what if setting up a training environment that caters to all your needs isn’t as complicated or scary as it sounds?

 

The most important takeaway is: do not try to reinvent the wheel.

This is how you make partner training an integral part of your business strategy

Whitepaper Skyrocket Partner Revenue Through Training

In our whitepaper Skyrocket partner revenue through training we discuss the topics you should consider when incorporating partner training in your business strategy and we share practical tips and insights about how to get started.