The daily challenges of a partner manager
You may call them channel sales managers, partner account managers, or something else entirely, but whatever term you use they tend to have the same responsibility: their task is to keep your indirect sales channel alive. Which means that they onboard new partners, answer questions, share content, track deals, follow up on training, try to make sure nobody falls through the cracks etc.
It shouldn’t be that difficult, at least in theory. But, in practice, it often means putting out fires in real time.
Challenge #1: their workload is overwhelming
If you asked most partner managers how they spend their time, you’d get a pretty honest answer: most of it goes to administrative tasks. You know, like updating spreadsheets, chasing down the right version of a document, manually checking whether partners have completed their training, and copying data from one system to another. All while the strategic work – like building real relationships, identifying growth opportunities, helping partners succeed – gets squeezed into whatever time is left. And there’s rarely enough of it.
And this isn’t because partner managers lack ambition. Not even close. It’s just that the job has grown faster than the tools and processes around it. After all, being responsible for 30, 50, or even 100+ partners, means that the sheer volume of repetitive tasks is oftentimes too much to handle.
Challenge #2: They work reactively
Imagine that a partner reaches out with a question, and you dig through folders, emails, or a CRM to find the answer. You respond, only to get another request, and then another, and then one more. And at the end of the day you look back and realize that, yes, you have been helpful, but you haven’t been proactive. You haven’t had time to check on the partners who went quiet two months ago. You haven’t reviewed which partners are stuck in their pipeline. You haven’t verified that everyone has access to the new, updated material, or know about the latest product release.
Now, this reactive cycle is hard to break because every incoming request feels urgent. And it usually is. But while you’re busy firefighting, the partners who don’t reach out, the ones who just quietly disengage, slide further and further away.
Challenge #3: They don’t get the space they need to nurture relationships
This is the uncomfortable truth about partner management: not every partner gets the attention they need. And it’s not really a people problem, and it won’t be fixed by hiring more, or other managers. Rather, it’s a problem of math.
One channel sales manager simply can’t maintain meaningful relationships with 50 or more partners at the same time. Some will always get more attention, and it’s usually the ones who are already active. The rest end up in a kind of gray zone where they technically have access to your program, but aren’t really engaged.
What’s worse is, these neglected partners will, at some point, fo dormant or turn to a competitor. And you might not even notice, because there’s not enough data gathering, not enough data points, to catch it in time. Which brings us to the next challenge:
Challenge #4: They lack the data they need
Think about it. Your partner managers are probably working with different systems. Like a CRM, their email, their drives, their portals. And the data kept in each one remains exactly where it is. Which means that just locating the data turns into a full-time gig, and it’s virtually impossible to stay on top of everything.
So what’s the alternative?
We’re not going to pretend there’s a magic fix. But we do think the questions asked need to change.
So, instead of asking “How do we hire more partner managers?” you should ask something like “How do we give our current team more capacity without burning them out?”
Now, companies who ask the latter question oftentimes start looking at AI: to take care of all those administrative, manual challenges that take all your partner managers’ time. But the problem is oftentimes that not all AI is up to the task. Because generic tools pull information from basically everywhere, and whether or not it’s right is anyone’s guess. And that’s a problem when everything needs to be accurate, compliant, and trustworthy.
This also happens to be the exact the kind of challenge we’re focused on at SP_CE. And if you want to see an AI that is actually built for tackling these challenges, and help you make the most of your current team, you can book a demo to learn exactly how it works.
Book a demo here below or reach out to us directly. We’re happy to talk.
