Your partners can’t sell what they can’t find. If your channel partners, affiliates, and resellers are digging through email threads for the latest price list or chasing you down for deal registration, you’re leaving revenue on the table.
A partner portal gives them one place for sales resources, deal tracking, commissions, and training. They spend less time hunting for information and more time closing deals. You spend less time playing middleman and more time scaling the channel.
What a Partner Portal Provides
Sales and marketing resources
Partners need access to product information, sales collateral, marketing materials, pricing, and competitive positioning. A portal organizes these resources so partners can find what they need to sell effectively.
Deal registration and lead management
Partners register deals to avoid channel conflict and track leads through the pipeline. The portal provides visibility into deal status without requiring manual updates from your team.
Training and certification
Partners need to understand your products to sell and support them. A portal with training modules, certification programs, and product updates ensures partner teams stay current.
Commission and performance tracking
Partners want to see their numbers — revenue generated, commissions earned, leads submitted, deals closed. Transparent reporting builds trust and motivates performance.
Co-marketing and MDF (Market Development Funds)
For programs where you co-fund marketing activities with partners, the portal manages fund allocation, campaign approval, proof of execution, and reimbursement.
Support escalation
Partners need a way to escalate customer issues to your team, with visibility into the resolution process.
Who Needs a Partner Portal
Partner portals are valuable for any business that sells through indirect channels:
- Software companies with reseller or VAR (Value-Added Reseller) networks
- Manufacturers with distributor and dealer networks (see also distributor portals)
- SaaS companies with referral and affiliate programs
- Franchise systems (see franchise portals)
- Service companies with subcontractor or referral partner networks
Partner Portal Software
- Salesforce PRM — Partner Relationship Management built on the Salesforce platform.
- Impartner — Leading PRM platform for managing channel partner programs.
- Unifyr — Channel marketing and management platform.
- PartnerStack — Partner management platform focused on SaaS partnerships.
- Channelscaler — PRM platform for channel sales enablement.
- Channeltivity — PRM software for mid-market companies.