An agency that builds websites for fifty local businesses visits your site. They like your product and could recommend it to every client. They open the chat and ask: "Do you have a partner programme?" If the reply is a generic sales pitch or a demo booking link, they may move on. If it is a clear answer and a quick route to your partnerships lead, you might gain fifty customers.
Partner enquiries come through the same website as customer enquiries. They are fewer, but each can be worth far more. Recognising and routing them quickly matters.
Who partners are
- Agencies that build or manage websites and tools for clients.
- Resellers who sell your product as part of their offering.
- Technology partners who want to integrate with you.
- Consultants who recommend tools to their clients.
Each has different questions, but all differ from a typical buyer.
What partners ask
- Do you have a partner or reseller programme?
- What commission or discount do partners get?
- Can we manage several client accounts from one login?
- Is there co-marketing or a partner directory?
- What technical integration options are there?
- Do you provide partner support?
Integration partners in particular ask about APIs and connectors, much like the buyers described in integrations page questions that stall signups.
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Sorting partners from customers
A simple question early on sorts most visitors:
Assistant: Are you looking for a tool for your own business, or are you an agency or partner working with clients?
From there, partner conversations follow their own path.
Answering partner questions
Visitor: Do you have a reseller programme? Assistant: Yes. Partners who manage several client accounts can use a single login to manage them, and partner pricing is available for agencies above a certain volume. I'll pass your details to the partnerships team, who can explain the terms. Could you tell me about your agency and how many clients you work with?
Only share what you publish. SpideyChat for SaaS companies answers from your partner pages at any hour and captures partner leads for the right person.
Routing quickly
Partner leads should skip the general sales queue. Route them to whoever handles partnerships, with the conversation attached. The general principles of routing and qualification are in qualifying demo requests before they reach sales.
Different sources, different replies
Just as estate agents find portal leads and website leads need different handling, as explored in why portal leads and website leads need different replies, partner and customer enquiries deserve different first replies. The more deliberate enquiry, a partner who researched you, deserves a fuller, faster response.
Mobile partners
Agency owners often browse on their phones between client meetings. A partner enquiry flow that works well on a small screen captures them while their interest is fresh, a point made in how mobile visitors send enquiries.
Qualifying partners
Not every agency that asks will be a good partner. A few questions help: how many clients they work with, what industries they serve, whether they already resell similar tools, and how they would introduce your product. The answers help your partnerships lead prioritise and prepare for the first call.
Publishing a partner page
If you have a partner programme, publish a short page covering who it is for, what partners get and how to apply. It answers most first questions and makes the programme discoverable. To see how partner enquiries would be handled, try an assistant on your site, or read about routing and lead capture.