Over the past year, I had the opportunity to meet and engage with more than 200 Partner Managers. Through these conversations, I gained valuable insights into their strategies—especially when it comes to training partners effectively.
The challenge of scaling partner training
The best way to onboard a new partner is through personalized training sessions. Imagine welcoming a new partner into your program and providing a tailored session for their sales team. You answer their questions, align the training with their business model, and focus on relevant use cases. This approach ensures they’re fully prepared to promote and sell your product.
However, this level of personalization is time-intensive. It works if you’re onboarding one or two partners a month, but once you’re handling five, ten, or more, it becomes unsustainable. So, how can you scale without compromising quality?
Group training for growing partner networks
When one-on-one sessions become impractical, consider hosting monthly or quarterly onboarding webinars. Invite all new partners to these sessions, where you can walk them through your platform, products, and best practices in one go. This approach maintains a high level of engagement while making training more manageable.
One challenge with scheduled sessions is attendance—some sales reps might miss the live event. While you can record and share the session, not everyone will find time to watch. To encourage participation, ensure your presentations are concise, engaging, and interactive.
For privacy reasons, especially if partners compete in the same industry, opt for a webinar-style format where only the host is visible, and questions are asked privately. This setup fosters a comfortable learning environment while protecting sensitive business strategies.
Even if you’re still conducting one-on-one training, group sessions can serve as deep-dive opportunities. Regularly offering them—whether monthly or quarterly—keeps partners informed and improves their product knowledge over time.
Automating partner training
As your partner network grows further or if your team is too small to keep up with training demands, automation becomes essential. Implementing a Learning Management System (LMS) can streamline the process by offering on-demand courses and certification programs. The advantage? Partners can learn at their own pace. The drawback? Not all partners will engage with self-directed training.
A more engaging alternative is short, digestible explainer videos—one to two minutes long—highlighting key features or processes. These videos can be integrated into automated email sequences, onboarding flows, and partner portals. Because they require minimal time investment, partners are more likely to watch them, reinforcing key concepts in an accessible way.
The ultimate onboarding sequence
A well-rounded partner training strategy blends personal interaction with scalable automation. Here’s an ideal approach:
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Start with a one-on-one session – Offer new partners a 30-minute to one-hour personalized training to introduce your company, product, and key use cases.
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Host monthly or quarterly webinars – Conduct deep-dive training sessions focusing on specific features, industries, or best practices. Keep partners informed and encourage attendance without making it mandatory.
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Create short explainer videos – Use tools like Loom to record concise, engaging videos that partners can access anytime. Embed these in your PRM, LMS, and email sequences to reinforce learning.
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Re-engage regularly – Knowledge fades over time. Keep partners up to date with refresher webinars and periodic video content to maintain engagement and product expertise.
By combining these strategies, you ensure that partners receive the information they need in a way that’s effective, scalable, and engaging. This not only sets them up for success but also strengthens your partner ecosystem in the long run.
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Effective partner onboarding: Exploring your options
Partnering with the Pros: Frauke Terwege
