Partner programme design · Channel and partners
Write down your channel's rules once, instead of negotiating them with every new partner.
Businesses that have grown a channel over several years usually have a set of unwritten habits rather than a programme. Margins were set partner by partner, support was given based on who asked loudest, and nobody could produce a single document explaining how the whole thing is meant to work.
A 90-minute audit call and a written, scored report. Turnaround, reporting and term are agreed in writing after the audit.
In one paragraph
Partner programme design is the work of building the master structure that governs every dealer, distributor, franchisee or reseller relationship: tiers, margins, support and expectations. GullySales writes the whole programme as one document so every partner conversation starts from the same, defensible rules.
This service builds that document from scratch, or rebuilds it where it has drifted. It sets the tiers a partner can sit in, what each tier earns and gets, and the rules that apply to everyone equally. It is the foundation other channel services, from partner onboarding to partner compensation, are built on.
The problem
Does this sound like your business?
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“Two partners doing the same volume get different terms”
One negotiated well three years ago, another accepted the first offer, and now any comparison between them is uncomfortable and unresolved.
“Nobody can explain the tier structure out loud”
Ask what separates a gold partner from a silver one and you get a different answer from three people in the business.
“New regions invent their own version of the programme”
A region that grew independently built its own margin and support rules, and reconciling it with head office terms is now overdue and awkward.
What we do
Everything that is included.
Each deliverable, and what it gets you. Nothing here is an extra.
Programme architecture document
Tiers, eligibility, margins and support levels defined in one place, replacing scattered emails and memory.
Margin and scheme framework
A consistent structure for what each tier earns, tied to volume, coverage or another fair measure.
Support entitlement by tier
What marketing, training and account support each tier receives, so entitlement is clear rather than negotiated case by case.
Partner agreement template
A standard agreement reflecting the programme, ready to issue to new and renewing partners.
Rollout and communication plan
A way to introduce the new or revised programme to existing partners without triggering a wave of individual renegotiation.
How the result is measured
- Partners on standard versus legacy terms
- Margin consistency across the tier structure
- Time to answer a new partner's terms questions
- Partner satisfaction with programme clarity
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Who it is for
This is written for you if these sound familiar.
- Businesses with several years of channel partners on inconsistent, undocumented terms
- Companies about to scale a partner network and wanting rules in place before it grows further
- Brands merging or restructuring after different regions built their own local channel rules
- Businesses that keep fielding the same terms questions from partners with no reference document
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You have one or two partners and a formal programme would be more structure than the relationship needs
- You need day-to-day management of an existing programme, not its design. That is partner relationship management
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Free audit call
90 minutes with whoever handles your enquiries: how they arrive, how fast they are answered, where they are lost.
After the call
Written, scored report
Six areas scored, fixes ranked by return and cost. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come with it, in writing.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
Usually the cheapest one on the report: reply time, a follow-up sequence or the marketing-to-sales handover.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
How the partner programme design work runs
- 1
Audit current terms
Every existing partner's actual terms reviewed to see how far practice has drifted from any stated policy.
- 2
Design the structure
Tiers, margins and entitlements designed to be fair, defensible and simple enough to explain in one page.
- 3
Document and template
The programme written up with a standard agreement partners can be moved onto.
- 4
Roll out
The programme communicated and existing partners transitioned on an agreed timeline.
Proof
What happened when owners fixed this.
Real clients, the work we did, and the result as it was recorded. Where no number was recorded, none is claimed.
Chord Road Hospital
- Situation
- Patients who knew the hospital trusted it. Patients who searched for a department or a treatment in the area did not find it.
- What we did
- Website rebuilt around patient needs
- Search visibility
- Social media on a schedule
- Review management
- Result
- Organic traffic increased 60% within six months
- Online appointment bookings increased 40%
- Social following grew 45%, and engagement on it rose 70%
Hotel Felicity Inn
- Situation
- A traveller compares three hotels on a phone and books one. The website was not built for that.
- What we did
- The site rebuilt around booking
- Photography and one look
- Search work for destination searches
- Content a traveller reads
- Result
- Online bookings increased 35%
- Organic traffic increased 50% within six months
- Positive reviews on Google and TripAdvisor increased 30%
SB Engineering
- Situation
- Buyers searching for laser cutting and sheet metal work in Bengaluru were finding other suppliers first, because the company did not rank for the terms its own customers type.
- What we did
- The site redesigned for mobile
- Search work on the buyer's terms
- Content that shows the work
- Social channels managed
- Result
- Website traffic rose 60% within six months, against a target of 50%.
- High-quality leads rose 45%, with a rise in conversion rates alongside them.
- Fifteen target keywords moved up the rankings, five of them into the top three positions.
Also worked with
Curtain Label · Difesa Security Services · Hands On CSR · Implevista · Kambar Group · Kalessi · Kerur Pain Clinic · LL Trust · Lucky Deals · Natural Gases · NavaShakthi Souhardha · NewCom Logistics · Proton Technical Services · Shakthi Foundation · Shakthi Group · Urbanest · Insyde Studio · Venkateshwara Laser Tech · Vivara Studios
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with the free audit.
Option 1
The audit on its own
A 90-minute call and a written, scored report. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix the audit ranks first, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
The offer
Start with a free audit of how you sell.
It is useful on its own, whether or not you hire us.
What you receive
- A 90-minute call with the person who will do the work
- A written, scored report on the six places orders leak
- Every fix ranked by what it returns and what it costs
- The one thing to do first, and why
- An honest line on whether you need outside help at all
- If you do, the scope and the fee in writing
No invoice. No obligation. No sales script.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Will existing partners have to accept worse terms?
How long does designing a full programme take?
Does this include the technology to run the programme?
Can this be done for just one partner type, such as distributors?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
By industry
Partner programme design, written for your industry.
Related services
Often bought with this, or instead of it.
Read before you buy
- How to advertise to distributorsA distributor is deciding whether to put working capital into your stock. Advertising that hides the investment, the margin and the territory brings you hundreds of enquiries and no distributor.
- How to advertise to channel partners who already sell somebody elseA partner is not buying your product. They are buying margin, territory, credit and stock they can return, and they will ask your existing dealers before they sign.
- How to prevent channel conflictChannel conflict is prevented on paper before the first dealer signs: written territories, one price list per tier, and a lead registration rule.
Your next practical step
Get a free audit of how you sell, and a scored report of where the work is.
90 minutes. A written, scored report. No invoice and no obligation.