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GullySales

Give partners a programme worth choosing, and yourself one you can run.

Gully Sales writes your channel programme as one scheme: what a partner earns and why, the partners you want, and how they are recruited, onboarded, enabled, rewarded and governed, on terms that hold for everyone.

  • One rulebook every dealer, distributor and reseller is treated by.
  • A partner offer tested from both sides, yours and the partner's.
  • Discount, lead and territory rules agreed before the next dispute.
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Gully Sales Private Limited designs channel programmes for Indian SMBs selling through dealers, distributors, resellers and referral partners.

In one paragraph

What is Partner Programme Design Services?

Partner programme design is the work of writing your channel programme as one coherent scheme. Gully Sales defines what a partner earns and why, the partner profile you want, and the way partners are recruited, onboarded, enabled, rewarded and governed. Indian SMBs get a rulebook that keeps every partner on stated terms and the economics workable for both sides.

The problem

Every partner is on a different deal, and nobody remembers why.

Most Indian SMBs did not design a partner network. They acquired one. A dealer asked, a reseller was introduced, a distributor in the next state agreed to try. Each was signed on the terms that made sense that week, by whoever was in the room. Years later the network is a collection of private arrangements, and no one can state on a single page what the programme gives a partner or what it asks of one.

You will recognise it as

  • Two partners in similar markets are on different margins, and neither of them knows why.
  • A new dealer is signed on a phone call, and the terms live in one person's inbox.
  • Partners ask for a deeper discount rather than a bigger plan, and usually get it.
  • Three or four partners carry almost all the channel revenue and the rest of the list is dormant.
  • Two partners quote the same customer, and the argument comes to you to settle.
  • A partner pushes the competing brand harder, because that brand made selling it easier.

What it costs the business

  • Margin leaks quietly: a concession made to close one order becomes the price every partner expects next quarter.
  • Recruitment stalls, because you cannot tell a good prospective partner in one page what signing with you is worth.
  • New partners take months to place a first order and many never do, because nothing after the signature was designed.
  • Partners who joined for the brand stay; partners who can actually sell are being courted by someone with a clearer offer.

Why it persists. Partner terms are settled by whoever handles that partner, and every exception is defensible on the day it is made. A programme only becomes visible when you look at all the partners together, which few SMBs ever do. There is also a quiet fear that writing the rules down will offend the partners who benefit from there being none. That is usually the group the current arrangement costs the most.

If it stays unresolved. Reach stops growing with the number of partners and starts depending on the few who sell anyway. Price is set by negotiation instead of policy, conflicts arrive at the owner's desk, and the channel stays something the business manages rather than something it grows through.

What changes

A programme a capable partner would choose, and you can afford.

In the first weeks

  • A written partner value proposition: what a partner earns, wins and is helped with, on one readable page.
  • The partner profile you want, and the profiles you have decided not to sign.
  • The programme's economics modelled from both sides, so you know what it pays you and what it pays the partner.

In how the work runs

  • One partner journey from first conversation to first order and first review, with owners and dates at each step.
  • Discount, lead registration, territory and escalation rules written down before the next dispute, not during it.
  • A programme document your channel manager can hand to a successor and a partner can read without a translator.

In sales and marketing

  • Every partner on stated terms, so a concession becomes a decision with a reason instead of a habit.
  • Recruitment conversations that open with a documented offer rather than a discount negotiation.
  • A clear reason for a partner to grow with you: the next tier is worth reaching and the way to reach it is published.

In what management can see

  • A partner scorecard that shows who is producing, who is new, who is dormant and who is at risk.
  • Coverage read by territory and segment, so an empty district is visible before a competitor fills it.

Over the longer term

  • A programme that can absorb more partners without adding management in the same proportion.
  • A network a new channel head could take over, because the rules sit in the programme rather than in relationships.

Gully Sales controls the programme design, the economics, the documents, the rules and the scorecard. Whether partners sell more depends on your pricing, the partners you sign and how your team runs the programme. We make partner effort worth having; we do not promise partner revenue.

Who it is for

Who should design a partner programme, and when.

The businesses it suits

  • Manufacturers and B2B companies selling through dealers, distributors or resellers who were each signed on different terms.
  • Brands adding a partner channel for the first time who want the rules settled before the first partner signs.
  • Franchisors and multi-location brands who need one partner offer that reads the same in every state.
  • Companies whose channel revenue sits with a handful of partners while most of the list has gone quiet.
  • Businesses whose partner terms live in email threads, where one channel manager is the only person who knows them.
  • Firms growing through referral or alliance partners with no stated reward, no process and no named owner.
  • Exporters and national brands whose partners across regions expect terms they can compare and rely on.

What usually prompts the call

  • You are about to recruit partners in a new state, city or country and have nothing for them to join.
  • A partner has asked for terms you cannot give to one without giving to all.
  • Two partners have chased the same customer and the escalation reached the owner.
  • Your channel manager is leaving and the terms are in that person's head.
  • A competitor has published a partner programme and your partners are asking why yours is not written down.
  • A new product line or price change makes the old partner margins impossible to sustain.

What Gully Sales does

The work, component by component.

Partner value proposition

We write what a partner gains from carrying you: the earning model, the demand you help create in the partner's market, the support and training given, the protection offered, and the honest reasons a partner would give you attention ahead of the other brands already in the shop. It is written for a partner to read, not for your internal file.

Why it matters:
A partner chooses between brands every week. If your offer is not stated, it is compared on discount alone, and there is always a deeper discount somewhere.
You receive:
One-page partner value proposition plus the programme prospectus behind it.
Business value:
Recruitment conversations begin from an offer instead of a negotiation, and your team says the same thing in every city.

Target partner profile

We define the partner you want: the market and customers they already serve, technical capability, sales capacity, service ability, financial standing and the brands they carry today. We also write the anti-profile, the partners you will decline, and the questions that separate the two in a first meeting.

Why it matters:
A list filled with partners who cannot sell costs more to service than a shorter list that can, and it hides the coverage gaps.
You receive:
Partner profile and anti-profile with qualifying questions and a simple scoring sheet.
Business value:
Your channel team knows who to pursue, who to decline and how to say no without burning the relationship.

Programme structure and tiers

We set the shape of the programme: how many partner types you need, such as reseller, dealer, distributor, service or referral, what each is expected to do, and the outline of the tiers that sit within them. Each tier states what a partner must deliver, what it unlocks and how a partner moves up or down.

Why it matters:
Without tiers, every partner is treated as though it earns the same investment, and the ones actually building your market see no reason to keep going.
You receive:
Programme structure with partner types, tier outlines, entry criteria and the benefits attached to each.
Business value:
Your investment follows partner performance, and a partner can see what growing with you is worth.

Commercial model and rewards

We model the economics from both sides: your margin after partner discount, rebates and support costs, and the partner's own return on the money, people and space you are asking for. From that we set the reward structure in principle, the base margin, growth rebate and any performance incentive, and the conditions attached to each.

Why it matters:
Programmes fail on arithmetic more often than on enthusiasm. If the partner cannot earn a fair return, the effort quietly goes elsewhere.
You receive:
Two-sided economics model and the reward framework with its conditions, in a working sheet you keep.
Business value:
You know before you launch what the programme costs you and what it is worth to a partner at each tier.

Recruitment and onboarding design

We design how partners are found, screened, assessed and signed, and what the first ninety days look like: agreement and documents, pricing and credit setup, product and process training, first order or first joint call, and the first review. Every step has an owner, a document and a date.

Why it matters:
Most partner attrition happens before the first order, when a partner who signed with intent is left waiting for pricing, training or an answer.
You receive:
Recruitment funnel, screening criteria, agreement checklist and a ninety-day onboarding path with owners.
Business value:
A new partner reaches a first order on a defined path rather than on whoever happens to remember them.

Enablement and support system

We specify what a partner needs to sell you without your team in the room: product and application material, pricing and quotation tools, pitch and objection guidance, samples or demonstration support, technical and after-sales response, and the training path with any certification you want to attach to a tier.

Why it matters:
Partners sell what is easiest to sell. The brand that answers a technical question the same day wins the order more often than the brand with the better margin.
You receive:
Enablement inventory: the kit, tools, training path and support commitments, with what exists and what must be built.
Business value:
Partner questions stop landing on your senior people, and a new partner salesperson can be useful in weeks.

Rules of engagement and governance

We write the rules that keep the network honest: territory and account coverage, lead and deal registration, pricing discipline and approval limits, how conflict between partners or between partner and direct sales is escalated and decided, review cadence, and the grounds and process for exit.

Why it matters:
Channel conflict is not caused by partners. It is caused by rules that were never written, so every case is argued from scratch and settled by whoever shouts loudest.
You receive:
Rules of engagement document, escalation path and a governance calendar with decision owners.
Business value:
Disputes are settled by a rule the partner already knew, and the owner stops being the court of first instance.

Performance framework

We define how the programme is read: the partner scorecard and its measures, the targets set by tier and territory, the joint business planning format for your larger partners, how dormant partners are handled, and the quarterly rhythm in which tiers move and coverage gaps are reviewed.

Why it matters:
A programme with no scorecard becomes a set of relationships again within a year, because nothing outside memory says which partners are worth the investment.
You receive:
Partner scorecard, target-setting method, joint plan template and the quarterly review rhythm.
Business value:
You can see which partners produce, which need help and which the programme should let go.

What you will have at the end.

  • Channel diagnostic: your current partners, their terms, margins, activity and coverage set out on one comparable sheet.
  • Partner value proposition: one page for a partner to read, plus the fuller programme prospectus behind it.
  • Target partner profile and anti-profile, with qualifying questions and a scoring sheet for first meetings.
  • Programme structure: partner types, tier outlines, entry criteria and the benefits attached to each tier.
  • Two-sided economics model: your margin after partner cost, and the partner's return, at each tier.
  • Reward framework: base margin, growth rebate and performance incentive in principle, with their conditions.
  • Recruitment design: sourcing routes, screening criteria, assessment steps and the agreement checklist.
  • Ninety-day onboarding path with the document, owner and date for each step.
  • Enablement inventory: sales kit, tools, training path and support commitments, marked as existing or to be built.
  • Rules of engagement: territory, lead registration, pricing discipline, conflict escalation and exit terms.
  • Partner scorecard, joint business plan template and the quarterly governance calendar.
  • Programme handbook: everything above in one document for your team, and the partner-facing version to share.

How it runs

The engagement, step by step.

  1. 1

    Frame the channel intent

    We agree what the channel is for: coverage in markets you cannot reach directly, capacity you do not want to hire, access to customers who buy locally, or service reach. We fix the scope of the programme, the products and geographies it covers, the margin you can fund, and who signs it off.

    You provide:
    The owner's intent for the channel, product margins, the geographies in scope and any commitments already made to partners.
    We produce:
    A programme brief stating the channel's purpose, its scope, the commercial limits and the decision owner.
    Done when:
    Leadership agrees what the programme must achieve and what it is allowed to cost.
  2. 2

    Read the network you already have

    We set every existing partner on one sheet: terms, margin, discounts actually given, orders, active months, territory, customers served and disputes on record. We speak to a spread of them, including a dormant one and a lost one, and to your own sales and service people who deal with them daily.

    You provide:
    Partner list with terms and sales history, credit and discount records, and introductions to six to ten partners.
    We produce:
    A channel diagnostic showing the real spread of terms, the coverage map and where revenue and margin actually sit.
    Done when:
    You can see the current programme as it is, not as it was intended.
  3. 3

    Model the economics both ways

    We build the partner's own numbers, what they invest in stock, people, space and credit, and what they earn from you against what they earn from the brands beside you. Then we build yours: margin after discount, rebate, support and management cost, at each tier and volume.

    You provide:
    Cost and price data, current discount and rebate practice, and permission to ask partners about their economics.
    We produce:
    A two-sided economics model with the reward structure that works for both, and the volumes at which it stops working.
    Done when:
    The reward framework is arithmetically sound for your business and worth a partner's effort.
  4. 4

    Design the proposition and the profile

    We write the partner value proposition, the partner types and tiers, and the profile and anti-profile. We test the language on partners and prospective partners, because a proposition your channel team cannot say out loud in a first meeting is not finished.

    You provide:
    Product and support commitments you are prepared to make, and access to two or three prospective partners for testing.
    We produce:
    Partner value proposition, programme structure with tiers, and the target profile with its qualifying questions.
    Done when:
    A partner can read one page and know what joining is worth; your team can say the same thing without a script.
  5. 5

    Design the partner journey

    We map recruitment, onboarding, enablement and ongoing support as one journey with owners, documents and dates, and mark the points where partners are currently lost. Where a document or tool does not exist, it goes on the build list with a priority rather than being assumed.

    You provide:
    Current partner documents, training material, price lists and the people who will own each step.
    We produce:
    The partner journey, the ninety-day onboarding path and the enablement inventory with its build list.
    Done when:
    Every step from first contact to first review has a named owner and a document behind it.
  6. 6

    Write the rules and the scorecard

    We draft the rules of engagement on territory, lead registration, pricing and conflict, work them through with your sales leadership until each rule survives a real past dispute, and design the scorecard, targets and review rhythm that will run the programme afterwards.

    You provide:
    Leadership time to decide the contested rules, and the history of past channel disputes.
    We produce:
    Rules of engagement, escalation path, partner scorecard, target method and governance calendar.
    Done when:
    Leadership has agreed in writing how the difficult cases will be decided before they happen.
  7. 7

    Pilot, adjust and hand over

    We take the programme to a small group of partners, usually one strong, one average and one new, gather what they push back on, adjust the terms and documents, then brief your channel team and run the first governance review with you so the rhythm starts while we are still there.

    You provide:
    Access to pilot partners, a channel owner to run the programme, and time for the team briefing and first review.
    We produce:
    The revised programme handbook, the partner-facing version, the team briefing and the first scorecard read.
    Done when:
    Partners have seen the programme, the team can run it and the first review has happened against real numbers.

Ways to work with us

Design a new programme, or repair the one you inherited.

New partner programme design

The full method for a business adding a partner channel, or formalising one for the first time: proposition, profile, structure, economics, journey, rules and scorecard, ending with a pilot and a team handover.

Programme redesign for an existing network

For a network signed piece by piece over the years. We diagnose the terms in force, model what they cost, design one programme, and plan the migration so existing partners move onto it without losing the ones who matter.

Programme design for a new market or line

A programme for one new geography, product line or partner type, sitting alongside what you already run. Useful when entering a new state or country, or launching a line that needs a different kind of partner.

Design plus operating support

The programme design, then a Gully Sales consultant alongside your channel owner through the first quarters of running it: recruitment reviews, scorecard reads, tier decisions and the adjustments the first partners always call for.

Why Gully Sales

What you are actually choosing when you choose us.

We design the partner's side of the deal as carefully as yours.

We work out what a partner invests and earns, against the other brands competing for the same shelf, salesperson and credit line. A programme that only adds up for you is one partners sign and then quietly ignore.

We start from the network you have, not a template.

Every existing partner, term, discount and dispute goes on one sheet first. That diagnostic usually changes the design, because what partners are actually being given rarely matches what anyone believed.

We write the rules against your real disputes.

Territory, lead registration and pricing rules are tested against arguments your business has already had. A rule that cannot settle last year's conflict will not settle next year's either.

The programme is one document, not eight.

Proposition, profile, tiers, rewards, onboarding, enablement, rules and scorecard are designed together so they agree with each other. Programmes usually fail where two well-made parts contradict each other.

We build it for an owner-led business.

Indian SMBs run channels with small teams, personal relationships and partners who have known the founder for years. The programme is designed to be run by two or three people, and to respect the relationships already earned.

We stay for the first quarter of running it.

Design that is handed over as a document tends to stay a document. We pilot it with real partners, brief your team, and run the first governance review with you so the rhythm exists before we step back.

Where it applies

The same service, in different businesses.

Industrial manufacturing

The situation:
A machinery maker sells through dealers appointed over fifteen years. Margins differ by dealer, service expectations were never written, and two dealers now compete on price in the same industrial belt.
How it applies:
Diagnostic of dealer terms and coverage, dealer and service partner types with tiers, a reward framework tied to service capability, and territory and lead registration rules.
Likely benefit:
Dealers know which accounts are theirs, service is a condition of the tier, and price competition between them stops being the customer's negotiating tool.

Building materials and hardware

The situation:
A fittings brand sells through distributors and retail counters. Retailers stock whichever brand ran the last scheme, and the sales team promises support that nobody records or reviews.
How it applies:
Partner value proposition for distributor and retailer separately, tier outlines tied to stocking and display, an economics model per counter, and the onboarding and enablement a counter salesperson needs.
Likely benefit:
The brand is recommended at the counter for stated reasons, and support goes to the counters that show they stock and sell.

B2B software and IT services

The situation:
A software firm signs resellers and implementation partners case by case. Deals arrive already discounted, two partners occasionally register the same customer, and no partner has been trained on the product.
How it applies:
Reseller, implementation and referral partner types, deal registration rules with protection, a certification path attached to tiers, and enablement built around the demonstration and technical answer.
Likely benefit:
Deals arrive registered rather than discounted, and only partners who have been trained implement your product.

Consumer brands and distribution

The situation:
A packaged goods brand runs distributors across several states with margins settled by history. Some carry the brand seriously, some hold it as filler, and secondary sales are largely invisible.
How it applies:
Distributor profile and anti-profile, tiers tied to secondary reach, a two-sided economics model including credit and returns, and a scorecard reading offtake by territory.
Likely benefit:
Investment moves to distributors who put the brand into shops, and the states with no real coverage become visible.

Healthcare equipment and diagnostics

The situation:
An equipment supplier sells through channel partners who also carry competing lines, and after-sales response varies by city, which the hospital blames on the brand rather than the partner.
How it applies:
Partner profile requiring service capability, certification tied to tier and to the right to sell certain products, service response written into the rules, and a scorecard including service measures.
Likely benefit:
Only partners able to support the equipment carry it, and service quality becomes a condition of the relationship rather than a hope.

Professional and financial services

The situation:
A services firm gets a steady flow of referrals from consultants, accountants and complementary firms, thanked informally and rewarded inconsistently, with nobody owning the relationships.
How it applies:
A referral partner type with a stated reward, a simple registration and attribution rule, a light onboarding, and a named owner with a quarterly review of the referring firms.
Likely benefit:
Referrers know what they get and when, referrals stop depending on a personal favour, and the flow can be planned rather than hoped for.

Proof

Work we can point to.

HOPO Hardware

The problem:
A premium hardware and fittings business growing through dealers, where brand reach and coordination across the dealer network both needed strengthening.
What we did:
Gully Sales worked with HOPO Hardware on brand reach, dealer coordination and sales performance for its hardware and fittings range.
The result:
Brand reach was enhanced and dealer coordination improved, with sales performance strengthened for the premium hardware and fittings range.
Read the case study

Questions buyers ask

Before you enquire, the answers you will want.

What makes a partner programme economically attractive to both sides?

The partner has to earn a fair return on what you ask them to invest: stock, credit, people, space and attention. We model their side, not only yours, and compare it against the brands sitting beside you. On your side we model margin after discount, rebate and support cost at each tier. If the two do not both work at realistic volumes, the reward structure is changed before launch rather than discovered afterwards.

How is this different from channel sales strategy?

Channel strategy decides whether you go to market through partners at all, which routes and territories, and how coverage is executed. Partner programme design takes that decision and builds the scheme partners actually join: the offer, the profile, the tiers, the rewards, the journey and the rules. Strategy answers where you sell and through whom; the programme answers what a partner signs up to and how it runs afterwards.

You also offer onboarding, enablement and incentive design separately. Why?

This page designs all eight elements as one coherent programme, at the level of decisions and documents. The separate services go deep on one element when it needs more than design: building a full certification curriculum, modelling several incentive structures in detail, or running recruitment as an ongoing operation. Most businesses start here, so the parts agree with each other, then deepen whichever element the programme shows to be weakest.

How long does the engagement take?

It depends on how many partners and partner types the programme covers, how many geographies it spans, how much of the current terms and sales history has to be reconstructed, and how quickly leadership can decide the contested rules. A single partner type in one state moves faster than a multi-state network with three types. The schedule is agreed in the programme brief, and the pilot stage is planned, not squeezed.

What inputs are required from us?

Your partner list with terms, discounts and sales history, product costs and prices, credit and returns practice, existing partner documents and training material, and any commitments already made. Then time: working sessions with the owner and sales leadership, access to six to ten partners including a dormant one and a lost one, and a named channel owner who will run the programme after launch.

We already have partners on old terms. Do we have to change them?

Not all at once, and not by surprise. We design the programme, then plan a migration: which partners move at renewal, which need a conversation first, and which grandfathered terms stay for a stated period. The larger partners are usually spoken to before anything is announced. The aim is one programme within a defined window, without losing the partners who are actually carrying your revenue.

Will writing the rules down annoy our strongest partners?

Strong partners usually welcome it, because written territory, registration and pricing rules protect the ones who invest from the ones who discount. The partners who object are typically those benefiting from an exception nobody else knows about. We surface those cases during the diagnostic so leadership decides deliberately what to keep, what to phase out and what to explain, rather than being ambushed after launch.

How do we stop partners fighting over the same customer?

With rules written before the fight, not during it. The programme defines territory and account coverage, a lead and deal registration process with a protection period, what happens when direct sales and a partner meet on one account, who decides, and how quickly. The rule is published to partners in advance, so a dispute is settled by something both sides already accepted instead of by who escalates hardest.

4 more questions

How is success measured?

Against the baseline recorded before design began: active partners against partners listed, territory coverage against the plan, partner-sourced pipeline, time from signature to first order, sell-through where secondary data exists, conflicts settled by the rules, partner retention by tier, and programme economics against the model. Recruitment and coverage usually move within a quarter or two; sell-through and retention are read across a full year.

What is excluded from scope?

Running recruitment as an ongoing operation, building a full training curriculum and certification, detailed incentive and rebate modelling beyond the framework, market development fund administration, and partner portal or PRM implementation, which are separate services. We also do not draft your legal agreement. We specify what the agreement must cover commercially; your lawyer converts that into the contract.

Can this work if we have only a few partners today?

Yes, and it is often the better moment. Designing the programme before the network grows means every partner after the first joins on the same terms, and you avoid the migration work businesses face at forty partners. If you have two or three partners and no plan to add more, this is heavier than you need; recruiting the next few directly is the sensible first step.

Do we need software or a partner portal for this?

Not to begin with. Most SMB programmes run on a shared price and scheme sheet, a simple registration form, the CRM you already have, and a scorecard maintained monthly. We design the programme so it works that way first. Once partner numbers and registration volume make manual handling costly, a portal or PRM becomes worth the investment, and the programme tells you what it must support.

Talk to us

Plan your channel growth programme before you sign the next partner.

The free audit is a working session, not a pitch. We look at the partners you have, the terms actually in force, where coverage is thin, and whether you need a full programme design, a redesign for an existing network, or help with the next few partners.

  • No obligation and no sales script
  • A reply from someone who does the work
  • Your details are never sold or shared

Your partner list, terms, margins and sales records stay confidential and are used only to prepare for and conduct the audit.

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