Sovos’ Flexible Channel Program Aligns With Partners’ GTM Strategies; Enables Referrers And Consultants

Global tax software provider Sovos has launched a new channel program that enhances alignments with its partners’ business models. Competitive incentives and other business-related program benefits were designed to assist partners in expanding their businesses in ways that best fit their go-to-market strategies.

The program includes an array of consistent and accessible tools, training and a self-service partner portal. It offers a wide range of actionable benefits that are designed to drive success, including sales and marketing, business development, technical and enablement tools and other resources that help partners grow their business.

Sovos is actively and strategically recruiting reseller and embedded technology partners. And like many companies, Sovos is also recruiting and supporting a roster of non-transactional partners – referrers and consultants – to generate highly qualified leads.

“There is a key subset in our ecosystem who refer and influence customer decisions but are unable to transact— either because it’s not part of their business model or it conflicts with how they service their customers,” said Jonathan Eisner, Chief Channel Officer and Vice President, Global Partners & Alliances at Sovos. But their “industry knowledge and consulting plus services capabilities, combined with our portfolio and partner program, put them in a unique situation to advise clients leveraging their deep understanding of the regulatory landscape and market needs.”

Enabling Non-Transacting Partners

The ability of non-transacting partners to generate reliable leads is significant, said Eisner. After evaluating the customer’s needs and determining that Sovos is a strong potential fit, partners bring opportunities to the company by registering them in the Sovos Partner Portal. “Leads sent to us by partners can convert more quickly into qualified opportunities and can have a higher close rate,” Eisner continued. “This is typical and expected in a successful channel. The key to higher lead conversion is not only the quality of the referral, but the active engagement and co-selling our partners provide in supporting the selling process.”

Critical to the success of a referral program is ensuring that leads are routed efficiently to sales staff, that the sales team understands how the lead came into the Sovos system with related messaging, and that there is a defined SLA with sales on follow-up for each lead, said Eisner. “At Sovos, we cultivate a culture of accountability as one of the company’s core values. Our internal teams are highly aware of their targets and current pipeline, and they are truly passionate about helping partners succeed in their practice. We have the tracking tools in place that support our partners and our sales team to ensure that every lead is acted upon.”

Investing In Partner Success

Ensuring that partners have access to critical tools and materials is a priority. “We have invested significantly to prepare them with the tools and resources required for them to be as successful as we would our own teams. And we will continue to invest and focus here.”

The new Sovos Partner Portal is a dynamic platform that eliminates the need for partners to search for materials and relevant content relevant to their organizations and region. It offers resources for every aspect of their Sovos practice: product and sales training, co-brandable marketing materials, MDF, tracking tools for pipeline and commission and access to leading-edge industry knowledge.

Another feature of the portal, the Prospect Page, allows partners to gather materials that have been pre-approved by Sovos to be shared externally with prospects and customers via a customized web link. Using a link allows partners to share multiple files, including videos, without having to worry about file size. This also ensures that updated content is viewed by the customer whenever the materials are viewed.

Next year, Sovos will launch a dedicated partner training program, which will be instrumental in enabling partners’ expertise.

Just as important, though, will be an ongoing focus on building relationships between Sovos’ internal teams and partners’ teams, which “are vital to making sure our mutual customers get the solutions and services they need to solve their complex tax compliance challenges,” said Eisner. Optimal collaboration between internal and partner teams is “the linchpin of success.”