Today we're fortunate to share a guest blog post by JivoChat. It's about the perks of partner marketing programs with recurring commissions. Here it is!
Author: Emma Longridge, JivoChat Content Manager
Ah, partner marketing: arguably the best way to gain new, loyal customers. But what else can help you retain your partners? The answer is ... recurring commissions!
Let’s go through the recurring commissions basics and highlight their impact on partner marketing.
What are recurring commissions?
Recurring commissions are regular payouts that partners in a partner marketing program get during a given time period, such as every month. Typically, recurring commissions are offered on products in which customers pay monthly fees to keep receiving or using the product or service.
Putting this into simple terms, let’s use the case of Max, Anna, and Jeffrey:
- Max has a partner program that promotes his CRM company.
- Anna signs up to be one of Max’s partners.
- Anna recruits Jeffrey as one of her customers.
- Jeffrey pays $99 a month to use Max’s CRM service.
- Every month, Jeffrey renews his CRM subscription.
- Max receives the CRM subscription funds.
- Since Anna solicited Jeffrey as a customer, Max gives Anna an ongoing percentage of the sale.
Partners with recurring commissions get paid for a certain period of time, for example the first year, or for the lifetime of each customer they bring in so their benefits only end once a client stops paying subscription fees.
The advantages and ROI of recurrent commission programs
Promoting your products and services through a recurring commissions referral program has its benefits. Let’s list them while exploring why they result in a positive ROI (Return on Investment).
For your team...
Consistent sales
A partner’s job is to bring new customers into your sales funnel. Partners are an extension of your sales team in the way that they bring clients in, but they aren’t one of your direct employees. They have access to new customers through communities and distribution channels that your direct sales team would have never been able to reach.
Creating a recurring commission plan for partners motivates them to continually source more customers with higher lifetime value (LTV), bringing a steadier flow of business back to your company.
Low time and cost investment
Most of the upfront work comes when you’re first setting up your partner program and driving those first partnerships. Moving from a manual system to an automated system takes some time and planning, but then you’re set - you can scale and easily enable partners to sell your product with low operational overhead. Your job from there on is to assist your partners by providing the resources they need, processing commissions, and delivering high-quality support to new prospects. That’s it! Quite easy.
For your partners...
A lifetime of passive income
Your partners don’t need to make any additional investments after bringing a new customer into your sales funnel. They can just focus their efforts on getting more customers. More customers means increased recurring retainers for your partners, and that by itself is enough to keep them engaged and eager to promote your brand.
Companies that have recurring commission programs
If you’re looking for good example of this type of program, here’s a short list of programs to check out:
1. JivoChat
JivoChat is an omnichannel business messenger built to power team/client communications. JivoChat offers a robust online chat platform, as well as email and telephony solutions that allow teams to deliver top-notch customer service. As a partner, you can get up to 30% in recurring commissions through their partner program. All you have to do is sign up for a partner account via PartnerStack. Partners around the world use JivoChat and have received over $1M in commissions so far. Check them out on PartnerStack’s marketplace.
2. SEMrush
SEMrush offers an all-in-one marketing toolkit for digital marketing professionals, which encompasses SEO audit tools, ads strategy analysis, and more. Join BErush and earn up to 40% recurring commissions for SEMrush subscription sales.
3. Focuster
Focuster automatically schedules your to-do list in your calendar. It helps you to organize your daily plans and prioritizes your work so that you can achieve your most important goals for heightened daily productivity. Focuster currently has a partner program in which participants are eligible to receive 25% in subscription sales. They are featured on PartnerStack’s Marketplace.
How to establish recurring commissions
If you’re interested in creating your own recurring commissions partner marketing program, but don’t know how to start, don’t worry, we got you covered.
Use a partner marketing platform like PartnerStack
The easiest way to launch a partner program with recurring commissions is to choose an established and automated partnership marketing tool such as PartnerStack. PartnerStack lets you configure channels and reward commissions for your marketing and referral partners without needing to worry about creating everything from scratch.
How PartnerStack works with you to make sure you have the best partner marketing program
PartnerStack offers a comprehensive dashboard where you can keep track of everything you need. You can:
- segment partners via groups
- distribute assets and resources
- create default and custom referral links for your company
- monitor and engage with your partners and resellers
- quickly review automated commission payouts - and more
If you’re interested in running more complex multi-channel partner programs, PartnerStack has a number of features and integrations to help customize the perfect program for your company.
So what does all of this mean for you?
If you have an online business with an existing partner program, it may be worth looking into ways you can offer your partners a recurring commission. That way, you can guarantee yourself access to new customers and a steadier flow of recurring income, while your loyal partners benefit from continuous passive income.
