Vocabulary Practice: Partnership Programs

Read the text again and answer the questions with some of the words in bold.

Imagine you have a potentially money-making business idea but don’t have the resources nor the tools to bring it to life or that you are a prosperous manufacturer but want to boost your sales. What you need is a business arrangement between yourself and a third party, known as the channel partner, who would recommend, market or sell your products or services, and that is precisely what partnership programs do.

A partnership program stipulates the rights and obligations of both parties and sets out the incentives (discounts, advertising, training etc.) offered by the manufacturer or service provider in order to meet sales targets. A channel partner may be a service company, retailer, value-added reseller (VAR), consultant, systems integrator (SI), etc. The right channel partner comes with sales expertise, market knowledge, distribution channels and a network of customers to sell products or services to.

Sometimes establishing a partnership program is relatively inexpensive, on other occasions it is a big investment. Nonetheless, it is always important to align the partnership with your business goals and overall company strategy to create a competitive value proposition.

Partnership programs are beneficial to both parties. As a result, manufacturers increase product sales, while channel partners are paid a fee for their services or are compensated for them in some other way. Some examples of partnership programs include those stricken between Starbucks and Spotify, Twitter and Shopify, or YouTube and popular video makers.