Partnerships Glossary
Your guide to partner program terminology and concepts. Clear definitions and explanations for all the key terms you need to know.
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What is Channel? A channel is simply a path to your customers. It’s the route your products or services take to get from you to the end user. A company can have multiple channels. A "direct channel" means you sell straight to your customers, like through your website. An "indirect channel" means y
What is Channel Conflict? Channel conflict is what happens when your partners end up competing against each other, or even against your own direct sales team. For example, if a partner and your internal salesperson are both trying to sell to the same customer, that’s conflict. This can create tensi
What is Channel Partner? A channel partner is a company you team up with to sell your products or services. Instead of hiring a massive sales team to cover the globe, you can work with channel partners who already have a presence in different markets or industries. These partners can be resellers,
What is Channel Sales? Channel sales is the strategy of selling your products through third-party partners instead of selling directly to customers. It’s a powerful way to expand your market reach without dramatically increasing your internal headcount. Your partners handle the selling, and you sup
What is Co-branding? Co-branding is a strategic marketing alliance in which two or more established brands collaborate on a jointly developed product, service, or promotional campaign. The primary objective of this practice is to leverage the market strength, brand equity, and customer base of all
What is Co-marketing? Co-marketing is a partnership where two companies join forces to promote each other's products or services. They might create a joint webinar, write an ebook together, or co-host an event. Unlike co-branding, they aren't creating a new product; they're just sharing marketing e
What is Co-selling? Co-selling is a true team effort. It’s when sales teams from two different partner companies work together to close a deal with a specific customer. Each team brings their own expertise and customer relationships to the table. For example, a software company might co-sell with a
What is Commission? A commission is the payment a partner receives for helping to make a sale. It's the financial incentive at the heart of most performance-based partnerships, like affiliate or reseller programs. The commission is usually a percentage of the sale amount, but it can also be a flat
What is Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)? Customer Acquisition Cost, or CAC, is the total amount of money a business spends to get a new customer. To calculate it, you add up all your sales and marketing costs over a certain period and divide that by the number of new customers you gained in that sa
What is Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV or LTV)? This metric predicts the total net profit a company can expect to make from a single customer over the entire course of their relationship. It helps you understand how much a customer is worth to your business in the long run. While LTV (Lifetime Value
