3 Examples of Common Channel Partner Types to Help You Discover Yours

Once you’ve done the groundwork to establish that a channel partner marketing is the right direction for your organization, you’ll need to decide which type of partnership will be the most practical and effective. 

With such an expansive arena of channel partner types, narrowing the field can be intimidating, but you’ve already done some of the work. The considerations you made before deciding to start a program will also be helpful in zeroing in on the most suitable partner type for your organization.  

Unfortunately, starting with those considerations could be quite time consuming and could still leave a large pool of possibilities. One method to reduce the possibilities to a more manageable mix is to begin by examining which channel partner types are most common for your specific industry.  

3 Examples of common channel partner types by industry 

Examining the common channel partner types in your particular industry can be a helpful indicator of what has worked for others and why they were effective for a product or service that is similar to your own. Below are just a few examples of common channel partnerships by industry.  

Agricultural (Ag) Machinery:  

One common channel partner type in the Ag machinery manufacturing industry is a dealer partner. In this type of partnership: the dealer, or partner, sells the vendor’s product. The partner will often offer maintenance and other customer services that make the partnership mutually beneficial.  

A dealer partner type allows large manufacturing companies to cast a wider brand net and create more personal relationships with their ideal consumers. Conversely, the dealer benefits from their association with a larger brand name as well as the profit from their provided services.  

This is a practical and effective partner type for this specific industry for many reasons. The most general would be that their ideal buyer persona comes from a rural demographic and requires more time-sensitive maintenance and customer service.  

Health Insurance:  

In the health insurance industry, you may commonly see an agent partner type. This channel partner type performs similar tasks to a sales representative. However, an agent partner has a more flexible position—they don’t have to sell a single vendor’s product exclusively—and the vendor doesn’t (usually) pay them both a salary and commission.  

With an agent partnership, health insurance organizations have the ability to venture into new markets without the expenses of investing in and establishing a permanent workforce. Agents benefit from the flexibility to partner with multiple vendors and earn their income from the sale of a variety of products. 

This partnership is favorable for this specific industry due its great adaptability. Health insurance is a highly variable industry. With carriers entering and exiting the market frequently, those with agent partnerships can make quick strategic moves to capture new markets and exit markets where they’re experiencing more expenses than earnings.  

Banking: 

Since the introduction of Fintech, it has become more and more common for those in the banking industry to create channel partnerships with an app partner type. An app partner assists the vendor with the building and progressing of their software. 

Just as with the previous examples this partner type offers benefits for both parties involved. Banks are enabled to be more innovative and provide better, more digitally advanced customer experiences to their consumers. The app partner, or Fintech company, has the ability to tap into the well-established customer base and compliance expertise of the banking organization.  

An app partner type is logical and useful for the banking industry for its progressiveness. Banks have a tendency to be slow to the uptake when it comes to advancements in technology and digital presence. With an app partnership they are better able to grow as their consumers grow and continuously meet their audiences where they are.  

Industry Reference: A guiding light for choosing the right channel partner type for your organization.  

There are several other benefits that one could mention when discussing the examples above, and there are challenges that come with them as well. These examples are merely a guiding light to demonstrate a process for examining your industry peers. 

Every organization has different needs, goals, and means for achieving them, and choosing a partner type will be largely dependent on what those are for your organization. Referencing other organizations in your industry and what channel partner types they have created is simply a method for narrowing the field of possibilities.  

To learn more about channel management or partner enablement visit our Channel Partner Marketing Guide