Build the First Tier and Incentive Structure for a Partner Network
Objective: Design a complete tier structure, incentive plan, and measurement dashboard for Snowflake's ISV partner segment, which currently has ad hoc relationships and no formal program.
You're the partner marketing lead at Snowflake. The Snowflake Partner Network has 40 ISV partners building on top of Snowflake's data cloud, but relationships have grown organically with no tiers, no clear incentives, and no shared metric for what a 'good' partner looks like.
Design a tiering system with quantifiable thresholds, an incentive plan that avoids channel conflict, and a measurement plan that separates partner-sourced from partner-influenced revenue.
Before you start
What you'll need
Free path (everything below is enough to finish)
Free, sortable, easy to share with sales ops for validation
Paid upgrades (optional, faster/deeper)
Removes manual spreadsheet chasing once deal registration volume grows past a handful of partners a month
The process
2 steps
Step 01 of 02
The lesson's tiering section argues tiers only motivate partners when the threshold to move up is a specific number, not a subjective label, and each tier has a defined benefit attached.
You have 40 ISV partners at wildly different revenue levels, from $0 in partner-sourced pipeline to one partner at $1.8M. What's the tier structure?
Procedure
- List all 40 partners with their trailing-12-month partner-sourced pipeline in one column
- Sort descending and look for natural breakpoints in the distribution rather than picking round numbers arbitrarily
- Define 4 tiers (Early, Active, Elite, Strategic) with a specific pipeline threshold for each
- Attach one concrete benefit per tier (marketplace featuring, co-marketing budget, joint QBR, executive sponsor)
Snowflake ISV Partner Tiers (draft) Early Partner — $0-$50K annual partner-sourced pipeline (22 partners qualify) Benefit: Partner portal access, certification track Active Partner — $50K-$250K (11 partners qualify) Benefit: Marketplace listing featured placement, quarterly enablement webinar Elite Partner — $250K-$750K (5 partners qualify) Benefit: Joint QBR, $10K annual MDF Strategic Partner — $750K+ (2 partners qualify) Benefit: Executive sponsor, joint go-to-market campaign, co-authored case study
Healthy
Each tier has a specific pipeline number and every partner can see exactly which tier they're in today and what's required to move up.
Unhealthy
Tiers are named Bronze/Silver/Gold with no threshold attached, so partners can't tell whether they're close to the next tier or not.
What this means
A threshold-based tier turns the program into a scoreboard partners can track themselves; a label-based tier turns it into a subjective judgment call Snowflake has to defend in every partner conversation.
So what do I do about it?
| Symptom | Action | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Partners keep asking what tier they're in | Publish the threshold table and refresh it monthly in the partner portal | 30 min |
| One partner disputes their tier placement | Point to the specific trailing-12-month number, not a subjective assessment | 5 min |
Step 02 of 02
The lesson separates partner-sourced pipeline (the partner brought the opportunity) from partner-influenced revenue (the partner helped close a deal Snowflake already had), noting influenced revenue typically runs 3-5x larger.
Snowflake's sales team wants one number to report to the board. Do you report sourced, influenced, or both, and why does it matter which?
Procedure
- For each closed deal, tag it sourced (partner brought the lead) or influenced (partner contributed to an existing deal, e.g. required integration or reference call)
- Sum both columns separately per partner and per quarter
- Report both numbers to the board, sourced as the leading indicator of partner effort, influenced as the lagging proof of ecosystem value
- Flag any partner with high influenced revenue but near-zero sourced pipeline as a candidate for a proactive co-selling conversation
Q3 Partner Revenue Report (excerpt) Partner: DataRobot Sourced: $180K (partner originated the opportunity) Influenced: $640K (technical validation on 3 enterprise deals Snowflake already had) Board summary: $2.1M sourced across all partners, $7.4M influenced. Influenced is 3.5x sourced, consistent with the lesson's expected ratio.
Healthy
Both numbers are tracked and reported separately, so a partner with strong influenced revenue but weak sourcing gets coached toward proactive selling instead of being underrated.
Unhealthy
Only one blended 'partner revenue' number exists, hiding whether partners are originating deals or just supporting deals Snowflake already had.
What this means
Sourced pipeline measures partner effort; influenced revenue measures partner value. A program that only tracks one is blind to half the picture.
So what do I do about it?
| Symptom | Action | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| A partner looks like a low performer on sourced pipeline alone | Check their influenced revenue before deciding they're underperforming | 30 min |
Final deliverable
A 4-tier partner structure with quantifiable pipeline thresholds and attached benefits, plus a sourced-vs-influenced revenue tracking sheet ready to hand to sales ops.
See a reference example
Robinhood Institutional Partner Tiers (excerpt) Active Partner — $100K-$400K annual partner-sourced pipeline Benefit: Featured API marketplace placement, quarterly enablement session Q2 Revenue Report: $890K sourced, $3.1M influenced (3.5x ratio) across 12 active partners.
Success criteria
You're done when you can:
- Every tier has a specific, non-overlapping pipeline threshold
- Sourced and influenced revenue are tracked as separate columns, never blended into one number
- At least one concrete, non-generic benefit is attached to each tier