Channel partners can be a great way to boost sales and maximize distribution of your product. When you join forces with another company in a partnership arrangement, you can amplify each other’s strengths, minimize weaknesses and work toward a mutually beneficial outcome. To maximize revenue, you can recruit different partners for different products, services and marketing campaigns.
Successful channel marketing requires someone who knows who’s responsible for what, especially as your partner network grows. This is where a partner account manager comes in.
What is a partner account manager?
A partner account manager (PAM) is the contact between your company and your channel partners. Their role is to recruit new partners and then build, manage and maintain relationships with those partners to drive revenue for their organization.
What does a partner account manager do?
If you compare job listings for partner account managers posted on sites like LinkedIn, you’ll notice that there are slight differences in the job description (and even the job title) from one company to another. This is because in the ever-changing SaaS landscape, the role of the partner account manager constantly evolves, too. Companies with more or less robust partner ecosystems will have differing needs when it comes to their partner account managers. Regardless of changing industries or company size, the partner account manager’s general duties are similar across companies.
Partner account manager duties
As a partner account manager, you can divide your duties into four broad categories:
- Recruiting
- Building relationships
- Managing relationships
- Maintaining relationships
To recruit new partners, you first identify your ideal partner profile. Then it’s a matter of reaching out to potential partners and illustrating the ways that a partnership with them can be beneficial to both their company and yours. You’ll need to do a bit of research on potential partners first, then you need to recruit those partners by contacting them and convincing them that a partnership will be good for their bottom line. In other words, show them what’s in it for them.
Once you have a new partner on board, you’ll begin to build, manage and maintain the relationship. This involves constantly evaluating the relationship, identifying areas for improvement and devising strategies to strengthen the relationship to benefit everyone involved. Consider the following as a partner account management guide.
See more: Channel sales vs. direct sales: what’s the difference?
Daily tasks of a partner account manager
- Provide partners with product and technical support.
- Address questions and concerns the partner might have as soon and as thoroughly as possible. The goal is to keep the partner satisfied with the partnership.
- Develop plans to ensure that the partner meets the requirements for competency and qualification that you require. If they fall short, look for ways to help them meet those requirements. After all, it’s not only about what you can do for them, but also what they can do for you.
- In collaboration with cross-functional teams, develop business strategies to generate leads.
- Develop a business plan to boost sales and increase the potential for profit while working with different teams — such as development, marketing and product — to achieve set revenue goals.
- Coordinate with your partners to plan, manage and prioritize different business activities.
- Evaluate each partner’s marketing plans and recommend ways to improve them when needed.
- Review business plans and revise them according to what the partner’s needs are.
- Oversee the partner’s rewards programs.
- Take an active role in business review and revenue forecasting, including high-level goal setting and quarterly business reviews.
Throughout the process, you liaise with the partner to ensure you all know what your roles and responsibilities are, stay updated, discuss any issues and find solutions to any problems that may occur. Â
Related: Skills any partner manager should have to succeed.
What makes a good partner account manager?
Soft skills partner account managers need
As a partner account manager, you’re a combination of a management consultant and a salesperson. You need to be able to see the bigger picture while also being able to take care of the details. You need to be super organized, since you need to manage not only everyone in the channel, but also various channels at the same time. You also need to be able to think strategically, since much of your job is about developing strategies and problem-solving.
Being a great communicator is essential for the job, and this means that you also need to be an active listener. While it generally isn’t a requirement to be proficient in a second language, it’s definitely an advantage, especially if you’re going to work for a company that does business internationally and may look for partners based in international markets.
Of course, you need to have excellent people skills, too. You’re going to work with a wide range of people, and they need to be able to relate to you if they’re going to trust you. You also have to be able to motivate them to meet targets, so they need to feel comfortable coming to you and asking for help if any issues arise.
Being adaptable is essential, since no two days are the same in the world of B2B SaaS partner account management. And you’ll often have to work under pressure, especially as quarterly sales targets loom.
Hard skills partner account managers need
Most companies looking for a partner account manager require you to be experienced in sales and business management. You’ll need to be computer literate in programs like Microsoft Word and Excel or Google Docs and Sheets, but also proficient in customer relationship management (CRM) software like Salesforce. Employers also normally require you to have at least a bachelor’s degree in a business-related field like business administration, business management or marketing.
The best partner account managers don’t necessarily know the minutiae of how each of the company’s products and services works from the jump, but are able to quickly grasp the basics. After all, they need to understand the products and services in order to identify suitable channel partners and to support those partners once they’ve come on board.
And with 78 per cent of businesses using AI in at least one business function, according to McKinsey’s 2025 report on the state of AI, partner account managers now need to have some familiarity with common AI tools, like Salesforce Einstein or HubSpot Breeze.
It’s quite the wishlist, but the right partner manager can make a major difference in the overall success of a partner program.
Read more: Jobs that are growing with the rise of AI.
How can SaaS organizations support a partner account manager?
Good partner account managers are hard to find, so for their success and retention, your company needs to provide a work environment that will make them want to work for you, rather than the competition. Of course, this starts with offering a competitive salary and benefits. According to Glassdoor, the base pay for a partner account manager in the US in 2025 ranges from $79,000 to $121,000 per year, plus benefits.
Certain tools can make a partner account manager’s job easier, which can help them stay efficient and happy. For example, PartnerStack makes it easy for them to identify the right partner for each channel, recruit those partners and manage the partnerships all in one place.
SaaS leaders should make sure their partner account manager has the training they need to succeed — not just during onboarding, but as products and relationships change, too. This includes giving them access to reports and data on how the channel is performing. It also means making sure they have all the information they need about new features and products, so that they can use that knowledge to recruit new partners and retain current ones.
Many companies are starting to incorporate AI into their workflows to analyze partner interactions or generate custom partner communications. Giving your partner account managers access to new tools that can quickly scan call transcripts or create personalized emails can help your team scale their program faster.
Speaking of speed, partners expect their partner account manager to be able to make sound decisions quickly. Facilitate this by avoiding a complicated decision-making chain and setting clear parameters within which they can make decisions on their own.
This article was originally published in July 2022.
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