How can you develop a partner prioritization matrix?

1 Identify your criteria

The first step in evaluating your partners is to identify the criteria that reflect your business objectives, partner expectations, and market conditions. For instance, you may consider revenue potential, strategic fit, partner satisfaction, loyalty, performance, and risk when evaluating each partner. You can rate each partner on each criterion using a scale of 1 to 5 or low, medium, and high. This will help you determine how well a partner aligns with your vision and mission, as well as how likely they are to stay with you and refer you to others. Additionally, it will help you assess the risk they pose to your reputation, security, or profitability.

2 Weight your criteria

The next step is to weight your criteria according to their importance. Considering the business, some criteria may be more relevant or impactful than others; for instance, you may prioritize revenue potential over partner satisfaction or strategic fit over partner performance. To determine the relative importance of each criterion, assign a percentage weight such that the total weight adds up to 100%. For example, revenue potential could be 40%, strategic fit 30%, partner satisfaction 10%, partner loyalty 10%, partner performance 5%, and partner risk 5%.

3 Calculate your scores

The third step is to calculate your scores for each partner based on their ratings and weights. You can use a simple formula by multiplying the rating by the weight for each criterion, and then add up the results for each partner. For example, if you have a partner with a revenue potential rating of 4, strategic fit rating of 3, partner satisfaction rating of 5, partner loyalty rating of 4, partner performance rating of 3, and partner risk rating of 2 - their score would be calculated as 1.6 + 0.9 + 0.5 + 0.4 + 0.15 + 0.1 = 3.65. This process should be repeated for all partners in order to rank them from highest to lowest score.

4 Plot your matrix

The final step is to plot your matrix using a two-dimensional chart. You can use any two criteria that you think are most relevant or useful for your analysis, such as revenue potential and strategic fit, or partner satisfaction and loyalty. The chart can be divided into four quadrants: high value, high alignment; high value, low alignment; low value, high alignment; and low value, low alignment. The first quadrant includes partners who have high scores on both criteria and should be nurtured and grown. The second quadrant includes partners with high scores on one criterion but low scores on the other, and should be maintained cautiously. The third quadrant contains partners with low scores on one criterion but high scores on the other, and should be appreciated but realistic about their potential. Finally, the fourth quadrant includes partners with low scores on both criteria and should be minimized or terminated. By using a partner prioritization matrix, you can segment and prioritize your partners in a systematic and objective way, optimizing your business relationship management strategy.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?