Let's start with a brutal statistic. According to partnership expert Richard Ezekiel, 70% of business partnerships fail within the first two years.
The irony? This is happening while, according to Accenture, companies with mature ecosystems are growing 5.4% faster than their peers and, as IDC notes, are generating 28% more revenue. The prize for success is massive, yet most are failing to claim it.
So, why are we so bad at this? The reasons are as predictable as they are painful, and they often start long before a contract is ever signed:
- A startup with a shaky product-market fit rushes to sign "partners" before they even have a clear, repeatable sales process to share.
- A scale-up, desperate for a new growth channel, outsources its entire partner strategy to an agency that runs a generic, low-effort playbook.
- A company hires a fractional partner team, hoping a few hours a week can build the deep, trust-based relationships that actually take years of dedicated focus.
These aren't just tactical errors; they are symptoms of a deeper, more fundamental problem. The hard truth is that most partnerships don't fail because of a bad product or a flawed contract. They fail because of a leadership vacuum.
They suffer from a crisis of managing versus leading. We meticulously manage our partnerships—with spreadsheets and portals. But we consistently fail to lead them—with vision, trust, and genuine alignment.
This leadership vacuum isn't an abstract concept.It manifests as a series of predictable, recurring mistakes—from a lack of product-market fit to poor internal buy-in. It shows up in a series of predictable, recurring mistakes. To help you avoid becoming a statistic, we've broken down the ten most common pitfalls. By understanding these mistakes, you can learn from them and build a partner program that actually defies the odds.
10 Most Common Reasons Partnerships Fail
1. You Don’t Have Product-Market Fit
Many companies make the fatal mistake of believing a channel partner will magically fix a core business problem. They haven't yet found a repeatable, scalable sales process on their own, but they hope partners will figure it out for them. The reality is that partners are amplifiers, not saviors. They are designed to scale what already works. If you don't have strong product-market fit—evidenced by low churn, high customer satisfaction, and a proven sales motion—you're not just outsourcing a problem; you're asking a partner to burn their own reputation selling a product that isn't ready for a wider market.
2. You’re Recruiting the Wrong Partner Type
A common error is to chase any and every partner without a clear strategy. Businesses often sign up hundreds of low-commitment referral partners when their complex product actually requires dedicated resellers with deep technical expertise or tech partners for crucial integrations. The partner model must match your business model and your customer's buying journey. A mismatch is like trying to use a hammer to turn a screw; a highly technical cybersecurity product that requires a deep, consultative sales cycle will fail miserably if your channel consists only of partners who pass along a name and expect a check.
3. There's No "Better Together" Story
Too many partnerships are built on a one-sided, uninspired value proposition: "Sell our product and get a commission." This completely misses the point. The best partnerships are built on a compelling narrative that answers the question, "Why is this joint solution better for the customer than buying our products separately?" This "1+1=3" story is the strategic core of the partnership. Without it, your product is just another SKU in your partner's catalog, easily ignored and quickly replaced.
4. Your Goals and Incentives are Misaligned
Partnerships often collapse under the weight of a poorly designed incentive structure. The plan might be confusing, unprofitable, or, worst of all, create channel conflict where your direct sales team is compensated more for taking a deal direct. Partners are rational economic actors. They will always follow the path of least resistance to the greatest reward. If selling your product is more difficult or less profitable than selling a competitor's, they won't. The incentive plan must be simple, lucrative, and aligned with their business goals, not just yours.
5. You Suffer from "Post-Signature Neglect"
After an enthusiastic kickoff and a signed contract, communication goes dark. This is a classic failure of enablement. Partners are left to fend for themselves, unable to find pricing information, technical resources, or crucial product updates. A partner portal alone is not a strategy. A partnership is a relationship that requires constant, proactive communication and support from a dedicated channel manager. Without it, you're just signing contracts, not building a revenue-generating channel.
6. Your Company Lacks Internal Buy-In
A partner program is often doomed from the start because it’s treated as a siloed initiative. Your direct sales team sees the new channel as a threat to their commissions, the marketing team doesn't include partners in their campaigns, and the product team doesn't build APIs that partners need. A successful ecosystem is a company-wide commitment. Leadership must clearly define the rules of engagement, incentivize collaboration, and constantly evangelize the importance of partners across every department.
7. There's No Executive Sponsorship
Many partner programs start as a mid-level idea without a true champion in the C-suite. This is a slow-motion death sentence. When budgets get tight or internal conflicts arise, the program is the first to lose resources because no one at the top is advocating for its strategic importance. An executive sponsor does more than approve the budget; they provide the political air cover to protect the long-term investment from short-term quarterly pressures and ensure the entire company remains aligned.
8. You're Underinvesting in the Program
There's a persistent belief that a partner program should be a cheap source of revenue. This leads companies to refuse to spend on the necessary components: people (dedicated channel managers), processes (a Partner Relationship Management system), and programs (Market Development Funds). You get what you pay for. A successful channel is a significant revenue engine that requires a proportional investment. Treating it like a side-project guarantees it will deliver side-project results.
9. You've Improperly Outsourced Your Core Strategy
In a rush to get started, many companies outsource the core strategic function of building and managing their partner ecosystem to an external agency. The golden rule of business is you don't outsource a core competency. While an agency can supplement your efforts with tactical execution, they can never replace a dedicated, in-house team. The trust and deep relationships that define great partnerships are built over time and cannot be delegated to a third party who doesn't live and breathe your company's mission.
10. You Haven't Defined Your Ideal Partner Profile (IPP)
The most common recruitment mistake is a "spray and pray" approach, focusing on the quantity of partners signed rather than the quality of the fit. The reality is that the top 20% of your partners will likely generate 80% of your revenue. A visionary leader avoids this by first building a detailed Ideal Partner Profile (IPP) that defines the specific attributes of a successful partner. This strategic filter saves immense time and resources by focusing all recruitment, onboarding, and enablement efforts only on the partners who have the highest probability of success.
Conclusion
The 70% failure rate isn't an accident. The ten points above prove it's the predictable outcome of a persistent, flawed pattern: the pattern of managing without leading, of process without purpose.
Think about the failures we've outlined. When you have a process without purpose, you get a program that is perfectly administered but strategically dead. The direct result is a frustrating and disjointed partner experience—defined by friction, busywork, and disengaged partners—leaving your ecosystem existing only on paper.
To break the pattern, you must break from the role of an administrator. Don't just manage your partnerships—lead them. To lead is to be the chief evangelist for the "why." It's to obsess over the partner experience, building trust where there is friction and creating alignment where there is chaos. The choice is clear: continue to manage a channel and likely become part of the 70% statistic, or step up, break the pattern, and lead a thriving partner ecosystem.