Cell 07 · Partner & Channel — eJourney Sales Playbook v1.0

A

Why this page exists

Channel multiplies reach if program economics are right. Wrong economics → partners abandon mid-deal, service quality erodes, vendor brand suffers. Right economics → partners build their business on top of ours.

Channel multiplies — when it's healthy. The default failure mode in Indonesian B2B distribution is commission-based programs with Y2 step-down — partner closes the deal in Y1, then watches their margin cut in half in Y2, then drops the customer back on the vendor. Vendor inherits a relationship-poor customer + a partner that lost trust. Both lose.

The fix is structural: wholesale resale model for VAD partners. Partner buys software at wholesale, sells at retail, keeps the spread forever. Partner delivers services on top and prices those independently. No Y2 step-down. No commission accounting. Partner happy = we happy.

Three measurable costs of getting the partner program wrong:

(1) Partner-led churn. Y2 step-down models bleed partners; partners leave or stop closing. Healthy programs report > 80% partner retention; broken programs < 40%.

(2) Software-flipper risk. Wrong economics let partners pocket margin without delivering services. Customer experience suffers, vendor brand bears the cost. Five mitigations in C.6 prevent this.

(3) Channel conflict. Without clear handover rules between Referral and VAD, multiple partners chase the same lead. Disputes burn commercial-owner time and damage partner trust.

B

Who this page serves

Three audiences. Each reads partner program differently.

Primary external · partner-prospect

Prospective partner evaluating fit

"Is this program worth investing my team's time in?" Reads economics first (margin, retention, growth path), enablement second (training, runbooks), brand fit last. Compares against alternative vendor programs they could carry.

Internal · commercial owner

eJourney commercial owner

"Does this partner protect or damage our customer experience?" Reads mitigations first, then economics, then handover safety. Reviews partner quarterly on customer NPS + service delivery, not just revenue volume.

Secondary external — existing partner: uses this page operationally for daily co-sell, handover registration, escalation paths. Format optimized for quick reference, not first-read.

C

The substance

Two channel models · Referral details · VAD details · two-layer pricing · wholesale ladder · 5 mitigations · handover safety · enablement.

C.1 · Two channel models — Referral commission · VAD wholesale

Channel Model 1

Referral — commission-based finder fee

Anyone who introduces a qualified lead. Vendor owns the customer relationship. Referrer gets one-time finder fee on Y1 software revenue.

Best for: Agencies, consultants, complementary vendors, board introductions
Effort required: Low — make the intro, register the lead, step back
Reward structure: 10% Y1 default · 15% Y1 above Rp 3 M cumulative/yr · one-time
Lead protection: 60 days from registration in CRM
Eligibility barrier: Low — sign light agreement, register first lead

Channel Model 2

VAD — wholesale resale + partner services

Distributor / value-added partner who sells, implements, and supports the customer. Partner owns the customer relationship. Buys software at wholesale, sells at retail, delivers services on top.

Best for: Established Indonesian B2B distributors, systems integrators, learning consultancies
Effort required: High — full sales motion + services delivery + ongoing account management
Reward structure: 20% / 25% / 35% wholesale margin (Standard / Accelerator / Elite) · flat every year · plus partner services revenue at partner pricing
Lead protection: 90 days from registration in CRM
Eligibility barrier: High — certification (sales + technical + services) before wholesale access

C.2 · Referral program details

Commission structure

One-time payment on Y1 software license revenue per deal · no Y2+ recurring · referral doesn't manage account. Threshold cumulative within calendar year, forward-applied (the 15% kicks in on subsequent referrals after Rp 3 M crosses). Resets every January. Case-by-case negotiation for strategic partners (board introductions, repeat top performers can earn 15% from deal 1).
Cumulative referred revenue in calendar year	Y1 finder fee	Y2+
Up to Rp 3 Miliar	10%	—
Above Rp 3 Miliar (forward-applied)	15%	—

Commission base — software only, not services

Referral commission is calculated on software license revenue only (Layer 1 — see C.4 below), not on Layer 2 partner services. This protects partners — they don't share services revenue with a referrer who didn't deliver services. Example: Growth-tier deal closes via VAD. Software revenue = Rp 2,4 Miliar/yr. Services = Rp 350 jt one-time. Referrer who introduced the lead gets 10% of Rp 2,4 M = Rp 240 juta. VAD keeps service margin.

C.3 · VAD program details — three tiers

VAD Standard

Authorized · open program

Annual quotanone / open

Wholesale margin20%

Y2+ margin20% (flat)

MDF+2%

Tier-up criteriaRp 5 M/yr → Accelerator

VAD Accelerator

Silver · commit volume

Annual quotaRp 5 Miliar/yr

Wholesale margin25%

Y2+ margin25% (flat)

MDF+3%

Tier-up criteriaRp 15 M/yr → Elite

VAD Elite

Platinum · anchor partner

Annual quotaRp 15 Miliar/yr

Wholesale margin35%

Y2+ margin35% (flat)

MDF+3%

ExclusiveTerritory / vertical option

No Y2 step-down at any tier. Partner keeps full wholesale margin every year the customer pays. This is the structural simplification from commission programs — partner has skin in the renewal game forever.

C.4 · Two-layer pricing — software + services

Layer 1 — Software License

eJourney delivers · partner resells at wholesale

CanPlus LMS license (or BYO LMS integration)
All 3 pillars (GapAnalyzer, AI Assessment, Content Creation)
Platform delivery + hosting + updates + feature roadmap
Tier-2 product escalation when partner support hits product issues
Per-user per-bulan recurring

Layer 2 — Services

Partner delivers · partner monetizes

Implementation + go-live (1–2 bulan)
Admin training (2 jam + ongoing)
Onboarding karyawan + change management
Modul kustom build (partner self-build OR sub-contract to eJourney content team at Rp 25–30 jt/modul)
Tier-1 support (response time per partner SLA)
Ongoing CSM + QBR cadence
Custom integration + workflow development
Partner-set pricing — typically 20–40% of software value as one-time implementation + ongoing managed services at partner's monthly/quarterly rate

C.5 · Wholesale ladder × tier — what partner pays eJourney

Wholesale price is software-only. Partner adds Layer 2 services at partner's own pricing.

Partner buys at wholesale, resells at retail ≥ MSRP (customer list price). MSRP floor protection: partner cannot sell software below customer list price without partner-program approval. Partner keeps the spread forever, no Y2 step-down. +MDF on top: Standard +2%, Accelerator/Elite +3% of customer-paid software revenue, claimable for partner co-marketing.
Customer list (retail · per user / bulan)	VAD Standard wholesale (20%)	VAD Accelerator wholesale (25%)	VAD Elite wholesale (35%)
🌱 Essentials Rp 250K	Rp 200K	Rp 187,5K	Rp 162,5K
🌳 Growth Rp 200K	Rp 160K	Rp 150K	Rp 130K
🏛️ Enterprise Rp 150K	Rp 120K	Rp 112,5K	Rp 97,5K

Total customer deal example — Growth tier, 1.000 users, VAD Elite partner: software list Rp 2,4 Miliar/yr (partner collects from customer) · partner buys wholesale Rp 1,56 Miliar/yr from eJourney · partner adds implementation services Rp 300–500 juta one-time + ongoing managed services Rp 25–50 juta/yr · partner gross Y1 ≈ Rp 1,19 Miliar (43% of total deal). eJourney drops ~3% COGS on partner deals (no CSM/implementation overhead) → eJourney GM ≈ 90%.

C.6 · The 5 mitigations — preventing software-flipper risk

Wholesale economics let partners maximize software margin while under-investing in services. Customer experience erodes, vendor brand suffers. Five non-negotiable mitigations protect against this.

1

Partner certification gate

Standard / Accelerator / Elite tier each require passing a certification exam covering sales · technical · services delivery. No certification = no wholesale access. Renewed annually with updated curriculum reflecting latest product + Indonesian B2B context.

Enforcement · pre-wholesale-access gate

2

Customer NPS visibility

Partner reports customer NPS quarterly to eJourney commercial owner. NPS < 7 across 2 consecutive quarters → tier downgrade or program exit. Customer NPS dashboard visible to commercial owner for all partner-led accounts.

Enforcement · quarterly review

3

Service-level commitment per tier

Each VAD tier commits to minimum service standards in partner agreement:

Standard: response < 24 jam business hours · monthly check-in · implementation within 2 bulan
Accelerator: response < 8 jam · bi-weekly check-in · implementation within 1,5 bulan · QBR included
Elite: response < 4 jam · weekly check-in · implementation within 1 bulan · QBR + on-site visits

Enforcement · contractual SLA

4

Customer escalation path (shadow support)

eJourney maintains a customer-accessible support email (support@ejourney.id) accessible to all customers regardless of channel. If partner support fails, customer can escalate to vendor. Every escalation logged + reviewed with partner; pattern of escalations triggers mitigation 5.

Enforcement · always-on safety valve

5

Annual partner business review

Commercial owner reviews each partner against customer outcomes, not just revenue volume: retention, expansion, NPS, escalation rate, certification freshness. Tier maintenance is outcome-based. Volume-only partners with poor customer outcomes get downgraded regardless of revenue contribution.

Enforcement · annual program review

C.7 · Referral → VAD handover safety rule

Default: single attribution. Split: rare and capped.

Default rule: registered partner gets paid. Referral introduced → Referral keeps 10% (or 15% above Rp 3 M cumulative). VAD does not receive commission on that specific deal. VAD registers other accounts.

If split is needed (Referral introduces + VAD closes):

Referral converts down to 5% one-time finder fee (reduced from 10% since they didn't close)
VAD takes their tier margin at wholesale (Standard 20% / Accelerator 25%)
Elite is NOT allowed on a Referral-handover deal — Elite + Referral stack approaches margin-death line
Combined Y1 commission cap: ≤ 30% (5% Referral + ≤ 25% VAD)
Below 60% net GM after combined → walk

C.8 · Partner enablement — what eJourney provides

To make Layer 2 services partner-deliverable

Train-the-trainer program — partner technical leads certified to deliver implementation. Quarterly cohort sessions in Surabaya / Jakarta.
Implementation runbook — week-by-week implementation methodology · partner-flavor variant available · update cadence quarterly.
Admin training curriculum — slide deck + workbook + practice exercises partner can use to train customer admins.
Technical documentation for partner support team — API docs, integration guides, troubleshooting playbook.
Tier-2 escalation to eJourney engineering when partner support hits product issues — response time tied to partner tier SLA.
Modul kustom marketplace — partner can use eJourney's E-Learning Content Team as sub-contractor (Rp 25–30 jt/modul) OR build modul themselves. Both routes documented + supported.
Sales enablement materials — pitch deck variants for partner co-branding, ROI calculators, objection-handling scripts (pulled from Cell 06), feature-to-outcome cheatsheet (from Cell 04).
Quarterly Partner Cohort Call — product roadmap update, new feature enablement, win/loss patterns shared across partner network.

D

How to use in a call

Three plays — recruiting a partner, running a co-sell, resolving a dispute.

D.1 · Partner recruitment pitch

Lead with the economics flip. "Most learning vendor programs cut your margin in Y2. We don't. Our wholesale model means the spread you earn at year 1 is the same spread you earn at year 5. Partner retention is the result, not the goal."
Show the math. Walk through the Growth-tier example: software wholesale at Elite (Rp 130K × 1.000 × 12 = Rp 1,56 M/yr buy) · sell at retail (Rp 200K × 1.000 × 12 = Rp 2,4 M/yr collect) · margin Rp 840 juta/yr software + your service fees on top. Compared to commission program: Y1 35% = Rp 840 juta but Y2 drops to Rp 360 juta. Wholesale beats commission by Y2.
Address the certification cost upfront. "Certification takes 2 weeks of your team's time and is renewed annually. We invest in your enablement because we need you to deliver. If you can't commit to certification, you're better in the Referral program."
Surface the 5 mitigations. "We protect customer experience aggressively because your brand and our brand share customer feedback. NPS < 7 for 2 quarters → conversation. Volume doesn't protect tier; outcomes do."
Close on territory commitment (for Elite track). "If you commit Rp 15 Miliar/yr, we'll discuss exclusive territory or vertical lock. That's where our biggest distributor relationships sit."

D.2 · Co-sell handoff SOP

Lead registration: partner registers prospect in shared CRM with first-contact date + partner-of-record tag. First registered partner gets 60-day (Referral) or 90-day (VAD) exclusive window.
Discovery: partner runs discovery using shared question bank (from Cell 01 D.1). eJourney sales lead can join on request for strategic deals (> Rp 5 M TCV).
Demo: partner delivers demo using shared deck. Live product walkthrough via eJourney demo environment (partner has dedicated demo account).
Proposal: partner generates proposal using shared template — sticker price unmodified (MSRP protection). Partner adds Layer 2 services pricing as separate proposal block.
Contract: customer signs with partner. Partner separately signs wholesale agreement with eJourney for that customer's software license.
Onboarding: partner delivers implementation per their service commitment. eJourney provides tier-2 escalation for product issues.
QBR + renewal: partner owns. eJourney joins on request. Renewal flows back through partner.

D.3 · Commission dispute resolution path

Step 1 — Operational layer. Partner A claims lead X first; partner B also engaged X. Commercial owner reviews CRM evidence (registration date, first-contact, prior relationship history). Decision within 72 jam.
Step 2 — Appeal. Losing partner can appeal once on factual dispute (e.g., "CRM entry timestamp was wrong because…"). Commercial owner re-reviews with updated evidence. Decision final.
Step 3 — Strategic escalation. If dispute touches partnership architecture (e.g., territorial conflict between Elite partners), escalate to commercial-owner + founder joint decision. Decision in 1 minggu.
Tone discipline. Evidence-based, not political. CRM is source of truth. Decisions documented for future precedent.

E

Ship gate

Six conditions. All cleared in this page.

This page is LOCKED when all six hold

Two-channel model documented — Referral commission · VAD wholesale · single-attribution default — see C.1 + C.7.
Referral threshold + commission base — 10% / 15% above Rp 3 M cumulative · software-only base · forward-applied — see C.2.
VAD tier ladder + wholesale prices — Standard / Accelerator / Elite · wholesale per Cell 04 sticker · MDF +2/+3% · no Y2 step-down — see C.3 + C.5.
Two-layer pricing — Layer 1 software vendor-delivered · Layer 2 services partner-delivered+priced — see C.4.
5 mitigations certification · NPS visibility · service standards · escalation path · annual review — see C.6.
Partner enablement program — train-the-trainer, runbooks, escalation, modul kustom marketplace — see C.8.

Failure mode if shipped before lock Partner expects Y2 step-down (commission default) and proposes commission-model agreement → vendor accepts, locks in low-retention economics. Or partner signs wholesale agreement without certification → software-flipper risk materializes within 2 quarters → customer NPS drops → vendor brand damaged. Or referral and VAD both close same deal without handover rule → commission dispute consumes commercial-owner attention for weeks.

F

Reusable shape for other products

The partner-program structure carries. The economics scale per product.

What stays the same

Two-channel model (Referral + VAD)
Wholesale resale economics for VAD (no Y2 step-down)
Two-layer software + services split
5 mitigations against software-flipper risk
Single-attribution default with cap-on-split rule
Referral commission base = software only
Partner certification gate before wholesale access
Customer NPS visibility + outcome-based tier maintenance
Customer escalation path (shadow support email)
3-step dispute resolution path

What needs rewrite per product

Wholesale margin % per tier (driven by product COGS economics)
Annual quota thresholds for tier-up (different deal sizes per product)
Referral volume threshold (Rp 3 M is eJourney-specific)
Layer 2 services scope (what partner can deliver varies per product complexity)
Train-the-trainer curriculum (product-specific)
Sub-contract sub-services (eJourney has content team marketplace; other products have other sub-services)
Service-level commitments per tier (response time, implementation timeline varies)

Linked pages

Wholesale prices reconcile to Cell 04 Product & Packaging sticker (retail) and Cell 05 Pricing & Margin floors (Direct + partner margin sensitivity) · Handover safety rule pairs with Cell 06 Objections escalation ladder · Co-sell discovery script inherits from Cell 01 ICP & Pain question bank · Partner-attributed deals feed Cell 08 Sales Ops forecast cadence + Cell 09 Handover (partner-led customer loop).

Partner & Channel — wholesale + services, partner happy = we happy