What sets a partner’s share, and what happens to it after year one

In September we set out the four partner tracks and why no margin percentage appears on a public page. Those posts left one thing unanswered, which is how the private number gets set and what stops it being made up on the day.

That is now written down. The partner policy, published on the site of Tech Style, the company behind Rutba, covers how partners are appointed, rewarded and paid. This is a walk through it for somebody deciding whether to apply. The policy is the document that counts, and your own rate is always the one in your written agreement.

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The partner policy, section by section. It shows no rates.

Individuals can partner as well as companies

An agent, a consultant, a journalist or a freelancer selling on their own account can partner with us. What changes is which tracks are open and who holds the contract with the customer.

An individual who forms or joins a business can apply for an organisation track and keep the deals they have registered.

Three things set the share

Each of these is scored when you sign and reviewed every six months.

1. What you put in before you earn. Nothing, certified people on your team, a prepaid licence commitment, or a guaranteed annual minimum.
2. What you keep doing for the customer. The introduction only, running the sale, first-line support and account management, or implementation and training.
3. What you delivered against what you promised. Deliver the target you agreed and you move up a band at review. Miss it twice in a row and you move down one.

Your band sets your rate on each track. Training and certification are free, and certifying your people counts as an upfront commitment because of the time it takes before you earn anything.

What happens after year one

A customer’s first year is new business, paid at your full rate. After that it depends on who owns the renewal and on the work you keep doing.

• Reseller, implementation and distributor. You own the renewal, so your discount applies to each renewal you invoice and support, for as long as you keep doing so.
• Referral. After year one your share of an account falls each year until it reaches zero, unless you keep working the account.
• Account care. Any referral partner can take on a quarterly check-in with the customer and handle their first questions, both logged with the partner team. While that continues and the customer pays, the account earns a flat account-care rate instead of the falling share. Stop the work and the account goes back to the falling share, from the year it has reached.
• A new line on an old account. It counts as new business for a set period after its first sale, then follows the same pattern.

The falling share is the part a referrer should read twice. An introduction is paid in full in its first year and less each year after, and looking after the account is how a referrer keeps earning from it.

Exclusivity has to be earned

It is open only on the Invested band, by country and by line, for a fixed term that renews against your guaranteed minimum. If a minimum is missed there is a review, then a conversation, then the territory becomes non-exclusive, with written notice at each step. Individuals are never exclusive.

Registration, payment and cost

• Registering a deal protects it for a fixed period, which you can renew once by showing activity such as a meeting, a demo or a proposal. The first valid registration wins. Existing customers, accounts already in our direct pipeline and public tenders we are already bidding on cannot be registered, and you are told which before you sign.
• Fees are worked out on net revenue, meaning what the customer was invoiced and paid, after tax and refunds. A fee is earned when the customer pays us, and it is returned if the customer is refunded within the clawback period.
• You get a statement each month. We pay in GBP or USD, to a bank account in your own name or your company’s. A balance under the minimum payout rolls over to the next statement.
• Joining costs nothing, on any track or band, and there is no stock to carry. Anything you commit up front is optional and only buys a higher band.

What stays private

The rates by track and band, the renewal shares, the account-care rate and the payment figures are confidential. Partners and serious applicants can ask to see them, and once the partner team approves, we email a private link that stays valid for 30 days.

The policy also tells customers plainly that partners who introduce or resell our products are paid by us for that work.

We are appointing in eleven territories. Of the twenty-three products a partner can carry, twelve are generally available today, eight are in early access and three are coming soon, and the partners site marks which is which.