At Smartsheet, we believe in the importance of working together as a team, leveraging each other's strengths and differences to accomplish our goals. And we see this ideal truly manifested within our Smartsheet Aligned partner program.
Since the launch of the program in 2019, Smartsheet partners have played a critical role in the growth of our business, from extending our sales and marketing reach to expanding our professional services capabilities. In fact, annual bookings led by partners has grown to 59% since launching the program three years ago.
As customer requests for increasingly complex solutions continue to grow, it is imperative that our program evolve and offer enterprise-grade benefits to our partners so they can continue to provide best-in-class service for our customers.
That’s why during the 2022 Global Partner Summit, we announced how channel partners can unlock more through the Smartsheet Aligned program starting in February 2023. The new program structure will recognize and reward over 800 global partners with tailored benefits allowing them to differentiate their value-add and promote the extensive investments they’ve made in Smartsheet.
What does this mean for our partners?
With the new structure, Smartsheet Aligned is significantly more robust and focused on complex solution building than anyone else in the collaborative work management space. Building on this leadership, the new program will provide specialized paths for partners to grow their businesses based on the unique value they provide Smartsheet customers.
Partners can earn tiered benefits based on their partnership, performance, and capabilities, including:
- New custom role-based training and solutions certifications designed specifically for upskilling Smartsheet Aligned partners and their teams.
- Expanded financial discounts and rebates, including differentiated incentives that provide a competitive market advantage and margin opportunity.
- New marketing and demand generation resources to raise awareness of their business and drive net new opportunities at the push of a button.
- Access to world-class technical enablement resources, including pre- and post- sales experts to better support delivery of complex Smartsheet solutions.
As our business grows and evolves, so should our channel program to ensure that our partners and customers continue to receive the greatest value. And, although we can talk about the value these updates will bring, we love to hear directly from our partners the impact they’ve seen.
“Smartsheet’s world-class partner program coupled with the tremendous growth of the CWM market has helped us quickly grow our business over the past four years,” said Sebastian Paasch, Managing Director at AMX. “From the increased visibility with Smartsheet’s customer base to the recognition around our investments in their industry-leading platform, I look forward to building on our partnership in the next phase of the Smartsheet Aligned program.”
What’s next for Smartsheet Aligned?
At our Global Partner Summit, partners will get to preview the new program structure, learn about new products, and network with others from around the world.
“We are excited to see the launch of the new Smartsheet Aligned programme because it will allow us to better support Smartsheet and our customers as we continue to build out our organization,” said Rob Eberstein, Managing Director at Cheetah Transformation. “The opportunities for growth are already there, and the new programme will guide us on how we need to develop and evolve so we can continue to support the triple win. Onwards!”
We’ll also recognize eight partners for their achievements in standout sales and customer excellence. This year’s winners are:
- Americas Partner of the Year, Optimum Consulting, for the strongest growth across the Smartsheet North and South American partner community
- APAC Partner of the Year, Attura, for the strongest growth and capabilities across the Smartsheet APAC partner community
- EMEA Partner of the Year, Cheetah Transformation, for the strongest growth and capabilities across the Smartsheet EMEA partner community
- Channel Hero of the Year, Prodactive Project Solutions, for providing the greatest assistance to other partners in the Smartsheet Channel ecosystem
- Rookie of the Year, Prime Consulting Group, for the strongest growth and capabilities within the first calendar year as a registered Smartsheet partner
- Government Partner of the Year, M2 Strategy, for the strongest annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth across the private and public sector
- Brandfolder Partner of the Year, Getty Images, for the strongest growth and capabilities across the Brandfolder partner community
Additionally, Cheetah Transformation was selected for Solution Spotlight of the Year, which recognizes the partner whose solution created the biggest impact, whose ingenuity best addresses customer needs, and who can most readily scale solutions to other customer accounts.
Continuing to drive innovation, together
As we embark on this next stage of the Smartsheet Aligned program, we know that our success is dependent on those of you who work day in and day out to deliver complex, innovative solutions that solve unique customer challenges. And, we look forward to your ongoing feedback and partnership now and in the future to ensure we continue to hit the mark.