Co-Sell or Die: Why Channel GTM Needs to Start with Revenue, Not Relationships
In today’s B2B SaaS world, channel partner programs often get sold internally as strategic growth levers. But too often, they become anything but.
We see it all the time — a company launches a new partner program with excitement, builds a portal, throws together some enablement docs, signs a few logos… and then waits.
And waits.
And waits.
Fast forward six months, and the questions start coming:
“Why aren’t our partners producing revenue?”
“Are they even engaged?”
“How do we know who’s doing what?”
The answer is usually the same: you built a relationship program when you needed a revenue engine.
Let’s talk about why co-selling should be the beating heart of your channel GTM — and what happens when it’s not.
The Problem: Channel Programs Built on Hope, Not Pipeline
Many partner motions start with a focus on relationships. And while alignment and trust are critical, they’re not enough.
The “relationship-first” model often looks like this:
You recruit partners without clear segmentation or an Ideal Partner Profile (IPP)
You hand over access to your portal, your pitch deck, and maybe some old webinar recordings
You check in every quarter hoping something has moved
Meanwhile, your team’s stuck managing a sea of “partners” — many of whom have never generated a lead, let alone closed revenue.
Here’s the cold reality: If fewer than 20% of your partners are actively generating revenue, you don’t have a channel — you have a distraction.
The Fix: Lead With Co-Selling
Co-selling flips the channel model on its head.
It starts with joint revenue targets, account-based engagement, and operational execution. It assumes from day one that the goal is pipeline — not just partnership.
What real co-selling looks like:
Joint Account Planning: Mapping your ICPs to theirs, identifying overlaps, and aligning on targets
Co-Branded Campaigns: Executing outbound and inbound plays together with coordinated messaging
Live Deal Support: Shared CRM visibility, AE/SE pairing, deal registration, and collaborative closing motions
Mutual Enablement: Training both sides — not just throwing content over the fence
Attribution Dashboards: Visibility into sourced, influenced, and closed revenue
No more fluff. No more guessing. Just structured plays that drive results.
What Happens When You Get It Right
We’ve helped SaaS companies transform their channel programs using this exact model.
Here’s what happens:
✅ Partner Sourced Revenue Grows Fast — One client saw 203% growth in just 6 months
✅ Time to Revenue Shrinks — Activation drops from 90+ days to under 30
✅ Sales Teams Re-Engage — AEs and SEs start treating partners like part of the team
✅ Fewer, Better Partners — You double down on the partners who deliver, and respectfully cut the rest
✅ Leadership Trusts the Channel Again — Because the numbers speak for themselves
How We Help: Channel Catalyst
SaaSili’s Channel Catalyst program was designed for exactly this purpose: to help SaaS companies stop the bleeding and start building real revenue through partners.
We break it down into three fast-moving phases, using our proven SCALE® framework:
1. Sense & Classify
Diagnose what’s working, what’s not
Analyze your partner landscape and segmentation
Interview PAMs, partners, and sales to uncover friction
2. Adapt & Learn
Redesign onboarding and activation journeys
Refresh your IPP and value proposition
Build co-sell and co-marketing playbooks that actually get used
3. Execute
Run live co-sell and demand gen campaigns
Launch partner engagement cadences and playbooks
Roll out dashboards for performance and attribution
All of this is done with your team, not just handed off in a slide deck.
Oh — and we keep the risk low: $1K/month for 3 months. Fixed fee. Full throttle.
Revenue Is the Real Language
Your partner program doesn’t need more content.
It needs campaigns. Conversations. Co-selling.
Because in a tough SaaS market, relationships don’t pay the bills — pipeline does.
If your channel GTM isn’t driving revenue, it’s time to fix it.
