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Event Recap: HubSpot Partner Kickoff 2023
Solving for Connection

Partner Kickoff 2023 was centered around the theme of “solving for connection” as HubSpot launches into the Year of the Connected Customer. This year’s kickoff featured keynotes from CEO Yamini Rangan and VP of the Solutions Partner Program Brian Garvey, who shared a state of the business update along with key program changes that you'll need to understand. Additionally, the kickoff featured 3 tailored breakout sessions across selling, servicing, and the app ecosystem opportunity. Below, get a recap of everything we covered, plus key takeaways from the updates we shared.
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Winning with Focus: Program Changes

Commissions

This year at PKO, we announced big changes to commissions. If you missed it (or want a refresher), here are the basics:

  1. We’re changing the duration of Revenue Share (commissions) for new MRR from customer lifetime to three years
  2. We’re maintaining customer lifetime commission for existing MRR with new managed MRR criteria
  3. We’re changing the criteria for untiered partners in order to maintain program prestige
  4. We’re introducing a new upmarket co-selling commission program for eligible partners
  5. We’re exploring paying for servicing in the future

These changes apply to partners only and will not impact providers.

Below, you can find more details:

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We’re changing the duration of commissions for new MRR from customer lifetime to three years

HubSpot is phasing out the 20% customer lifetime commission benefit for new MRR to better support the business’s goals and ensure that our customers continue to receive the best service possible. This new policy takes effect on April 1, 2023.

For any deals sold on or after April 1, 2023, HubSpot solutions partners will be paid 20% for three years from the sold date of a qualified deal when selling to new customers, cross-selling to existing customers, or upselling from Starter. 

For any deals sold before April 1, 2023, partners will continue to earn 20% commission until 2025, unless they are actively managing the account (see below for more details or visit the Legacy Plan page for more details). 

Note: If a partner joined the program prior to February 21, 2023 and sold deals prior to April 1, 2023, they receive 20% commission on these deals until April 1, 2025. After April 1, 2025, if they continue to manage these customers, they will receive ongoing commissions. If they stop managing, the commission terminates. If a partner joined after February 21, 2023, all deals will be three year commissions

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We’re maintaining customer lifetime commission for existing MRR with new managed MRR criteria

To reward partners who remain engaged with customers, the 20% commission will continue to be paid out beyond three years if the partner is actively managing the account. For these legacy deals, “Active management” is defined using the same criteria as managed MRR credit. In these cases, commission would continue to be paid for as long as the account is managed by the partner and the customer maintains their HubSpot subscription.

However, we are changing managed MRR criteria to better solve for the customer in three key ways:

  1. Starting in January 2023,  we made an improvement to use real-time data, which means there is no longer a lag between your action in a client portal and what counts towards managed MRR.
  2. Starting April 3, 2023, we will remove workflows as a qualifying event from managed credit. Today, a partner can set up a workflow once and every time that workflow triggers, managed credit is granted. That means partners receive indefinite credit on accounts they’re not truly engaged with. Moving forward, this will no longer be possible in order to support active partner and customer engagement.
  3. Starting April 3, 2023, we’re reducing the managed MRR window from 90 days to 60 days. This is intended to prevent customer churn.

To learn more about how managed MRR works, check out this Knowledge Base article written just for partners.

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We’re changing the criteria for untiered partners in order to maintain program prestige

To maintain a high-quality partner program, we’re making a change. Current untiered partners who have been in the program for more than two (2) years will have until July 15, 2023 to tier up to gold; otherwise, they will have the choice to be moved to the provider tier or convert to a customer and their commissions will be affected accordingly. 

Moving forward, untiered partners will have two years from their program start date to get to gold or will lose their partner status, with the option to move to the provider level or exit the program. For more information, visit the 2023 Changes to Untiered Partners Requirements page. Untiered partner looking to achieve gold? Visit the Get to Gold Resource Center. 
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We’re introducing a new co-selling commission for eligible partners: the HubSpot Upmarket Referral Program

Do It For Me (DIFM) is one of the ways partners can collaborate and sell with HubSpot Growth Specialists. We’re introducing the new HubSpot Upmarket Referral Program for qualifying partners on qualifying deals. Effective February 17, 2023, eligible partners and deals will qualify for 10% commission for one year from the date sold. 

Partners who are eligible to participate in this program and receive commission must:

  • Be platinum tier or above
  • Be CRM Implementation Accredited* 
  • Have a Deal Type that is a net new customer with the following criteria:
    • Single hub purchase value of USD $5,000+ OR
    • Multi-hub purchase value of USD $3,000 AND
    • Subscription Service Edition Type: Professional or Enterprise
  • Have a signed Proof of Involvement (POI) from customer
  • Work with a Growth Specialist (GS) and CAM to document partner involvement that helped co-sell the deal

*HubSpot will consider exceptions to the accreditation requirement for partners located and selling in regions where the accreditation is not yet available (Japan, France, Latin America, and Spain).

See the Sales Rules page for full details. Applications for the CRM Implementation Accreditation are now open until March 8, 2023 and partners can expect to hear back by June if they are accredited. The next open application period will not be until August 2023. Apply here. 

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We’re exploring paying for servicing in the future

In the future, we want to reward partners who create value over time with a new potential revenue stream. Right now, we’re gathering additional data for the design of this program, with a goal of testing out an initial concept in 2023 and expanding into a formal pilot in 2024. 

To help guide our work, you can provide feedback by filling out the survey here. Please share your thoughts on whether or not a program like this would be of interest to you.

Acknowledge the Updates to the new HSPPA

Partners must acknowledge the updated HubSpot Solutions Partner Program Agreement by April 1, 2023. You can do this in your HubSpot partner account starting February 21, 2023.

For more details on all of the above, visit the Commissions FAQ page.

Tiers & Benefits

We've got a lot of exciting updates headed your way in 2023. Here’s a quick rundown.

New opportunities for accreditations

Three net-new accreditations will be launching in 2023 – the HubSpot Custom Integration accreditation, the HubSpot Solutions Architecture accreditation, and the HubSpot CRM Migration accreditation. And, applications are open now through March 8, 2023 for the CRM Implementation, Onboarding, and Custom Integration accreditations for platinum+ partners.

Apply here

A facelift for the Solutions Directory

Starting in March, we’ll start testing new layouts of the Solutions Directory to give increased visibility to accredited partners and help users discover the right partner more quickly.

Full launch of the Partner Matching tool

At HubSpot, we have an internal tool that Customer Success Managers (CSMs) and direct reps use to match a customer request to the right partner. After a pilot year, in 2023 we’re launching it in full. All accredited partners are automatically eligible to be recommended by the tool, and non-accredited partners can be recommended if they meet certain criteria.

Improving partner user access management

We know that the current process for accessing your client’s portals isn’t the best experience. That’s why in Q2, the product team will be releasing partner-specific user roles and updated tooling that makes gaining and managing access not only easier but also more secure and customer centric.

Download the updated Tiers & Benefits guide now

Refining Essential Skills: Breakout Sessions

Sales and Marketing Breakout: Leading with Value in a Changed Landscape

In this session, a panel of executives discussed the challenges 2023 will present and HubSpot's strategy for navigating these challenges. Panelists shared core focus areas for the year, and tips and tactics on how partners can address the unique concerns of economic buyers and tech executives by leading with value.

Missed it or want a refresher?

Watch the recording

Services Breakout: Achieving ROI Through Collaboration and Activation

This session covered the fundamental building blocks of our hubs, product activation, excellence in technical servicing and the importance of accreditations for your organization.

Missed it or want a refresher?

Watch the recording

App Breakout: Where’s the Whitespace? Building with HubSpot

This panel featured Scott Brinker (Vice President of Platform Ecosystem) and solutions partners who are also app partners. These partners discussed how they used existing products to be successful in the app marketplace, from product design to GTM motions.

Missed it or want a refresher?

Watch the recording

Pathways to Growth: Enablement and Education

Learn about enablement in 2023

With a new year comes new enablement. Listen in as Devyn Bellamy, Senior Marketing Manager on the partner team, gives an overview of all the enablement programs and resources HubSpot is providing to help you grow in 2023.

Learn more about 2023 sales enablement

Download

Learn more about 2023 servicing enablement

Download

Frequently Asked Questions

Commissions

For more details about the commissions changes, visit the Commissions FAQ page.

Accreditations

HubSpot accreditations are for solutions partner organizations that support the success of HubSpot customers at the highest levels of quality, service, and strategic insight. 

Organizations must demonstrate that they have the expertise, capacity, and practical experience needed to serve customers with complex technical and business needs.

Accreditations are more rigorous than certifications — they have a set of prerequisites and often require practical application, like a role play exercise.

Use the links below to learn more about the new coursework and casework requirements for the accreditations, so you and your team are ready when it’s time to apply.

The reason we require multiple people to hold copies of certification is that it ensures ongoing quality of service that our partners can deliver to the customers in these specific kinds of engagements. It’s also the determination of our subject-matter experts that to meet this standard, partners do need more than a single person performing the kinds of work we reference in the accreditation process to ensure resource capacity.

For instance, when working with upmarket or enterprise-level customers, we would expect to see a team managing their implementation or onboarding processes just to handle the scope and complexity appropriately.

The prerequisite certifications must be met by a group of no more than 5 people on the partner's team. They can mix and match within this group of 5 to meet the total requirements, and it doesn't have to be the same 3 people for all of them. 

For example: Persons 1, 2, and 3 can have the Marketing Hub Implementation certification, persons 3, 4, and 5 can have the Sales Hub Implementation certification, persons 2, 3, and 5 can have the Marketing Hub Software certification, and so on.

All accreditation submissions will only be available in English, but by the end of the year our goal will be to have the HubSpot Onboarding Accreditation (formerly PSO) available in Spanish, German, and French. We also hope to have the CRM Implementation accreditation available in Spanish, German, and French in 2023.

Sales Rules

To see the updated sales rules, especially as they relate to the new commission policy, visit the Sales Rules page.

Onboarding Foundations

For more information, visit the Onboarding Foundations for Partners page.

Onboarding Foundations provides partners with the foundational knowledge for selling and servicing HubSpot, enabling them to deliver remarkable experiences to customers. In addition to the selling and servicing workshops, there are software workshops available for Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub. In these tactical workshops, you’ll learn the following from our trainers:

  • How to pitch HubSpot
  • How to best work with your HubSpot sales and success teams
  • How to identify opportunities and demoing best practices
  • How to onboard new HubSpot customers
  • How to implement quick wins
  • How to use Sales, Marketing and Service Hub

Workshops occur weekly and last 60-90 minutes. A license is required to access these workshops.

There is something for everyone, whether you’re in sales, marketing, service or leadership. It’s also ideal for new partners or anyone on your team who is new to HubSpot, such as new hires. Additionally, Onboarding Foundations is a great place to get fundamental training when looking to learn about Marketing, Sales or Service Hub.

Access costs $350 each, with discounts available for bulk purchases (three or more). By purchasing the Onboarding Foundations course you will get access to the workshop library for 90 days. With 17 workshops available at 60-90 minutes each, this gives partners plenty of time to attend all the workshops. Reach out to your CAM or CC for more information.

Workshops take place at the same day and time every week on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays. They begin at 11AM EST and end at 6PM EST.

Onboarding Foundations is currently offered in English only and in North America timezones.  We will expand our English offering to multiple regions in the future.

Sandler Sales Skills and HubSpot Mastery Training

Tiered partners will have discounted access to the new Sandler Sales training based on HubSpot’s best sales strategies and tactics. Each track is designed to help you scope and present solutions that will resonate better with your prospects and customers while focusing on the skills you want to master.

For sales representatives that want to learn to close more deals, conduct deeper discovery, and engage the right decision-makers early, choose the Sales Skills Track. For experienced sellers looking to sell to enterprise customers, select the Upmarket Sales Track to learn ROI strategies, investment parameters, and common upmarket objections and scenarios. Each track consists of eight 90-minute virtual learning sessions (one per week), ongoing instructor access, support throughout the program, and Sandler Online learning and resources.

Visit this Sandler Sales Skills and HubSpot Mastery Training page to register and for additional information on each sales track.

HubSpot will cover 50% ($550) of the total registration cost of $1,100 for partners with diamond, elite, gold, or platinum tier status. Partners will be responsible for the remaining balance. Please note a limit of three employees per partner company may register. Limited seats are available.

Visit our Sandler Training page to see available dates

This training will only be offered in English but specific Sandler content and resources will be available in other languages. We'll share more details if and when any trainings become available in your language.

If you have any further questions about the information shared at kickoff, please reach out to your CAM or CC. Have a great 2023, and we'll see you at the next event!