Scale Your SaaS Company Beyond 10k MRR

About this video

Dan Martell coaches Robert Ducharme, CEO of routezilla.com, which he says helps home service providers never lose a lead because of poor scheduling. Robert says the idea began in 2012, and the business is just over 10k MRR, with customers including Tesla and providers in 70 different countries, a team of about 10, recent funding raised in the fall, and average customer value of about $250 a month. His question is what commission to pay three partner types — solution, referral and affiliate partners — including a solution partner that wants a lifetime percentage for reselling Routezilla to national brands. Martell frames typical commissions as 10% to 40%: 10% when a partner merely sends leads and you do the heavy lifting, around 30% as a fair default, and 50-60% only for a ’lighthouse’ name-brand partner whose association helps close many others. He suggests tiered structures (e.g. first year at 30%, later years lower), and volume accelerators — for example 20% on the first 10 customers a month and 30-40% above that — so reward follows action. On lifetime fears, he argues terms of service normally preserve the ability to change pricing, commissions get renegotiated as models mature (his first sales hire made $380,000 in a year on about three and a half million in net new sales, on terms he warned would not stay that rich), and deals can usually be unwound for investors or an exit, subject to legal advice. His negotiation rule: ask the other side what they are thinking first, and set minimum commitments before granting a higher percentage.

Key takeaways

• Benchmark partner commissions at 10%-40%: about 10% for partners who only send leads, about 30% as Martell’s fair default, and 50-60% only for lighthouse partners whose name attracts many others.
• Use tiers and accelerators instead of a flat lifetime rate — e.g. 20% up to 10 customers a month, 30-40% above that, or declining percentages after the first year — so reward follows actual volume.
• Do not fear lifetime terms excessively: Martell says pricing-change rights in your terms, checked with your legal team, usually let you adjust or unwind deals for investors or an acquisition.
• Negotiation 101: ask the partner what percentage and volume they have in mind before naming your number, and trade a higher percentage only for a minimum volume commitment.
• Be transparent with early partners that the programme is new and co-created; Robert’s own takeaway was to prioritise profitability today and flexibility tomorrow over fear of obligations decades out.

Episode details: published July 25, 2022 · 15:31 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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