If you’re running a partner program and keep getting asked, “So, how much revenue do partners actually influence?” — this guide is for you. Measuring partner-influenced revenue is one of those things that sounds simple until you try it. The good news: tools like Reveal promise to help. The bad news: it’s easy to drown in dashboards if you don’t set things up right.
Here’s how to cut through the noise and get real numbers you can trust—without turning your revenue team into part-time data miners.
What is “Partner Influenced Revenue,” Anyway?
Before you even open up Reveal, let’s get clear on what you’re actually measuring. “Partner influenced revenue” usually means: any closed deal where a partner played a role—maybe they made an intro, shared intel, or helped unstick a stalled account.
But here’s the catch: every company defines “influence” differently. Some count any partner touchpoint, others only count if a partner sourced the lead. If you want your numbers to mean anything, pick a definition and stick with it. Don’t let your marketing deck drift into fantasy territory.
Pro tip: Write down your “influence” criteria. Share it with your sales and partner teams. If people can’t agree, you’re not ready to measure yet.
Step 1: Get Your Data House in Order
You can’t measure what you can’t see. Before Reveal can tell you anything useful, you need clean, connected data.
Here’s what actually matters:
- CRM Integration: Make sure Reveal can talk to your CRM (like Salesforce or HubSpot). If your CRM is a mess, Reveal won’t work magic.
- Partner Lists: You need a clear, up-to-date list of your partners and their key contacts.
- Account Mapping: Reveal works by matching your customer list with your partners’ lists. Garbage in, garbage out. Double-check your account names and domains.
What to skip: Don’t waste time syncing every last CRM field or trying to backfill years of old partner touches. Start with this quarter’s data and work forward.
Step 2: Connect Reveal to Your CRM
Alright, now it’s time to actually use Reveal. Once your data is ready, connecting Reveal to your CRM is usually pretty painless.
- Log into Reveal and follow their CRM integration guide. For most, it’s OAuth and a few permission clicks.
- Map your CRM fields to Reveal’s system. Focus on account name, email domain, stage, and revenue/amount.
- Set up automatic syncing so you’re not stuck with stale data.
Heads up: If your CRM is full of duplicates, Reveal will surface them—and that’s your problem to fix, not theirs.
Step 3: Map Accounts with Your Partners
This is Reveal’s core trick: it matches your accounts with your partners’ accounts to find overlaps and opportunities.
- Invite partners to Reveal (they’ll need to connect their own data).
- Use the account mapping feature. Reveal will show you:
- Which prospects you both care about
- Where your partners already have contacts, deals, or intel
Don’t obsess about 100% coverage. Even partial overlap is enough to spot real influence. The goal is to start tracking—not to build a perfect map of the universe.
Step 4: Define and Track “Influence” Events
This is where most teams get tripped up. Just because there’s overlap doesn’t mean there’s influence. You need to log actual partner activity tied to deals.
- Set up simple tracking in your CRM or Reveal for things like:
- Partner intro calls
- Shared notes or insights
- Co-selling activities
- Agree with Sales on what counts as valid “influence.” Document it.
In Reveal, you can tag or note these events. If your team won’t actually use these fields, the data will be useless. Make it as easy as possible—checkboxes beat essay fields.
What doesn’t work: Trying to track every micro-interaction. You’ll create a data swamp. Stick to clear, high-value actions.
Step 5: Use Reveal Analytics to Attribute Revenue
Now you’re ready to see who’s actually moving the needle.
- Go to Reveal’s analytics dashboards.
- Filter for deals closed in your timeframe.
- Use filters/tags to see which deals had partner influence (based on your definition from earlier).
- Sum up the revenue from those deals. That’s your “partner influenced revenue.”
Don’t get fancy—yet. Start with simple reports: total influenced revenue, number of deals, top influencing partners. Save the deep dives for quarterly reviews.
Watch out for: - Double-counting: If two partners touch the same deal, decide how you’ll split credit. - Attribution inflation: Don’t count every deal where a partner just happened to be copied on an email.
Step 6: Report (Honestly) and Iterate
You’ve got your numbers. Now what? Share them—but don’t oversell. Early on, influenced revenue will look small. That’s normal.
- Give context: “Here’s what we’re counting, here’s what we’re not.”
- Highlight trends, not just totals. Are more deals seeing influence? Are certain partners more valuable?
- Gather feedback from Sales and Partners. Is the data accurate? Are you missing influence that isn’t logged?
If execs push for bigger numbers, remind them: It’s better to undercount real influence than to pad the stats.
What’s Actually Useful (And What’s Not)
Useful: - Tracking clear, agreed-upon influence events - Focusing on active partners (not every logo on your slide deck) - Keeping reporting simple and repeatable
Not useful: - Chasing perfect attribution (it doesn’t exist) - Counting “influence” where nothing tangible happened - Overcomplicating dashboards to impress leadership
Cynical reality check: Partner-influenced revenue is always fuzzier than direct sales. The goal is directionally accurate, not mathematically perfect.
Quick Troubleshooting: Common Reveal Analytics Headaches
- Data mismatches? Check your CRM sync and naming conventions.
- Partners not connecting? Make it a two-way street—share your own data first.
- Sales ignoring the process? Tie influence tracking to incentives if you want compliance.
Keep It Simple, Keep It Honest
If you take one thing from this: don’t overthink it. Start tracking influence with the data you have, improve your process over time, and focus on what’s actually moving deals forward. Tools like Reveal can help, but only if you’re clear about what you’re measuring.
Iterate. Keep your definitions honest. And when in doubt, trust the boring numbers over the flashy charts. That’s what actually helps you prove real partner impact.