Introduction to partner training

Who is this for? This article will be useful to you if you are a company on PartnerStack looking to enable your partners through training.

What is partner training?

Through our integrated LMS (Learning Management Software) platform you can easily create and assign training content to your partners. Training enables your partners to best represent and sell your brand. 

Partner training is enabled depending on your plan. If you are currently not using training for your partners contact your Customer Success Manager for more information.

Partner training enables you to:

• Assign training courses and learning paths to groups of partners through PartnerStack
• Automatically move partners between groups based on course or learning path completion
• Create optional or required mixed media partner training and certification
• Issue commissions to partners with completion certificates
• Provide comprehensive, in-app reporting on which partners have completed their training and when along with progress percentages

Partner training not only decreases the time it takes for channel partners to become productive, but it also enables them to earn more! Partners that have taken a certification course earn up to 6x more. 

Once you have training enabled on your plan you can use the resources below to get up and running. Let's get learning!

Partner training glossary

Where is training hosted?

PartnerStack uses SAP Litmos LMS for our partner training feature. Once you have training enabled, you can access Litmos by:

1. Logging into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Launch the training center" 
4. This will open the PartnerStack Litmos dashboard in a new window

How to create a course

Once you’re logged into Litmos it’s time to start creating content! You’ll want to start by creating a course, adding modules to your course, and eventually creating overall learning paths. 

Courses are made up of modules. There's no limit to the number of courses or how much space you can use, however, there is a limit of 60 modules per course. If you require more than 60 modules for your course, we recommend that you group them into courses and put those courses in a learning path.

1. Log into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Launch the Training Center"
4. In the top menu bar select "Content" and click "Create a course" 
5. Enter the course name and description
6. Save any changes and start adding modules!

Be explicit with course titles. Course titles are visible within the partner dashboard but descriptions aren't visible until your partner launches the course. The clearer the title, the easier the partner can understand the course content.

How to create modules

Modules are the various types of content that can be created or uploaded into a course. A partner's course status is considered complete when every module in the course is complete. Each module type is responsible for providing just one type of content.

To create a module:

1. Log into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Launch the Training Center"
4. In the top menu bar select "Content" and click "Create a module" 
5. Upload a file, or click the "Create" tab to create a new module

Creating a module using Content Author:

1. Log into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Launch the Training Center"
4. In the top menu bar select "Content" and click "Create a module" 
5. Select “Create” and click “Content Author”

Note: Content Author is a powerful tool that enables you to quickly and easily create dynamic modules and courses. If you do not have Content Author enabled, reach out to your Customer Support Manager.

How to add a module to a course

To build out your course with modules, you can either add existing modules to a course or create a new module in the course.

Adding a pre-existing module

1. Log into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Launch the Training Center" and click on “Content”
4. Create a new course or search for an existing course
5. Click into the course and select the blue “Add Modules” button in the top-right
6. Select “Browse” in the tabs along the top and locate your desired module
7. Click your desired module(s) and click “Add Modules” to add them to your course
8. Select “Copy” or “Link” in the pop-up window that appears

“Copy” modules to duplicate the module into this course. “Link” modules to create a reference to an existing module. Updating either will reflect changes in the other. Reporting is consolidated across courses.

Adding a new module

1. Log into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Launch the Training Center" and click on “Content”
4. Create a new course or search for an existing course
5. Click into the course and select the blue “Add Modules” button in the top-right
6. Select “Create” to start creating a new module
7. Follow the steps to create a new module

How to create a learning path

Learning paths can be used to organize courses and create prerequisites for your partners. Learning paths guide partners seamlessly from one course to the next. Learning paths can contain a maximum of 50 courses.

1. Log into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Launch the Training Center"
4. In the top menu bar select "Content" 
5. Under "Quick actions" select "Create a Learning Path"
6. Add a Name and Description, apply any desired settings and click "Save"
7. Once your learning path has been created you can add courses by clicking "Add Courses" > Selecting your desired courses and clicking "Add"

To change the order of the courses in a learning path select "Reorder courses" above the list of courses. Drag and drop the courses in the desired order. When done, select "Done reordering Courses".

Courses in a learning path can be marked as optional. If a course is marked as optional, it will not count toward the completion status for that learning path.

How to add courses to learning paths

Courses must be created before they can be added to a learning path. Once you have created and filled out your course, you can add pre-existing courses to a learning path by:

1. Log into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Launch the Training Center" and click on “Content”
4. Create a new learning path or search for an existing learning path
5. Click into the learning path and select the blue “Add Courses” button in the top-right
6. Select “Browse” in the tabs along the top and locate your desired course
7. Click your desired courses(s) and click “Add Courses” to add them to your learning path

Assigning training content to your partners

Once you have built out your course or learning path, it’s time to assign them to your partners and let the learning begin!

To create a new course, you will need to create a "mapping" within PartnerStack and assign the courses to those mappings (called teams) within Litmos.

To create a course for a specific group(s) of partners:

1. Log into your PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click the "Training" tab in your left-hand menu
3. Click "Create a new mapping"
4. Enter a desired training program name (this can be anything)
5. Select the group(s) you wish to apply the training to, and click "Add"
6. Select "Save mapping"

Creating a new mapping in PartnerStack creates a team in Litmos. This means that after the mapping is created in PartnerStack, you will need to assign courses to the team within Litmos.

To give partners access to the course:

1. In the training center click Teams
2. Search for and select the team you would like to assign a course to
   1. Your team will have the same name as your mapping
3. Click on the team's "Courses" tab and on the right click "Assign courses to {team name}"
4. Search for and select your desired course(s) and click "Assign"
5. When a course is assigned to your team, your partners will be given access to the course through the "Training" tab in their partner dashboard

To give partners access to a Learning Path:

1. In the training center click Teams
2. Search for and select the team you would like to assign a course to
   1. Your team will have the same name as your mapping
3. Click on the team's "Learning Paths" tab and on the right click "Assign Learning Path to {team name}"
4. Search for and select your desired Learning Path(s) and click "Assign"
5. When a learning path is assigned to your team, your partners will be given access to the courses through the "Training" tab in their partner dashboard

Note: The first time that partners click into their Training tab they will be SSO'd into Litmos and have access to the course. The second time partners click into their Training tab they will see what courses they have access to and their % completion. They can click these courses in the list to be brought directly to them in Litmos.

Best practices for getting started

Just getting started with partner training? Try starting with courses aimed at onboarding new partners, rather than building a full training program all at once. The goal of partner onboarding is to give your partners the essential knowledge they need to start marketing and selling your product. 

When building new content consider:

• Your audience: who is the partner who will be taking your training?
• What is in it for your partner: highlight what your partner will get out of taking your training and how it will help them succeed.
• Your key objectives: what demonstrable skill or knowledge do you want your partner to walk away with after completing your training?

For more tips and tricks on getting started check out our Partner training best practices support guide.

Partner training questions

Partner can't launch their training dashboard

If a partner is having difficulty launching their training dashboard have them reach out to PartnerStack support at support@partnerstack.com or through their in-app technical chatbot and we'd be happy to help them directly.

Partner can't open a specific course

If a partner can't open a training course, check to see if they have completed any prerequisite courses. If they have completed all required prerequisite courses, have them reach out to PartnerStack support.

The partner team member's certificate name is incorrect

Partner team members are initially created in Litmos under their team owner's name. This is because the overall partnership is owned by the team owner, and associated with their account. Partner team members can update their Litmos dashboard name in their training settings by following the steps below. This change will not impact their partner team owner or any of their team members. 

A partner can update their name in their training dashboard by following the steps below:

1. Log into the PartnerStack dashboard here
2. Click into your training tab and launch the Litmos dashboard by clicking on any course
3. In Litmos, click on your team owner's initials in the top right-hand corner, and click "My Profile & Settings"
4. Click the pencil icon in your "Personal Information" section
5. Update your first and last name and click "Save"
6. Download course certificate

If the team member has any difficulty or additional questions, have them reach out to support@partnerstack.com.

Additional training resources

For more information on SAP Litmos see their Help Portal here.

For additional help, reach out to your Success Manager, or our support team at support@partnerstack.com, and we'd be happy to help!