Built for channel sales teams

The CRM that handles partner tiers, deal registration, and co-sell without a spreadsheet.

Channel sales work is partner led, deal-registration gated, MDF budget sensitive, and co-sell heavy. Strkr ships a CRM core shaped around partner tiers, deal registration workflow, MDF tracking, co-selling with partner reps, and AI drafting that respects the partner relationship.

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What this audience is actually dealing with

The pains that bring buyers here.

A direct-sales CRM assumes a vendor rep running every deal from first touch to close. Channel sales does not work that way. A deal involves a partner rep, a vendor rep, a deal registration gate, a channel manager approving MDF, and a sometimes thorny attribution conversation at close. The pain points below are what Strkr onboarding hears on every intake call with a channel sales team at a software vendor, hardware OEM, or managed services distributor.

Deal registration chaos

The partner registered the deal, the vendor rep did not see it.

A partner-led deal starts with a registration from the partner to the vendor. The registration gate protects the partner margin, the attribution, and the MDF eligibility. Most CRMs have no formal deal registration workflow, so partners submit through PDF forms, emails, or portal uploads. Strkr ships a deal registration object with partner-rep submission, vendor approval workflow, SLA clock, and automatic attribution linkage to the deal.

Partner tier invisibility

The channel manager cannot see tier progression.

A channel program typically runs three to five partner tiers (authorized, silver, gold, platinum, elite) with revenue thresholds, certification requirements, and MDF allocation. Most CRMs track tier as a text field with no progression logic. Strkr models partner tier as a workflow with revenue roll-up, certification tracking, tier progression alerts, and tier-based benefit configuration.

MDF budget drift

The marketing development funds leak at year-end.

MDF budget allocation across 40 to 180 partners is complex: tier-based entitlement, event co-funding, lead generation campaigns, co-branded content. Most channel teams run this in a spreadsheet and reconcile at year-end. Strkr tracks MDF allocation per partner, approval workflow, proof-of-performance capture, and the real-time budget position so the channel manager sees burn versus plan without a quarterly scramble.

Co-sell visibility between partner and vendor

The partner rep and vendor rep are not on the same page.

A co-sell deal has a partner rep and a vendor rep running two different CRMs with inconsistent stage definitions, inconsistent updates, and inconsistent forecast calls. Strkr ships partner portal access with scoped visibility so the partner rep updates the deal in their familiar surface and the vendor rep sees the real update in the Strkr pipeline. The forecast call stays coherent.

Partner onboarding friction

A new partner takes four months to produce.

Onboarding a new partner means setting up tier, enabling deal registration, authorizing certifications, provisioning MDF, and running the first joint pipeline review. Most channel programs run this on checklists and email. Strkr models partner onboarding as a workflow with stage gates, SLA clocks, and automated certification tracking so a new partner lands first registration in under 30 days instead of 90 to 120.

AI drafting that sounds like a channel manager

A chatbot voice looks careless in a partner relationship.

A partner relationship is a long-cycle revenue motion that depends on tone, timing, and trust. AI drafts that read like a chatbot damage the relationship, trigger escalations, and attract retention risk. Strkr AI tunes voice per channel manager (sampled from their actual outbound email) and holds a professional partner-relationship register across quarterly review drafts, MDF approval notes, deal registration responses, and partner enablement content.

The channel sales schema

Custom objects shaped like partner-led distribution.

The default CRM schema does not map to channel work. Strkr ships a tunable channel schema with Partner, Tier, Deal Registration, Co-Sell Deal, MDF Allocation, and Certification as first-class objects. The channel lead can rename or extend anything. The default lands where most channel programs eventually settle.

Partner object

Tier, revenue, certification, geo, specialization.

A partner in Strkr carries tier, trailing-12-month revenue, certification status, geo coverage, vertical specialization, assigned channel manager, and executive sponsor. The schema drives the view sort, the tier progression alerts, and the AI prompt scope.

Partner tier

The progression that drives benefit configuration.

Partner tier captures threshold revenue, certification requirement, benefit entitlement (MDF percentage, deal registration SLA, named channel manager, co-marketing access), and progression trigger. Strkr ships four default tier models (authorized, silver, gold, platinum) and the admin can add elite or custom tiers.

Deal registration

The protection gate for partner margin.

Deal registration ties to the partner with customer name, deal size, product mix, submission date, and vendor approval status. The registration auto-expires at 60 or 90 days unless advanced. The approval workflow gates the attribution and the MDF eligibility.

Co-sell deal

The joint pipeline with partner and vendor rep.

A co-sell deal ties to a deal registration with partner rep, vendor rep, forecast category, close date, revenue split, and joint next steps. The deal card prints both rep notes and the forecast update from each side so the Monday pipeline call runs on one source of truth.

MDF allocation

The budget object with proof of performance.

MDF allocation ties to the partner with amount, approval workflow, proof-of-performance capture (receipts, event attendance, lead delivery), and reconciliation status. The channel manager runs MDF from the card instead of a quarterly spreadsheet.

Certification

The partner-rep credential that unlocks pricing.

Certification captures per-partner-rep training completion, exam results, specialization credential, and renewal date. The certification drives tier progression and some pricing authority. The AI drafts the certification-renewal reminder cadence.

How Strkr AI accelerates channel sales

AI jobs that compound across a channel team.

A channel team cannot afford to invent the AI prompt library from scratch. Strkr AI ships preconfigured prompts on day one with retrieval scope and model routing already set. The jobs below show up on every channel deployment within the first two weeks. Each saves an estimated 3 to 12 hours per channel manager per week.

Quarterly partner review draft

The QBR deck in 30 minutes.

Strkr AI drafts the quarterly partner review deck with revenue summary, tier progression, deal registration volume, MDF utilization, and the open opportunity list. The channel manager edits one or two slides instead of building 11 from scratch. QBR prep drops from six hours to 30 minutes per partner.

Deal registration response

The approval note in two minutes.

Strkr AI drafts the deal registration approval or clarification note with the context (partner-side history, prior deal pattern, vendor-rep assignment). The channel manager reviews and sends. Registration response time drops from 48 hours to under four hours.

MDF approval

The budget approval with proof requested.

Strkr AI drafts the MDF approval message with the allocation, the proof-of-performance requirement, and the reconciliation timeline. The channel manager edits for voice and sends. The MDF cycle stays clean instead of chased.

Partner enablement content

The battle card tuned per partner tier.

Strkr AI drafts partner enablement content (battle cards, competitive positioning, discovery scripts) tuned per partner tier and specialization. The channel marketing lead reviews, personalizes, and distributes. Content velocity triples for the small enablement team.

Tier progression nudge

The outreach that drives the partner upward.

Strkr AI flags partners sitting 15 to 30 percent below next-tier threshold and drafts the outreach with the gap, the deal pipeline that would close the gap, and the right incentive framing. The channel manager edits and sends. Tier progression velocity doubles across the partner base.

Partner recruitment outreach

The invitation to the channel program.

Strkr AI drafts the partner recruitment outreach with the partner profile (geo, vertical, current competing program), the right value framing (tier benefits, deal registration SLA, MDF access), and the right cadence. The channel manager edits for voice and sends.

The channel pricing math

What Strkr costs a six-channel-manager team.

The pricing math below is for a six-channel-manager team covering 120 partners for a mid-market software vendor. The numbers come from Strkr onboarding intake calls with real channel teams in 2026. The invoice math holds through growth because Strkr prices flat per seat with no partner meter and no AppExchange retainers.

Strkr Starter

$29 per seat per month, 6 seats.

Six seats on Starter run $174 per month. The AI add-on is $49 per workspace with 5,000 Strkr AI calls included. For a channel team drafting QBR decks, deal registration responses, and partner enablement the AI call budget usually lands at 3,500 to 4,500 calls per month. Total month-one invoice for a six-channel-manager team on Starter with AI add-on is roughly $223.

Strkr Pro

$59 per seat per month, 6 seats.

Six seats on Pro run $354 per month. Pro adds the forecast module for co-sell pipeline projection, the advanced report builder for channel-cockpit dashboards, the custom object graph for tier structure, and extended audit retention. Most channel teams move to Pro at month three.

Strkr Scale

$119 per seat per month, 6 seats.

Six seats on Scale run $714 per month. Scale adds SAML and OIDC single sign-on through Clerk, verified domain capture, HIPAA BAA on request, and the extended compliance posture. Scale lands when enterprise partners demand SSO or when the channel operates across regulated verticals.

Salesforce PRM

Floor $25 per partner-user plus implementation.

Salesforce PRM runs about $25 per partner-user per month plus the Salesforce Enterprise seats at $150 for the channel team. Implementation runs $42,000 to $120,000. For a 120-partner program with 300 partner users plus six channel managers the monthly invoice lands around $9,400 plus the amortized implementation.

Impartner or Zift Solutions

Floor $45,000 per year plus setup.

Impartner runs about $45,000 to $120,000 per year depending on partner count with a $15,000 to $42,000 implementation. Zift Solutions runs in a similar range. For a 120-partner program the annual invoice typically lands at $65,000 to $160,000.

The 12-month total cost

What a channel team actually spends.

Across 12 months a six-channel-manager team on Strkr spends roughly $2,700 to $9,000 depending on tier upgrades. The same team on Salesforce PRM typically spends $155,000 to $220,000 including partner-user seats. On Impartner the number lands at $65,000 to $160,000. The compound effect of flat pricing is real at channel scale, and the partner portal access ships without a per-partner-user charge.

Head-to-head

Strkr vs typical channel sales CRM stacks.

The comparison below is Strkr for a six-channel-manager team covering 120 partners versus the two most common alternatives at the 12-month invoice mark.

Feature Strkr Salesforce PRM or Impartner for a 120-partner program
Month-one invoice About $223 with AI add-on. $9,400 to $12,000 plus implementation.
12-month total $2,700 to $9,000 all-in. $65,000 to $220,000.
Per-partner-user charge None (partner portal access included). $25 to $45 per partner-user.
Deal registration workflow First-class object with SLA clock. PRM module typical.
MDF budget tracking Day one with proof-of-performance. Separate PRM module.
AI prompts for channel manager voice Six on day one. Generic chatbot or none.
Setup time to first registration approved Six business days with the wizard. Six to 16 weeks with a partner.
Tier progression tracking Automated with alerts. Admin configuration cycle.
SSO and verified domains Scale tier $119 per seat. Enterprise tier only.
Implementation partner retainer None. $15,000 to $120,000 typical.
How teams use Strkr

Five channel sales playbooks.

The playbooks below are patterns Strkr onboarding sees on channel deployments across sizes. Each pattern is a real customer motion from the 2026 cohort.

Pattern A

The two-channel-manager early-stage program.

A two-channel-manager team at a Series B software vendor managed 32 reseller partners through a Google Sheet and a shared Slack channel. Deal registration ran through email with no formal gate. Strkr onboarding ran a five-business-day setup with the deal registration workflow, the partner tier structure, and the QBR AI drafting as day-one deliverables. The team closed its first six-figure channel deal with the registration audit trail intact in month two.

Pattern B

The six-channel-manager mid-market program.

A six-channel-manager team at a mid-market SaaS vendor ran Salesforce PRM at $11,200 per month with $62,000 annual implementation renewal. The team wanted to consolidate direct and channel pipeline in one tool. Strkr onboarding ran an 18-business-day migration with 120 partners, deal registration history, MDF ledger, and tier structure. Monthly spend dropped from $11,200 to $720 and the implementation retainer went to zero.

Pattern C

The four-channel-manager hardware OEM program.

A four-channel-manager team at a hardware OEM managed 80 reseller and distributor partners with a volume-based tier structure (silver at $500K, gold at $1.5M, platinum at $4M trailing 12 months). The team needed automated tier progression with monthly roll-up. Strkr onboarding configured the tier object, the revenue roll-up, and the automated tier-change notification in nine business days. The channel manager stopped manually recalculating tiers quarterly.

Pattern D

The eight-channel-manager MSP distribution program.

An eight-channel-manager team at an MSP distribution business managed 180 reseller partners with co-sell on enterprise deals. The team needed partner portal visibility and co-sell deal management. Strkr onboarding ran a 14-business-day setup with the partner portal access, the co-sell deal workflow, and the MDF budget. Monthly spend lands at $392 total with Pro tier plus AI add-on.

Pattern E

The 24-channel-manager global program.

A 24-channel-manager team at a global software vendor managed 480 partners across six regions with region-specific MDF budgets and tier structures. The team needed role-based visibility (regional channel manager sees only their region, global head sees all regions) and SSO integration. Strkr onboarding ran a 32-business-day deployment with the regional segmentation, the SSO via Clerk, and the HIPAA BAA for healthcare partners. Monthly spend lands at $2,856 across 24 seats on Scale with AI add-on.

Run the channel without a per-partner-user charge.

Book a 30 minute call. We will walk through the deal registration workflow, the partner tier structure, the MDF tracking, and the pricing math with your partner count and channel team size.

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Common questions

What buyers in this bucket ask most.

Can a channel team use Strkr instead of Salesforce PRM or Impartner?

Yes for most teams. Strkr covers the partner tier, the deal registration workflow, the MDF tracking, the co-sell deal management, and the AI drafting in a single workspace with partner portal access included at no per-user charge. The gap versus Salesforce PRM is the deep integration with the Salesforce direct-sales object graph, which Strkr covers through its REST API with bidirectional sync. For teams running the direct motion on Salesforce and preferring not to migrate the direct side yet, Strkr can run as the PRM layer with bidirectional sync to Salesforce.

How does Strkr handle deal registration?

Strkr models deal registration as a first-class object with partner-rep submission, vendor approval workflow, SLA clock, and automatic linkage to the co-sell deal on approval. The registration gates the attribution and the MDF eligibility. Default SLA is 48 hours to vendor response, 60-day registration expiry unless advanced to active deal. The channel manager runs registrations from a dedicated queue view with the AI-drafted response ready for edit.

Does Strkr include partner portal access without a per-user charge?

Yes. Partner portal access is included in all tiers with scoped visibility (deal registration, co-sell deals, MDF allocation, certification status, partner enablement content). The partner rep sees only their own partner data. There is no per-partner-user charge, which is the key economic difference versus Salesforce PRM and Impartner where partner-user seats are $25 to $45 each per month. A program with 300 partner users saves $7,500 to $13,500 per month before any direct seat comparison.

How does Strkr handle MDF budget tracking?

Strkr tracks MDF allocation per partner with amount, approval workflow, proof-of-performance capture (receipts, event attendance, lead delivery), and reconciliation status. The channel manager sees real-time budget burn versus plan, auto-expiration of unused allocation, and the quarterly reconciliation workflow. The AI drafts the MDF approval and the proof-request message.

What compliance posture does Strkr ship with for channel programs serving regulated verticals?

Strkr is HIPAA compliant with a BAA available on request. SOC 2 Type II is in progress with a 2026-Q4 target. GDPR and CCPA posture is live today. SAML and OIDC single sign-on through Clerk ships on the Scale tier. MFA with TOTP and text-based verification is live across all tiers. Verified domains land at Scale. The compliance posture meets the common partner security review checklist.

How does Strkr pricing stay flat as the channel adds partners?

Flat per seat at $29 Starter, $59 Pro, $119 Scale per channel-manager seat per month. The AI add-on is $49 per workspace per month with 5,000 Strkr AI calls included and $0.012 per call over the floor. Partner portal access is included at no additional charge. There is no partner meter, no deal registration surcharge, and no AppExchange add-on. A program with 480 partners pays the same per channel-manager seat as one with 20.

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