Optimizing Partner Operations to Reduce Manual Work and Improve Payout Visibility

Optimizing Partner Operations to Reduce Manual Work and Improve Payout Visibility

Problem Space: Understanding the Gaps

Problem Space: Understanding the Gaps

What prompted this project?

As Keka planned to double its partner base, the manual processes involved in managing partner data, referrals, and billing created scalability issues. If unresolved, this would lead to delays in payouts, poor partner experience, and internal team burnout.

Core Problems Identified

  • No unified system to track partner-referred tenants.

  • Disconnected systems (Hubspot, OS, Rocketlane) leading to data silos.

  • Partner billing & attribution done manually via Excel.

  • Single billing wallets used by multiple tenants made reconciliation hard.

  • Time-to-pay partners stretched up to 45 days.

Customer Conversations: Extracting Insights

Customer Conversations: Extracting Insights

What we did

Conducted 1:1 calls with sales SPOCs, partner managers, onboarding team members, and finance to trace the partner experience lifecycle.

Key Insights

Identifying Gaps

  • Manual tagging of PMA(Partner managed accounts) in OS

  • No automatic data sync from Hubspot

  • Lack of billing visibility per tenant

  • Delayed partner payouts

  • One billing wallet across tenants → confusion

Swimlane Diagram: Mapping the Process Flow

Swimlane Diagram: Mapping the Process Flow

Solutions

Solutions

Automation Features

  • Manual tagging of PMA(Partner managed accounts) in OS

  • No automatic data sync from Hubspot

  • Lack of billing visibility per tenant

  • Delayed partner payouts

  • One billing wallet across tenants → confusion

Reseller Billing Fixes

  • Separate billing accounts and wallets for each tenant.

  • Show usage + wallet data per customer in partner portal.

  • Split invoice payments per customer, even when done in bulk.

Impact

Impact

✅ Referral payout cycle reduced from 45 days → 15 days.

✅ Manual reconciliation time cut by 60%.

✅ Improved partner satisfaction based on internal NPS survey.

✅ Partner data now synced and traceable in real time.