The partner policy
How we appoint, reward and pay the partners who sell our products and services: Rutba Suite, Rutba Vision, our other products and our services. One policy covers this site and partners.rutba.io. The rates themselves are set in writing before you introduce anyone, and partners can ask to see them below.
- Who
- Individuals and organisations
- Bands
- Registered, Committed, Invested
- To join
- Nothing to pay, nothing to stock
- Your rate
- In writing, before your first introduction
The Rutba partner policy, in plain terms
The partner policy, section by section: who can partner, how a share is set, renewals, deal registration, payment, and how to ask for the partner terms.
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Individuals and organisations
Both can partner with us. What differs is which tracks are open, whether exclusivity is possible and who holds the contract with the customer.
| Individual | Organisation | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | A person selling on their own account: an agent, consultant, journalist or freelancer | A registered business, with someone who can sign for it |
| Tracks open | Referral | Referral, reseller, implementation and country distributor |
| Exclusivity | Never | Earned, with an upfront commitment or a guaranteed minimum (see the tracks) |
| Contract and invoice | We contract with the customer and invoice them | On referral, we do. As a reseller or distributor, you do |
| Targets | Yes, agreed with you in writing before your first introduction, and reviewed every six months | Yes, agreed with you in writing before your first introduction, reviewed every six months, and guaranteed on the exclusive tiers |
| Moving up | If you form or join a business, you can apply for an organisation track and keep the deals you have registered | You move between tracks by agreement |
What each track asks of you
The same four tracks as on the partner programme. Each one pays in its own way, and your band sets the rate.
| Track | The work | How you earn | What we ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referral | You introduce and qualify the opportunity. We sell, contract, deliver and support | A referral fee on net revenue from the deals you introduce, for as long as your agreement sets | A real introduction, to a named person expecting our call. Nothing to join and nothing to stock. Any target is agreed with you in writing before your first introduction |
| Reseller | You sell, quote, invoice and own the customer. We license the software and give second-line support | A discount off list: you set your own price and keep the difference | An agreed annual target, set with you rather than handed to you. At least one person trained and certified on the lines you sell. Your deals registered, so we can protect them |
| Implementation | You sell, then configure, migrate, integrate and train. We license the software and back you technically | A discount on licences, plus all of your own services revenue | At least two certified people on your team before you deliver unsupervised |
| Country distributor | You run the territory, appoint sub-partners, and bill and support locally. We license, engineer, escalate and protect the territory | Distributor pricing, plus an agreed margin on your sub-partners | A territory plan and an agreed target, written together before exclusivity is granted |
What keeps you earning after year 1
A customer's first year is new business, paid at your full rate. After that, it depends on who owns the renewal and on the work you keep doing.
Reseller, implementation and distributor
You own the renewal, so your discount applies to each renewal you invoice and support, for as long as you keep doing so.
Referral
After year 1, your share of an account falls each year until it reaches zero, unless you keep working the account.
Account care
Any referral partner, individual or organisation, can take on account care: a quarterly check-in with the customer and their first questions handled by you, both logged with the partner team. While that work continues and the customer pays, the account earns a flat account-care rate instead of the falling share. Stop the care work and the account goes back to the falling share, from the year it has reached.
New lines on an old account
When an account you introduced buys a new line, that line counts as new business for a set period after its first sale, then follows the same pattern.
The yearly shares, the account-care rate and the period for new lines are in the partner terms.
Your opportunity stays yours
- Registering an opportunity protects it for a fixed period, which you can renew once by showing activity: a meeting, a demo or a proposal. The first valid registration wins.
- Some accounts cannot be registered, and you are told which before you sign: existing customers, accounts already in our direct pipeline, and public tenders we are already bidding on.
- We never go around a partner to a customer they registered, and we never pitch beyond what you introduced without telling you.
When fees are earned and paid
- Fees and discounts are worked out on net revenue: what the customer was invoiced and paid, after tax and refunds.
- A fee is earned when the customer pays us, not when the deal is signed.
- You get a statement each month, and payment follows within a set time after the month in which the customer paid.
- A balance under the minimum payout rolls over to the next statement.
- A fee is returned if the customer is refunded within the clawback period.
- We pay in GBP or USD, to a bank account in your own name or your company's. Individuals provide what their tax status needs, such as a tax ID.
What it costs you
- Nothing to pay to join and no stock to carry, whichever track or band you are on.
- Anything you commit up front is optional and only buys a higher band: certified people, a prepaid licence block that you resell, or a guaranteed minimum.
- An upfront investment in a territory is agreed case by case, in writing. It is separate from investing in Tech Style Ltd, which this policy does not offer.
From application to first deal
A 30-minute call
Your market, the lines you want, what we have already sold there and which accounts are excluded.
Your band and rate, in writing
Before you introduce anyone.
Agreement, then enablement
The agreement, then your demo environment and training.
First deal, together
Registration protects it from day one.
Ask for the partner terms
The rates by track and band, the renewal shares, the account-care rate and the payment figures are confidential. Partners and serious applicants can see them: ask below, and once the partner team approves, we email you a private link that stays valid for 30 days. Your own rate is always the one in your written agreement.