Best Co-Sell Software

Guide to Co-Sell Software

Co-sell software is a type of technology designed to streamline and enhance the collaborative selling process between two or more companies, often involving partners such as resellers, distributors, or technology vendors. This software helps organizations align their sales efforts by enabling shared access to sales pipelines, customer data, and go-to-market strategies. The goal is to foster stronger partnerships and improve efficiency in joint selling efforts, ultimately increasing revenue and customer satisfaction.

By leveraging co-sell software, companies can identify mutual opportunities, track joint deals, and coordinate sales activities in real-time. These platforms often include features like lead sharing, deal registration, partner relationship management, and integrated communication tools. The software is especially valuable in complex ecosystems, such as those found in the tech industry, where multiple stakeholders need to collaborate on delivering a complete solution to the end customer.

The use of co-sell software also supports better transparency and accountability among partners, as it provides visibility into performance metrics, deal progress, and partner contributions. This not only strengthens trust but also helps companies measure the success of their co-selling initiatives more accurately. As more businesses recognize the value of strategic partnerships, co-sell software is becoming a critical tool for driving growth and maximizing the potential of channel and alliance relationships.

Features of Co-Sell Software

• Partner Collaboration Workspace: Co-sell software provides a centralized digital environment where internal teams and external partners can work together on shared deals. This space allows for seamless communication, data exchange, and coordinated sales efforts.
• Deal Registration and Management: Enables partners to register co-sell opportunities directly within the platform, giving all parties visibility into the deal pipeline. This often includes tools for tracking deal progress, stage management, and assigning responsibilities.
• CRM Integration: Most co-sell platforms integrate with popular CRM systems like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Microsoft Dynamics. This allows sales data to flow between systems automatically.
• Account Mapping: This feature allows users to identify mutual customers and prospects by comparing account lists between partners. Sophisticated platforms can perform this analysis securely and in real-time.
• Pipeline Visibility & Forecasting: Co-sell platforms offer tools to visualize the joint sales pipeline, with filters by partner, region, product, and stage. Many also provide revenue forecasting based on current pipeline metrics.
• Partner Communication & Notifications: Facilitates streamlined communication between partner teams using in-platform messaging, task assignments, and real-time notifications.
• Collaboration Tools: Includes shared notes, file storage, document versioning, and comment threads. Some platforms also integrate with tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams.
• AI-Powered Insights & Recommendations: Uses artificial intelligence to surface insights such as ideal partners, high-potential accounts, or optimal times for outreach. It may also offer predictive analytics for deal success.
• Compliance & Data Privacy Controls: Includes security features to ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive deal or account data. Data-sharing agreements and field-level access control are often available.
• Customizable Dashboards & Reporting: Offers customizable dashboards that provide insights into KPIs such as partner performance, pipeline growth, deal conversion rates, and revenue attribution.
• Partner Ecosystem Management: Allows organizations to manage and categorize their ecosystem of partners—ISVs, MSPs, VARs, SIs, etc.—and tailor engagement strategies accordingly.
• Co-Marketing Campaign Integration: Some co-sell platforms integrate with marketing automation tools or provide native capabilities for joint marketing efforts, such as co-branded campaigns or webinars.
• Opportunity Sharing & Referral Management: Facilitates structured sharing of leads, referrals, or opportunities between partners, often with tracking for success and conversion rates.
• Multi-Tenant & Global Support: Designed to support collaboration across multiple geographies, languages, and organizational structures, including subsidiaries and franchises.
• Lifecycle Management for Co-Sell Deals: Manages the end-to-end lifecycle of a co-sell opportunity—from initial identification to closure and post-sale follow-up.
• Calendar & Milestone Tracking: Keeps track of important dates, meetings, contract deadlines, and key milestones within joint sales cycles.
• Attribution & Incentive Tracking: Tracks contributions made by each partner to help with revenue attribution, commissions, and partner incentive programs.

What Are the Different Types of Co-Sell Software?

• Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Software: Partner Relationship Management software is designed to help companies build and manage strong relationships with their partners. These platforms typically provide structured workflows for onboarding new partners, equipping them with the necessary training, certifications, and sales enablement resources.
• Co-Sell Opportunity Management Software: Co-sell opportunity management software focuses on identifying, tracking, and managing joint sales opportunities between partners. These tools enable both parties to maintain a shared view of each co-selling deal, including details such as status, contacts, next steps, and responsibilities. The platform helps sync partner pipelines, log co-sell activities, and provide real-time visibility into deal progress.
• Account Mapping & Matching Tools: Account mapping and matching tools are essential for identifying overlapping customers or prospects between partner organizations. These platforms allow companies to securely upload and compare their account lists, using automated matching algorithms to uncover shared opportunities. They often offer advanced filtering and tiered data visibility to protect sensitive information while still enabling effective collaboration.
• Partner Intelligence & Analytics Platforms: Partner intelligence and analytics platforms are designed to give companies a deeper understanding of how their partners are performing and contributing to overall revenue. These systems provide dashboards and reporting features that break down partner-sourced and partner-influenced revenue, track deal cycles, measure partner engagement, and highlight areas for improvement.
• Integration Middleware for CRM/PRM Systems: Integration middleware acts as the connective tissue between co-sell software and other core systems like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or PRM platforms. These tools ensure data flows smoothly between systems without manual intervention, keeping customer and deal information consistent and up to date.
• Ecosystem Enablement Platforms: Ecosystem enablement platforms support the broader partner network beyond direct co-selling. These platforms often include capabilities for recruiting new partners, managing co-marketing efforts, identifying cross-sell and upsell opportunities, and facilitating broader ecosystem collaboration.
• Secure Collaboration & Communication Platforms: Secure collaboration and communication platforms are built to facilitate real-time, trustworthy interaction between partner organizations. These tools offer encrypted channels for file sharing, messaging, and video conferencing, along with role-based permissions to ensure that sensitive deal information is only accessible to the right people.
• Automation and Workflow Orchestration Tools: Automation and workflow orchestration tools focus on reducing the manual effort involved in managing co-sell activities. These platforms allow users to set up triggers and rules that automatically assign tasks, update statuses, or send notifications when specific events occur.
• Co-Sell Deal Registration Tools: Co-sell deal registration tools provide a formal process for partners to submit and track joint sales opportunities. These platforms typically include secure forms for deal entry, customizable approval workflows, and rules for assigning deal ownership. 
• Co-Marketing Collaboration Platforms: Co-marketing collaboration platforms support joint marketing campaigns that align with co-sell objectives. These tools enable both parties to create co-branded assets, manage shared campaigns, plan events, and measure performance across channels.
• Global Partner Network & Discovery Tools: Global partner network and discovery tools help companies expand their ecosystem by finding new co-sell partners across industries and geographies. These platforms offer searchable directories of vetted companies, often with filters for region, vertical, certifications, and other attributes.

Co-Sell Software Benefits

• Improved Partner Collaboration: Co-sell software enables seamless collaboration between your internal sales teams and external partners. This includes sharing leads, account intelligence, sales strategies, and progress tracking.
• Enhanced Visibility Into Shared Opportunities: These platforms provide a centralized view of shared opportunities across organizations. This includes visibility into deal stages, mutual customers, and partner involvement.
• Streamlined Workflows and Automation: Co-sell software automates key partnership processes like lead sharing, opportunity registration, partner onboarding, and co-selling playbooks.
• Centralized Data and Insights: These tools consolidate data from CRM systems, partner platforms, and sales tools to provide a unified view of partnership performance.
• Accelerated Deal Velocity: With aligned teams and shared insights, deals can move more quickly through the pipeline. Co-sell platforms often highlight where a partner can influence or accelerate a deal.
• Increased Revenue and Pipeline Growth: Co-selling unlocks access to each partner’s network, including customers and prospects, allowing for cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
• Better Account Mapping and Targeting: Account mapping features allow teams to discover overlap between their own accounts and a partner’s, identifying where mutual interests or existing relationships exist.
• Improved Lead Management and Routing: Leads can be shared securely and automatically routed to the appropriate partner reps. Many platforms offer real-time lead updates and tracking.
• Secure and Compliant Data Sharing: Co-sell platforms prioritize security and compliance by allowing companies to share only the data they choose with their partners, often with customizable access controls.
• Coordinated Sales Planning and Execution: Teams can jointly plan sales strategies, marketing campaigns, and go-to-market motions using shared tools and dashboards.
• Improved Partner Accountability and Performance Tracking: Co-sell software often includes analytics and performance dashboards that track each partner’s contribution to the pipeline and closed revenue.
• Better Communication and Engagement: Many platforms include built-in messaging, notifications, and activity feeds that keep all stakeholders informed.
• Enhanced Strategic Alignment: With shared goals, metrics, and timelines visible within the platform, both companies can align their strategies more effectively.

Who Uses Co-Sell Software?

• Partner Managers / Channel Managers: These are the professionals responsible for managing strategic alliances and channel partner relationships. They use the platform to identify joint opportunities, align go-to-market strategies with partners, and track shared pipelines. Co-sell software helps them streamline communication, assign responsibilities, and manage partner onboarding.
• Sales Representatives / Account Executives (AEs): Frontline sellers who are responsible for closing deals and building customer relationships. They use it to discover which partners are already engaged with their target accounts, request warm introductions, and collaborate on account strategies with partner sales teams.
• Sales Enablement Professionals: These users support the sales team with tools, content, and training to improve productivity and effectiveness. They integrate co-sell tools with CRM and sales enablement platforms, provide playbooks for working with partners, and analyze how co-sell strategies impact performance.
• Sales Operations / Revenue Operations: Teams that focus on optimizing sales processes, managing CRM data, and supporting strategic decision-making. They manage integrations with CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot, ensure data hygiene between partners, and generate reports on partner-influenced revenue and deal velocity.
• Partner Sales Engineers / Solutions Engineers: Technical experts who support sales engagements, especially in complex or solution-based selling environments. They collaborate with partners to design joint solutions, share technical documentation, and provide demos that highlight interoperability between platforms or services.
• Partner Marketing Teams: Marketing professionals focused on joint campaigns and co-branded efforts with partners. They use co-sell platforms to identify target accounts for joint marketing efforts, coordinate campaign timelines, and attribute pipeline influence to specific marketing activities.
• Customer Success Managers (CSMs): Professionals dedicated to onboarding, retaining, and growing customer accounts post-sale. In post-sale collaboration, CSMs can work with partners to identify upsell/cross-sell opportunities or expand value for mutual customers by leveraging ecosystem partners.
• Executives / Leadership (VP of Sales, CRO, CCO, Head of Partnerships, etc.): Senior leaders responsible for setting strategy, overseeing revenue growth, and forging strategic alliances. They use dashboards and reports to track partner-influenced pipeline, monitor the performance of co-sell initiatives, and guide investment decisions in partner programs.
• Legal & Compliance Teams: Ensuring that all co-selling activities comply with legal and regulatory frameworks, especially when dealing with data sharing across companies. They review and manage data sharing agreements, monitor user access, and ensure partner collaborations align with data privacy and compliance requirements.
• Business Development Representatives (BDRs) / Sales Development Representatives (SDRs): Professionals who focus on top-of-funnel activities like prospecting and qualifying leads. They identify warm intros from partners, use account mapping to find overlap with partner customers, and prioritize outreach based on partner intelligence.
• Product Teams (Occasionally): Build and maintain product integrations and align product strategy with market needs. When deeply integrated with strategic partnerships, product teams may use co-sell insights to prioritize integrations that drive revenue or track which partnerships lead to product usage growth.

How Much Does Co-Sell Software Cost?

The cost of co-sell software can vary significantly depending on the size of the business, the complexity of the solution, and the features offered. For small to mid-sized businesses, pricing might start with basic monthly subscription fees ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Larger enterprises, however, may require custom plans with advanced integration capabilities, analytics tools, and dedicated support, which can drive the cost much higher. Some vendors also charge based on the number of users, partners, or volume of deals managed through the platform, adding more variability to the total cost.

In addition to the base price, companies should also consider implementation and training costs, especially if the software needs to be customized or integrated with existing systems like CRM or ERP platforms. Ongoing costs may include regular software updates, customer support, and potential add-ons or premium features that enhance functionality. Overall, while co-sell software can represent a significant investment, many businesses find the value it brings in streamlining partner collaboration and increasing sales efficiency to be well worth the cost.

Co-Sell Software Integrations

Co-sell software can integrate with a variety of other software types to enhance collaboration, streamline workflows, and improve sales outcomes. One common integration is with customer relationship management (CRM) systems like Salesforce or HubSpot, which helps align partner activities with customer data, track joint opportunities, and manage pipeline visibility. Marketing automation platforms can also integrate with co-sell software to synchronize campaign efforts, share lead data, and ensure consistent messaging between partners.

In addition, co-sell software often connects with communication and collaboration tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email platforms, enabling real-time updates and easier coordination between sales teams. It can also integrate with partner relationship management (PRM) platforms to better manage partner onboarding, training, and performance tracking. Cloud storage services and document management tools like Google Drive or SharePoint are another common integration, allowing teams to share proposals, contracts, and other sales collateral securely.

Finally, co-sell platforms can connect with analytics and business intelligence software to provide deeper insights into co-selling performance, measure partner contribution, and support data-driven decision-making. These integrations work together to create a unified ecosystem that supports efficient and effective co-selling efforts.

Recent Trends Related to Co-Sell Software

• Stronger Ecosystem Integrations: Co-sell software is increasingly integrated with CRM platforms (like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics) to create seamless workflows. There's a growing emphasis on integrating with partner relationship management (PRM) tools to better align internal teams and external partners.
• Focus on Strategic Partnerships: Companies are shifting from transactional partner relationships to more strategic, long-term collaborations. Co-sell platforms now support deeper insights into joint value propositions, making it easier to align messaging and go-to-market strategies.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Co-sell platforms are using AI and machine learning to surface actionable insights, such as the best partner to collaborate with based on historical performance or customer fit. Predictive analytics are being leveraged to identify high-potential co-sell opportunities and forecast outcomes more accurately.
• Enhanced Visibility and Attribution: A major pain point in co-selling has been the lack of visibility into shared deals. New platforms now offer robust tracking and attribution models. Co-sell software is helping to assign clear ownership, responsibilities, and credit between internal and partner reps.
• Automation and Scalability: Automating partner onboarding, opportunity registration, and pipeline sharing is becoming standard. Workflows that once required spreadsheets and manual coordination are now being handled by automated triggers and syncs.
• Security and Compliance: As co-sell data often includes sensitive customer and pipeline information, there's a greater focus on data privacy, GDPR, and SOC 2 compliance. Role-based access controls and encrypted data sharing are built into many modern co-sell platforms.
• Global and Cross-Regional Collaboration: Co-selling is no longer limited by geography. Modern platforms facilitate global campaigns with localization and regional compliance built in. Support for multi-language interfaces and international tax/regulatory data is increasingly common.
• Mobile and Remote Work Compatibility: With distributed teams and remote work becoming the norm, co-sell software is becoming more mobile-friendly. Sales reps can now view, update, and collaborate on co-sell opportunities directly from mobile apps or browsers.
• Partner Enablement and Training: Built-in training modules, playbooks, and certifications are being embedded into co-sell platforms to empower partner teams. Platforms are evolving to support not just deal execution, but also co-marketing and enablement efforts.
• Marketplace Integrations: Integration with cloud marketplaces (like AWS Marketplace, Azure Marketplace, etc.) is becoming a key feature for B2B software vendors. Co-sell software increasingly facilitates marketplace transactions, procurement workflows, and partner incentives.
• Co-Sell as Part of Broader Partner Ops Stack: Co-sell tools are no longer standalone; they’re part of a broader movement toward building comprehensive partner operations (“partner ops”) ecosystems. Integration with tools for onboarding, enablement, incentives, and partner success metrics is becoming expected.
• Emergence of Specialized Co-Sell Platforms: Several startups and niche players are emerging to fill gaps in the co-sell space, offering tailored solutions for specific industries or partner types (e.g., ISVs, MSPs, GSIs). These platforms often provide vertical-specific templates, integrations, and compliance features.
• AI-Enhanced Matchmaking and Partner Discovery: AI is being used to match companies with the most relevant partners based on data signals, buyer intent, and overlapping accounts. Tools can now suggest potential co-sell opportunities before either party has initiated a deal.

How To Choose the Right Co-Sell Software

Selecting the right co-sell software starts with understanding your company's goals for partnership and revenue growth. You need a clear picture of your co-selling strategy—whether it's focused on joint pipeline visibility, lead sharing, partner enablement, or sales execution. From there, evaluate how well a platform supports these specific needs.

Look for software that integrates smoothly with your existing tools, especially your CRM. Seamless integration reduces friction and ensures data flows cleanly between systems, which is critical for tracking and collaboration. Ease of use is just as important. If the software is too complex or unintuitive, your team and your partners may resist adopting it, no matter how powerful it is.

Scalability matters too. Choose a solution that can grow with your business and support more partners and opportunities without losing performance. You’ll also want to consider how transparent and actionable the data is—can you see deal progression, partner engagement, and ROI clearly?

Security and compliance should never be an afterthought. The software should meet your industry standards for data privacy and protection, especially since you’re sharing sensitive customer and sales data with third parties.

Lastly, assess the vendor's support and onboarding process. A provider that offers strong training, responsive support, and ongoing updates will help ensure long-term success with the platform. Make sure the software feels like a true extension of your team, not just another tool.

Utilize the tools given on this page to examine co-sell software in terms of price, features, integrations, user reviews, and more.