Referral Partners

Track the accountants, attorneys, insurance brokers, and other advisors who send you client referrals. Manage commissions, measure partner ROI, and maintain relationships with your best referral sources.

What a referral partner is

A referral partner is a non-competing professional who interacts with your target clients and can introduce you to new business. The best MSP referral sources are:

• Accountants & CPAs — advise clients on technology spending decisions
• Business attorneys — see clients during business formation, M&A, compliance needs
• Insurance brokers — cybersecurity insurance now requires documentation that MSPs provide
• Commercial real estate agents — office moves require new IT infrastructure
• IT consultants — fractional CTOs and independent consultants who can't do the MSP work themselves
• Vendor reps — ISVs who need their SMB clients to have reliable IT support

Partner tiers

Tracking referrals

When a lead or deal comes from a partner, link them using the Referral Partnerfield on the lead or deal record. This creates a Referral record tracking:

• Which partner sent the referral
• Which lead or deal was created from the referral
• The referral date
• Status (Received, In Pipeline, Closed Won, Closed Lost)
• MRR won (populated when the deal closes)

Commission tracking

When a deal with a referral partner link closes as Won, Breadbox automatically creates a Commission record (status: OWED). Commission records track:

• Amount owed to the partner
• Status (Owed, Approved, Paid)
• Paid date (once commission is sent)
• Notes (payment method, check number, etc.)

The commission amount must be set manually — Breadbox doesn't auto-calculate commission rates (these vary too much by partner and deal type). When you're ready to pay, change status to Approved, then Paid, and enter the payment date.

Partner performance metrics

The partner detail page shows aggregate performance:

Engagement tracking

Each partner has a Last Contact Date and Next Touchpoint Dateto maintain regular engagement. Set the next touchpoint when you meet with a partner so it appears on your upcoming tasks. Partners you haven't contacted in 90+ days are surfaced on the Partners page.