How Phenom turned 200 idle partners into $500K+ in partner program revenue

Corey Gingras, Sr. Director, Global Software Alliances, leads technology partnerships at Phenom, an applied AI company that helps organizations hire faster, develop better, and retain longer.

When Corey joined the team, he inherited a program full of idle partners, but he made a bold promise to leadership when he launched the Phenom Marketplace in September 2025: he would turn the partner program into a revenue driver. Less than a year later, the Phenom Marketplace has already driven more than $500K in revenue. Here's how he did it.

The problem: A partner program with no way to prove its worth

Corey inherited close to 200 signed partners sitting idle, with no structure, no joint go-to-market, and nothing they were being asked to invest in. With so little activity to point to, the team had no real way to prove the program's value to the rest of the business.

The problem showed externally, too. Phenom's partner marketplace was a wall of static logos on the website. It showed who Phenom partnered with, but told customers nothing about what those partnerships offered, and many of the listed partners were no longer active.

The solution: A program partners would pay for

Corey began laying the foundation for a tiered partner program. The pricing question came first: the fee had to be high enough that only serious partners would pay it, but low enough that Phenom could deliver more value than it cost.

Drawing on how established companies price their paid programs, he landed at $3,000 a year for the base tier. The Gold and Platinum tiers above it bundle progressively deeper go-to-market support at $5,000 and $10,000, and partners can advance to those tiers over time as their partnership with Phenom grows.

Rather than waiting until every detail was perfect, Corey launched the program, tested the tiers with a few close partners, and refined as he went.

Charging for program participation only works if it provides true value, and that is where Partner Fleet became a key driver. Instead of a static logo, every partner now gets a rich listing on Phenom's partner marketplace that they build and manage themselves, with media, a real explanation of what the integration does, and how the two products work together for shared customers.

Plus, each listing works like a landing page. Customers browsing the marketplace can fill out a contact form that routes to the correct partner, or they can click through to the partner's website. Every listing now gives partners a real channel for visibility and lead generation, and that value is a big part of what makes it worth paying to be part of the partner program.

Here's the full breakdown of Phenom's partner tiers and the key things that partners get at each level.

The results: 40+ paying partners, and a seat at the table

In under ten months, Phenom has launched and grown its program to more than 40 partner participants, each paying at least the $3,000 base. The program has collected over $500,000 in revenue from partner fees, helping Corey begin to deliver on his promise to leadership.

Beyond that, Corey found wins he didn't expect, like building stronger relationships with his product and marketing counterparts.

The product and partnerships teams at Phenom used to bring on partners without involving each other. Now the two teams decide together which partners and integrations matter most, and through the Certified Integration Program they built, Phenom has a structured way to handle partner integrations for the first time.

His relationship with marketing deepened too: with IAMPHENOM sponsorship access and tickets built into every tier, the partner program now provides a structured way to sell both sponsorship packages and tickets to Phenom's flagship event.

What’s next: Partners earn their way to the top

Today, almost every partner sits at the base tier, and that is deliberate. Corey is testing the Gold and Platinum tiers with a handful of partners he already trusts. The long-term plan is for partners to earn their way up by closing deals and engaging deeply with the program, rather than simply paying more. Getting to Gold or Platinum will be a mark of a successful partnership, not just a bigger invoice.

Click here to view Phenom’s partner marketplace →