# Let Partners Run the Sales Seminars

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/partner-led-sales-seminars · Last updated 2 November 2026

You are packing for another partner seminar, the third this month, because every partner waits for you to lead the room. Ivanka Menken uses the Release Dial inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to move one part of the seminar channel from founder-led to partner-owned. In this case, the invitation and the follow-up moved to one partner’s sales lead, with a script and a 14-day review.

## More partners, more travel, same founder

- Every partner seminar waits for you to lead it.
- Each new partner adds prep and travel to your calendar.
- Nobody at the partner has ever sent the invitation or done the follow-up.

**THE MOMENT:** A new partner says yes. Their sales lead is keen and their team is big. Then the questions start: when can you come, what should we send, who calls people afterwards? You realise every answer is you. The channel works, the margins are good, and it only grows as fast as you can get on a plane.

### THE SEMINAR CHANNEL, AS IT STANDS

- Partners: more each quarter
- Invitation: written and sent by the founder
- The room: run by the founder
- Follow-up: chased by the founder
- Partner’s sales lead: willing, never asked

## Sign up more partners

In this case, a founder sold through partner-led seminars: a partner hosted, and the founder spoke to their sales team, sometimes 15 people, sometimes 50. The obvious way to grow was more partners. It worked, and it made things worse. Every new partner added another invitation to write, another room to fly to and another round of follow-up calls. Growth was capped by the founder’s calendar.

## No part of the seminar belonged to the partner

Ivanka noticed the founder had never decided which part of the seminar a partner could own. The partners were eager, and their sales leads already knew their own people better than the founder did. But nobody had given them a script, a step or the permission to run it. The channel had partners in name and a founder in every seat.

## An unreleased step, not a shortage of partners

The real issue was not partner demand. It was a piece of the sales channel the founder had never released: the steps around the room, which a partner’s sales lead was better placed to do.
The reframe: release the steps around the room before the room itself. The partner’s sales lead invites their own people and runs the follow-up with the founder’s script. The founder still runs the room for now, and the next notch waits for the review.

> Release the steps around the room before the room itself.

**The cost of staying stuck:** While every step stays with the founder, each new partner costs another trip, the follow-up slips when the founder is travelling, and the channel can only grow as fast as one person’s calendar.

## The tool: Release Dial

The Release Dial is how Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring moves work from the founder to a leader one notch at a time. For a partner seminar, the dial turns on the steps around the room first: the invitation and the follow-up.

It is one page for one partner. The seminar in four steps, who owns each one now, which steps move to the partner’s sales lead, the script that goes with them, and the 14-day review. The room stays with the founder until this release has been checked.

It replaces signing up more partners to grow, a founder who writes every invitation and chases every follow-up, and partners who wait to be told what to do.

### What goes on the page

1. The steps: invitation, the room, follow-up, sign-ups
2. Moves to the partner’s sales lead: the invitation and the follow-up
3. Stays with the founder: the room, for now
4. The script: what to send, what to say, when to call
5. The reach: 15, 20 or 50 salespeople per partner
6. The review: day 14, at the next session

It sits inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, next to the monthly scorecard that records release commitments kept. One release is written each fortnight and reviewed at the next session. It is coaching with written commitments, not done-for-you implementation.

## Four steps, two of them released

In the session, Ivanka asked the founder to write out what they did for every seminar, step by step. Then she asked which steps the partner’s sales lead could own, and which the founder only needed to hear about afterwards. The invitation and the follow-up were the obvious first notch. Together they wrote a release commitment for one partner: the sales lead sends the invitation and runs the follow-up with the founder’s script, the founder runs the room, and they review at day 14.

### The questions

- What do you do for every seminar, step by step?
- Which step could the partner’s sales lead own tomorrow?
- What would they need from you to do it well?
- What do you only need to hear about afterwards?
- What would make you step back in?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: Every partner seminar, run by the founder.
2. The numbers: 15, 20 or 50 salespeople per partner, one founder.
3. The story: The partners expect me in the room.
4. The commitment: Invitation and follow-up to one sales lead for 14 days.

Before the next session, the founder sent the script to one partner’s sales lead, let them send the invitation and run the follow-up, and brought back what came back and why.

## Partners who run part of the channel

By month 6, the founder has released the steps around the room to partners’ sales leads, has a written release commitment checked every fortnight, and the monthly scorecard records release commitments kept.

**BEFORE**

- Every invitation written by the founder.
- Every follow-up chased by the founder.
- Each new partner added another trip.
- Partners waited to be told what to do.

**BY MONTH 6**

- Partners’ sales leads invite their own people.
- Follow-up run with the founder’s script.
- The room is the next notch on the dial.
- Release commitments kept on the monthly scorecard.

The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one release each fortnight, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## Give the partner a step, in writing

Ivanka Menken built Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who build leaders but still do it all. A partner channel is a leadership question too: who owns which step, and who you can stop doing it for.
This fits if you sell through partners, seminars or events and every one still needs you in every step. It does not fit if you want a sales script written for you or someone to run the channel. The decision in front of you is one partner and one notch. Write it down before the next seminar.

> Helps founders lead with clarity and integrity by modelling vulnerability, emotional intelligence, and grounded decision-making. Creates an environment where leaders can openly explore challenges and grow without fear of judgement.
>
> R.W., founder

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You sell through partners, seminars or hosted events.
- Every seminar still needs you in every step.
- You run a $500K to $3M business.
- You will release one step and stay out for 14 days.

### It does not fit

- You want sales training or a script written for you.
- You want someone to run the partner channel.
- You have no partner willing to own a step.
- You want to keep every invitation in your own name.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** The Release Dial is part of Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One release each fortnight
- A monthly scorecard with release commitments kept
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6

Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/3cI8wPay4gsV7tg6nSdQQ0z?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=partner-led-sales-seminars)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=partner-led-sales-seminars#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/building-leaders-not-doing-it-all)

## Questions about Release Dial

### Which part of the seminar should I release first?

Usually the steps around the room: the invitation and the follow-up. The partner’s sales lead already knows their own people, and these steps are easy to script. The room itself comes later, once the first release is reviewed. Ivanka Menken helps you choose the notch inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### What if the partner does the follow-up badly?

That is what the script and the day-14 review are for. Write down what good follow-up looks like, what triggers you stepping back in, and look at what came back at the review. One weak round is information, not failure. Ivanka Menken works through it inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### Do I need to price the seminar first?

If the money split with the partner is unclear, settle that first, because it shapes who owns what. Then release the steps. Ivanka Menken covers the release with you inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and the partner event pricing showcase covers the price and the split.

### How long is Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring?

Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring runs for 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST: twelve fortnightly 60-minute 1:1 sessions with Ivanka Menken, one release each fortnight, a monthly scorecard of release commitments kept and reviews at month 3 and month 6. The Release Dial is part of the programme and is not sold separately. A 20-minute intro call shows whether it fits.


## Release one step to a partner

If your partners want seminars and every step still needs you, start with Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring. The Release Dial is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.

- [Join Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/3cI8wPay4gsV7tg6nSdQQ0z?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=partner-led-sales-seminars)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=partner-led-sales-seminars#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/building-leaders-not-doing-it-all)
- [Price a partner event before the split](https://ivankamenken.com/price-partner-event)
- [Release execution to an integrator](https://ivankamenken.com/release-execution-to-integrator)
- [Let a leader own retainer pricing](https://ivankamenken.com/retainer-pricing-release-dial)
- [The Builder-of-Leaders programme](https://ivankamenken.com/building-leaders-not-doing-it-all)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka