Help your clients. Help your business.

Who the program is for

The program is designed for trusted professionals and organizations that already advise or serve local businesses, including:

• Marketing, branding, SEO, advertising, and public-relations agencies
• Web designers, web developers, and digital consultants
• IT providers and managed-service companies
• Business consultants, coaches, accountants, and bookkeepers
• Chambers of commerce, economic-development groups, and industry associations
• Other established professional advisers with appropriate business relationships

Participation is approval-based and nonexclusive. Direct competitors, bulk lead sellers, coupon or incentive sites, and unsolicited mass-referral operations do not automatically qualify.

Commission

An approved partner may earn 10% of collected eligible service revenue during the first three consecutive calendar months beginning when Benchmark receives the referred customer’s first eligible service payment. Total commission is capped at $750 per referred customer.

Paid audits, taxes, refunds, credits, chargebacks, third-party costs, pass-through expenses, and amounts not actually collected by Benchmark are excluded. Audits alone do not qualify.

Payment

Commissions are calculated monthly on eligible customer payments actually collected during the three-month commission window. Each installment is paid by ACH or check after the applicable customer payment has cleared and remained free of cancellation, refund, chargeback, or material dispute for 30 days. The cumulative commission for one referred customer will not exceed $750. A completed W-9 and valid payment information must be on file before the first payment. The partner is responsible for taxes and reporting obligations associated with commissions.

Qualified referral

• The partner must be approved by Benchmark and have a signed Referral Partner Agreement in effect before the referral is submitted.
• The referred business must be a new Benchmark lead, identified in writing before it accepts a quote or service agreement, and not already recorded in Benchmark’s active pipeline or attributed to another source.
• The referred customer must purchase an eligible implementation or ongoing service, such as corrective implementation, listing work, landing pages, website improvements, an Enhanced Website, monitoring, or another approved service beyond an audit.
• No self-referrals, referrals between commonly controlled accounts, duplicate claims, or commissions on the partner’s own purchases.

Partner responsibilities

• Use accurate, approved descriptions of Benchmark services and disclose the referral relationship when required.
• Do not promise results, quote binding prices, sign agreements, collect customer funds, or represent that the partner can bind Benchmark.
• Do not use spam, misleading claims, deceptive endorsements, unlawful incentives, or unauthorized use of Benchmark names, marks, or materials.
• Protect prospect information and submit it only with an appropriate business purpose and any consent required by law.

Program administration

Only one referral source may receive compensation for a customer. Professional partner commissions do not stack with the customer referral reward, another affiliate or partner commission, or another referral promotion unless Benchmark approves the combination in writing. A referred customer’s Paid Audit Credit remains separate and does not reduce the partner’s commission calculation except that the credited audit amount is not eligible service revenue.

The signed Referral Partner Agreement controls if it conflicts with this summary. Either party may end the relationship as stated in that agreement. Properly earned commissions survive termination, while later referrals do not qualify. Benchmark may change the public program prospectively without removing commissions already earned under an active agreement.

This page is a program summary, not an executed agreement. Participation begins only after Benchmark approves the applicant and both parties sign a Referral Partner Agreement.