Act first, systematize later
Partnerships often get shut down before they get started.
But if you can show value right away, you've got a chance at building a great partner program.
Here are a few tips to hit the ground running:
🎰 Diversify your partner leads
It's easy to focus only on large players, but your partner mix will need both home runs and low-hanging fruits. Balance potential payoffs with the probability of success.
👂 Listen for signal vs. noise
How do you validate or disqualify partners as fast as possible? Apply the lean startup approach to your partnerships. Run small experiments with your partners to get signals.
Don't wait for lengthy implementations of PRMs or other tools. Fred Flintstone your first partner program. Track leads by hand if you have to. Have a strong bias toward action.
🎉 Celebrate every win, no matter how small
Partnership teams often provide more value than is visible at first glance. It's your job to bang the drum about the success you and your partners are having. Keep your team top of mind.
*H/T to Franz-Josef Schrepf for contributing to this section of the PhD
How to not suck at partnerships
Marco De Paulis, director of ecommerce partnerships at Ryder, was recently on The Partner Channel Podcast. He shared a few valuable tips on partnering:
- Build in public
"I tell my team all the time: Build in public and share progress and share the partnership stories. Whether it’s marketing a story or just showing what you’re working on." - Marco De Paulis - Market internally just as much as you do externally
"Share wins, share success, share stories really anywhere you can, because there’s something about stories that stick in our brains." - Marco De Paulis - Be interested in people
"I think to be successful in a partnerships role, first off, you have to be very empathetic. You have to be very curious. And you have to genuinely like people." - Marco De Paulis
The future is Nearbound
From day 1 at PartnerHacker, our goal has been to create a world where we can all win in business together.
We believe that working together through partnerships will take us farther than we could go alone.
We've thrown down the partner gauntlet; now we'll show you how it's done.
Outbound targeted the market; Inbound attracted it; now, Nearbound partners with it.
Join us on Feb 22 at noon ET as we drop some MASSIVE news and release our Nearbound Guide to Account Mapping.
Register for free at www.nearbound.com.
Happenings
- Nearbound.com Special Event - February 22, 2023, 12 PM ET - We're unveiling the biggest news in B2B for 2023. Plus, we're releasing the Nearbound Guide to Account Mapping. Register here.
- Kiflo Roundtable: Driving Partner Meetings - Thursday, March 2nd, Â 11:00 AM (CST). Register here.
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