New This Week
A quick recap of the PhD from this week:
- Dating Advice for Partnerships
- Leveraging Service Firms
- Watering-Hole Strategies
- Getting Needed Buy-In
- Downturns and upsides
Recently published on partnerhacker.com:
- Top VC Bessemer Predicts #1 Trend for 2022 as 'Indirect'
- Learning Culture - Part 3 by Jessie Shipman
- Scaling Customer Success through Services Partnerships by Andrew Porter
- A16Z Partner Sarah Wang Says Partner Generated Pipeline Now Critical Factor for Deals
- Allan Adler on cross-functional buy-in
- Crossbeam Acquires Partnered
My team wouldn't leave me alone
I didn't want to signup for Notion.
Or Calendly. Or Segment. Or Figma. Or most of the 47 SaaS tools we used.
Most of the time, the reason I did was because my employees wouldn't stop raving about the next tool that we absolutely needed. They'd used a free demo, or worked with a contractor who used it. They'd decided it was a must-have. They'd keep mentioning how much better the company would be if we adopted it.
Until I finally said, "Fine, whatever. Just don't make me use it!"
Within a month, I was using it too.
I was running a company of just 15 people, but the pattern repeats at larger companies.
The people with the power to make purchases aren't always the people causing those purchases to happen.
Ever been to the grocery store with a kid? You know what I'm talking about.
People with the power to influence a sale are just as important as those with the money.
In B2B SaaS, individual contributors affect these decisions. They spend time on Twitter. They read blogs. They listen to podcasts. They have communities and circles of friends. They have opinions on products.
In those circles, trends emerge. Everyone gets excited about the new software tool they keep hearing about. They try it out. They show their colleagues. Soon, they're advocating for it with their manager or department head.
You can't think only in terms of direct sales and marketing. Your sales org is trying to get through to the person with the purchasing power. But that person isn't listening to salespeople as much as they are listening to their team, and their team is listening to their community.
How can you fill those communities with good vibes about your product?
How can you become one of those tools a grumpy old spreadsheet-clinger like me is forced to buy because his team won't shut up about it?
We won't beg
But we'd love it if you share the PhD!
PartnerHacker + SaaSy partner manager course
8 days left to claim your spot! Registration closes June 5th.
