Happy Wednesday!
In 5 minutes MAX you’ll get:
→ Nick Reed Smith on how to make sales more fun
→ How you can unlock unstoppable momentum
→ A quick musing on Nike and Tiffany & Co.'s recent partnership
Give-first mentality
Sales is really fun when you make it about serving others.
- Nick Reed Smith, Cloud Ecosystem Strategist at Workspan
Unlock unstoppable momentum
Direct sales and partner sales are both necessary.
When you're first starting out and need quick results, direct sales is a great go-to! It allows you to produce results in a linear relationship to the activity that you're putting in.
Energy in (aka activities done) = Results
But as Nick pointed out in the episode,
Over time the problem with that is anytime I need to reduce my amount of activity, I'm going to see a reduction in the revenue that I produce.
That’s where the flywheel of partner sales comes into play.
Partner sales compounds value over time. As you’re building out your direct sales motion, it’s a good idea to begin investing in your partner sales motion too.
Build relationships, add value, give first, and foster trust.
Over time, you're gonna get more and more referrals with less and less effort, because you've built this spinning flywheel. Now you have traction, and you have people who are talking about you when you're not even in the room.
Watch the episode
And here are some other links!
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The Air Force One gets a luxurious makeover
Nike and Tiffany & Co debuted a co-marketing campaign entitled "A Legendary Pair" that’s an excellent example of a successful partnership.
Target market and ICP overlap: Nike and Tiffany recognized each other as great partners in the luxury market. As evidenced by past partnerships with Fendi, Andy Warhol, and Supreme, it’s a market they’re both trying to dominate.
Perfect product: I'm not sure how many folks would buy diamond swoosh earrings, but I can guarantee that the demand for a Tiffany Air Force One will be high. Choosing a shoe as a first co-innovated product is an excellent place to start building value for both Nike and Tiffany.
Simple, elegant, recognizable marketing: Both companies are masters at marketing. The Nike swoosh is a household symbol and most know what the little blue box from Tiffany’s means. The companies have decided on a simple, elegant, and entirely recognizable campaign that even has me a little excited.
Both stores will sell the shoe: Tiffany will feature the shoe in-stores and Nike will make it available online.
B2B SaaS partnerships can feel more complicated than a Tiffany Air Force One, but the realities of creating a collaboration are the same.
Find your common market, build something amazing that people have to have, market it using the strength of both brands, and then sell the hell out of it together.
Have you seen any stellar partnership examples? Share them with me on Linkedin!
Until next time!
-Jessie Shipman
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