Welcome to the Nearbound Daily Newsletter—the #1 partnerships newsletter in the world keeping thousands of partner professionals on top of the latest industry principles, tactics, and trends. nearbound.com is a project of Reveal. Join the movement here. And ask NearBOT a question here.
PRINCIPLES
Is that tech partnership worth pursuing?
Your customers will make that clear.
We interviewed Nigel Liaw (Director of Tech Partnerships at FullStory) and Kevin Crow (Global Head of Solutions Partners at FullStory) to highlight how FullStory is building their tech partnerships and increasing renewal rate.
Here’s what Nigel said is the best determinant of a good tech partnership:
“It’s all about evaluating how our existing product and solution that our customers are buying can be enhanced with a partner.”
—Nigel Liaw, Director of Tech Partnerships at FullStory
Ask yourself:
Who are our common customers and prospects?
Who is their ICP?
What are the similarities in use cases?
What will the joint value proposition look like?
What is the extra value added to the customer journey?
Do a little research and save yourself the headache of backtracking.
TACTICS
5-step process to drive partner and customer success
Liz Christo (Investor and GTM Advisor) from Stage 2 Capital has a newsletter called “Dear Stage 2” where she answers anonymous questions from every corner of the ecosystem—Marketing, Sales, CS, and Leadership.
Recently, a CEO leading CS asked her:
Curious if you have access to any good documentation on developing plans for taking red/yellow accounts to green. Almost like a mutual action plan for existing customers. Any ideas?
She shared a 5-step process she learned from Steve Kennedy (VP of CS at SumoLogic). Partner professionals can use this process to also drive partner success.
Step one: Detection and Identification
What are the most common causes of friction and discontent at each stage of the customer journey? Set up a system for early warning signals.
Steve advises that,
“Proactive is always better than reactive. If the customer is coming to you, you’ve missed something along the way. You need to know they are trending out of green; if they are already red, it’s going to be a lift.”
Step two: Analysis and Planning
Don’t make assumptions. Instead, just ask the question—what is impacting these customers? Identify the root cause, engage with stakeholders, and build your action plan to address specifically identified issues.
Step three: Execution
Execute the plan you defined and stick to it. Create accountability inside and outside your organization.
Step four: Monitor and adjust
Once the plan is in motion, you must monitor and adjust as necessary. Here are three things Steve recommends:
Progress tracking (health scores/indicators)
Feedback loops (maintain a regular cadence of communications
Document process and outcomes
Step five: Prevention and proactive engagement
You should be thinking proactively to avoid letting customers or partners slip into dissatisfaction.
Check out a couple more resources on driving partner success here:
Who Owns Partner Experience? by Aaron Howerton
Getting Started with Partner Experience by Aaron Howerton
How Outstanding Partner Experiences Elevate Customer Satisfaction by Bernhard Friedrichs
Partner Performance Is Not An Accident by Brian Hattaway
You Need a Vision for Partner Experience by Aaron Howerton
TRENDS
Big brands turn back to the customer
Companies got used to innovating within company walls and sending new products out. That’s changing.
Companies like Lego, Mattel, PepsiCo, NASCAR, Porsche, Starbucks, and more are all turning to their customers to influence product innovation.
Why? They’re realizing something Jill Rowley puts like this,
Your customer is your boss. When your customer wins, everyone wins.
The nearbound mindset recognizes that the only reason we partner is because our customers want us to.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Stuff you don’t want to miss!
May 15th—How to Partner with AWS—Join Aaron Verstraete (Vice President of Strategic Alliances at Forethought) and Scott Pollack (CEO at Firneo) where they will share insider insights on navigating the AWS ecosystem, ensuring you leave with actionable knowledge. Register here.
May 23rd—From Recruitment to Revenue: How to Turn Your Ideal Partner into ARR—Join Will Taylor (Head of Nearbound Partnerships at Reveal), Nelson Wang (Founder of Partner Principles), and Margaret Adam (Head of Product Marketing at Allbound) to learn to win new revenue for their companies, and retain current revenue by driving value to customers. Register here.
May 30th—Driving Revenue Through Technology Partners—Learn from Kelly Sarabyn (Head of Product Partnerships Advocacy and Enablement at HubSpot), Asher Matthew (CEO at Partnership Leaders), and Robbie Ptaszynski (Director of Strategic Pursuits and Priority ISV Co-sell at Microsoft) as they discuss the revenue impact partnerships teams can have and evolving from re-selling to co-selling. Register here.
Nearbound Summit 2023 Recordings—The future of GTM is nearbound. Watch the recordings to hear how B2B leaders across departments unite with Nearbound strategies and tactics. Listen here.
You’re all caught up.
RECENTLY PUBLISHED ON NEARBOUND.COM
The Elephant in the Ecosystem by Chris Messina
The Era of Ecosystem Orchestration is Finally Here by James Hodgkinson
How Fullstory Builds their Tech Partnerships Program with Reveal’s Help to Increase Their Renewal Rate by 14%
Nearbound and the Rhythm of Business by Jared Fuller
Rhythm of Business Checklist by Jared Fuller
How Pigment Increased Win Rates 5-10% with a Nearbound Overlay & Reveal by Shawnie Hamer
How to use Reveal for Co-marketing Events
Unleashing the Power of Nearbound: The Stats You Need to Know by Andrea Vallejo
Howdy Partners #72: Psychology of Team-Wide Buy-In: The Answer to Partner Program Success with Maurits Pieper
Mastering the Nearbound Rhythm of the Business: Key Takeaways from the Nearbound Book by Andrea Vallejo
A Deep Dive Into the Nearbound Book, with Mike Midgley, Part 3
What’s an IPP—and (when) do you need one? by Martin Scholz and Bernhard Friedrichs
The Future of Sales Enablement: Integrating the Nearbound Strategy in Your Cold Outreach Efforts by Jeremy Chatelaine
See you tomorrow
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nearbound.com is a project of Reveal.co
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