Build a community

I hate to break it to you, but your partner program can fall apart at any moment.

If every partner operates in isolation, it’s easy for them to drop or switch to a competitor.

Smart partner pros build an ecosystem & community around their partner program.

If you want your partners to stick around, they need to...

🤝 be connected with community members

🏡 feel like they belong.

📆 be regularly engaged.

Build your partner program, but don’t neglect the community.

Thanks for contributing to this section of the PhD, Franz-Josef Schrepf!

Bitly bets big on partnerships

I think CEOs are starting to realize that if they don’t have a partnership strategy, their competitors will. And that should terrify any founder or CEO that isn’t thinking about that. — Kevin Raheja, VP of Partnerships at Bitly

Bitly made headlines last week, announcing they’ve hired a VP of Partnerships. Despite the economy, they’re betting big on partnerships as a growth opportunity.

We asked Raheja why he thought Bitly was investing in partnerships now.

He pointed out a few major trends:

1. Marketing and sales channels are getting much more expensive

2. Customers are asking for products to integrate with each other

3. Partner ecosystems are a huge (compounding) competitive advantage

Every company should be watching these trends.

In the months and years to come, we will see traditional channels become more saturated, customers demand more and more personalized, in-app experiences, and competition becomes even more fierce.

Read more here.

The Ultimate Guide to Driving Revenue with Nearbound Sales

Are you wondering how to actually put Nearbound strategies into practice? We wrote the Ultimate Guide to Driving Revenue with Nearbound Sales so that you can start driving revenue with Nearbound tactics.

Jill Rowley, Jared Fuller, and Kevin Linehan share tactical steps and processes for teams to crush their revenue goals with a Nearbound motion.

Download The Ultimate Guide to Driving Revenue with Nearbound Sales for free today!

Happenings

• Lead Forensics x PartnerHacker – Thursday, May 11th, 2023, 11:30 EDT, 16:30 GMT – Unlock The Secrets of Partner Marketing with Jared Fuller – Jared Fuller will be diving deep into partner marketing tactics you may not even know you’re missing. Register here.

• PartnerHacker x OneFlow – Thursday, May 11th, at 9am EST – Surviving and Thriving in 2023: Unveiling the Secrets to Unbeatable Customer Retention and Win-Back Strategies – Join us for an upcoming live discussion with industry leaders from Oneflow, HubSpot, and Avidly, as we explore the critical roles that customer retention and win-back strategies play in driving business growth in today’s uncertain environment. Register here.

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