Partnering: No Gifts, Everything is Earned here
For advice on how your business can benefit from partnering, contact us today at newsletter@tenegopartnering.com
There are many great partnering stories and why they worked but there are many more that didn’t work. So why do partnerships fail even when so many things were right from the start?
Some recent comments about ailing partnership activities and why with a little more thought and effort they could have really worked:
1) “We signed the partner and then nothing happened”
We should celebrate the signing of a partner agreement as it is a key milestone but is it not success in itself. If you hired a sales person, do you just leave them to their own and expect results?
You need to help the partner get up to speed on customer selection, how to sell the product and gain confidence in selling your products and making money. Good Partner Induction and Partner Management structures can really help.
2) “You want us to help develop the market! That’s the Partners job”
If your partner sells more, then you sell more. If the partner is not very good in every part of the sales process, then it may be worth your while helping them build this capability.
There is no single formula that states that every partner has all the capabilities needed, they will have strengths and weaknesses too. It’s you’re job to sell the product, so help your partners where they’re weak or where it generates more business, but they do need to work too.
3) “We got one deal and then it was all about the difficult market”
One customer in a foreign market can be a great drain, if it costs to much to service that customer. Too often companies jump at signing a deal with a partner without any question on whether they really have the capability to sell your product.
With the effort you need to go through to win a deal alongside a partner in a far-off market, then for them to just stop at ONE deal, you have lost money here. BE SURE that they can bring much more than one deal.
4) “A key person in the company left and the relationship just died”
When the partner relationship is with only one person, then you do run this risk. Maintain multiple contacts at different levels within the partner company. Establishing numerous contacts from CEO, Head of Sales, Sales People, Pre-Sales, Marketing, Professional Services and Support maintain links from your company to your partners.
How you merge your business process with the partner’s is by your activities becoming part of theirs to help them sell and deliver your product successfully.
5) “Partnering doesn’t work for our business – We need to sell it ourselves”
There are many aspects to sales and even with complex solutions Partners can help. In your company’s sales process, the early stages of the sales process is all about the end-customers business and less about the technology.
If you look at the challenge as filling capabilities at different stages of your business process in your target, then you will find where partners can help.
For advice on how your business can benefit from partnering, contact us today at newsletter@tenegopartnering.com
