Building a partner business is one thing, but scaling is completely different. In this article, Tai Rattigan shares valuable insights and highlights examples of companies excelling in various facets of partnership strategy.
The Challenge of scaling your Partnership Strategy
Scaling a partnership program is no walk in the park. It’s an exciting journey full of twists and turns, but it also brings its fair share of challenges. As you aim to expand your reach, boost revenue, and forge meaningful collaborations, scaling your partnership initiatives becomes a must. A couple of weeks ago, I had a great Q&A session with the Microsoft BD team, and scaling a partnership strategy was one of the main topics. Here are the great examples I shared with them:
Top 5 examples of great partnership strategies at scale
1- Microsoft: Ingraining Partnerships in the Company Culture
Microsoft, led by Satya Nadella, has successfully ingrained partnerships into its company culture. They actively advocate for their partners, foster collaborations with “competitors,” and recognize their partners’ significant contributions by generating over 95% of commercial revenue through partnerships.
2- Salesforce: Enabling Partners to be Trusted Experts
Renowned for its commitment to partner enablement, Salesforce offers unrivaled training and certification programs. Their comprehensive resources, available both online and in-person globally, empower partners to become trusted experts in the ecosystem.
3- AWS: Creating Incentives for Customers to Work with Partners
Through their volume-based marketplace discounts, companies purchasing through the AWS marketplace benefit from a thriving financial ecosystem. This model serves as a valuable revenue and distribution channel for partners of all sizes.
4- Atlassian: Providing the Space and Framework for Partners to Sell on Your Behalf
With an extensive global field marketing empire, Atlassian excels in providing partners the space and frameworks to promote their methodologies, best practices, and tools. Their partner-led events and meet-ups worldwide create valuable opportunities for sales and growth.
5- Apple: Implementing Trustworthy Partner Ecosystems
Apple sets the benchmark in implementing robust checks and balances to ensure customer and teammate trust in their partner ecosystem. The stringent requirements for app listing in the Apple App Store, constantly evolving with emerging technologies, instill confidence in users to share sensitive information, knowing it remains secure.
Conclusion
From ingraining partnerships in the company culture to empowering partners as trusted experts and creating incentives for customer engagement, successful partnerships play a vital role in business growth. By leveraging these insights and examples, you can pave the way for impactful partnerships that fuel your organization’s success. Would you add any other examples? Join the conversation!
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