Updated: Mar 30
This article was guest written by Shohei Narron, Technology Partner Manager at Google Cloud
Read more about this series in this introduction article.
I had the pleasure of interviewing five partnership leaders to understand their approach to account mapping, as well as best practices and pitfalls. I’ll be posting one conversation per week for the next five weeks in the hopes of elevating partnerships in the minds of sales organizations, if not to just make everyone’s lives a little easier.
Toni Rothpletz
Channel and Strategic Partnerships, Tealium
Background and Context: “While I have 50 partners I’m assigned to, I mainly work with about 10 technology partners and two global agency / consulting firms on a weekly basis.”
Different Approaches to Account Mapping: “Account mapping goals are totally different between partner categories. Tech partners are much more detailed — sales rep mapping in
Google Sheets, making sure we have pipeline information for the next few quarters, and listing active opportunities. An agency, on the other hand, wouldn’t really be in Crossbeam or working on account mapping since they’re cautious about giving out client information.
They usually just reach out to me for intros to our account team for specific opportunities.”
What Comes After Account Mapping: “Once you’ve created a list of accounts, create a smaller list of 20 accounts — five prospects each from your side and the partner, and 10 active opportunities you’re both involved in. Focus on these opportunities for maximum results.”
Finding Out Your Sales Champion: “Knowing which sales rep is partner-friendly or not is very important. Sales reps who take the time to understand integrations are usually the smart ones who know how to leverage the partner ecosystem to increase the chances of winning the deal at a larger size. You should absolutely work closely with them. Help them be successful — introductions based on territories is a good rule of thumb since it’s much easier to find more overlaps between that rep and your partner reps.”
