Going Undercover
Ever wish you could see through the eyes of your target partner? You’re not alone. It’s a commonality amongst all CEOs to wonder about the process their ideal customer goes through when purchasing their software, product or service, and it’s no different when it comes to partnerships. Our very own Franz-Josef Schrepf came to LinkedIn this week to share a solution for all of us.
Once a year, every CEO should try to buy their own software under a fake name just to see how insane the process is for prospects.
Genius, one would call it.
Now let’s take another approach.
Once a year every CEO should try to partner with their company under a fake name just to see how difficult the process is for prospective and current partners.
Go a step further and implement this strategy into partner onboarding. We think we can speak for everyone when saying it’s every partnership professional’s ongoing goal to have a flawless program, and well, here’s your best step in that direction.
Build, BUY or Partner: Spotify & Kinzen
The beauty of partnerships, and why they’re necessary for company growth, is that when nurtured and supported correctly, one day they can turn into something even more meaningful. We often underestimate just how similar partnerships are to real-life personal relationships.
Wednesday morning, Spotify announced its acquisition of two-year partner Kinzen. Kinzen is an Ireland-based content-moderation technology company and their software will be working within Spotify to better monitor podcasts along with other content necessary of their oversight. The technology combines both machine learning and top-notch human expertise combining knowledge from local academics and journalists.
Kinzen’s mission since its birth in 2017 is to protect the public from “dangerous misinformations and harmful content,” which the Spotify team can greatly benefit from following a PR catastrophe arising from the spread of misinformation through podcast hosts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s a reminder to pour into all of your partners – big or small.
New Partner Programs:
Joint Solutions and Partnerships:
- Genome Technologies is AGRIVI’s New Partner
- Condeco and iOffice + SpaceIQ have merged to create Eptura
Fundraising Announcement:
- WorkSpan Raises $30 million in Series C Funding for customers to drive revenue growth with their partners
Weekend Watching
This week’s Groundwork episode is with Mary Vue from Syncari, if you caught Mary at Catalyst then you already know how what a wealth of knowledge and experience she has! This is a must watch for everyone navigating internal teams and looking to create value for internal and external partners!
Countdown to Catalyst 2023 is ON
If your PCD (post-Catalyst depression) is still lingering like ours, we have something exciting to share with you. The first of many Catalyst highlight reels just came back and you get to relive the incredible networking hour & welcome reception from day one. Here’s to hoping that the connections you made here are still forming, and once again, a huge shoutout to Crossbeam and WorkSpan for sponsoring these two events, and Reveal for partnering with us on Catalyst!
Coming to a City Near You
Tuesday’s meetup in ATL was quite a success! We had an incredible group of partnership professionals networking and sharing their expertise at New Realm Brewing Company in the heart of the city. We hope everyone who attended had an incredible time and if Atlanta was a little out of the way for you, keep an eye out (+ bookmark our event calendar) because we may just be headed to your city next!
The Week’s Big Leadership Themes:
Deven Ravel (Reputation) and Marguerite Baker (Reputation) are exploring expanding their current Microsoft relationship to hopefully include a Co-Sell Status. Has anyone navigated the Azure co-sell aspect without being an Azure Shop? If so, please connect with them here.
#22_templates ask! Morgan McAlenney (Salsify) is looking for a solid Partner Marketing QBR template. The audience is Execs, Sales Leadership and Marketing. If you do, please reply to her post here.
#07_resources ask! Laura Buxton Moore (Braze) is looking for any insights into how you’ve built headcount models for non-commercially focused partnership team members. Examples are Partner Success, Partner Engagement, Partner Solutions Architects… If you do, please let her know here.
Danelle Fash (Drivewyze Inc) is seeking some advice from other Partner Marketing experts on engaging partners in ABM campaigns and if you had any insights and pitfalls to avoid/lessons learned. If so, connect with her here. This might be a good topic for a future webinar Deven Ravel!
Shameless ask! Does anyone have a lighting setup they are happy with in their home office? If so, please add any links to the thread here.
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