Developing partnerships programmatically: Touchpoints you should automate first

Canalys, Partnership Leaders, and Hubspot released their "State of Partner Ops and Programs 2022" report. 

I found one graph particularly interesting. When asked to rank partner and channel program goals by importance, the following three made it to the top:

1. Implement a scalable partner program with repeatable processes

2. Enabling partner GTM teams

3. Effectively and efficiently communicating with partners 

I might be slightly biased, but I believe those three goals are linked.

Hear me out! 

When I look at these goals, it seems that what partnership executives are looking for is the following:

Scalable, efficient, and effective ways to communicate with and enable partners.

Yes, I know the goals above encompass more. Yet I do believe that this is an essential piece to the puzzle. 

Here's the good news: Marketing & Sales had similar challenges years ago and figured it all out. So we won't have to reinvent the wheel, but it's important to understand that selling is not the same as building relationships. 

So how do we efficiently and effectively communicate with and enable partners at scale?

Full disclosure: it's hard work. There are no shortcuts. We're familiar with those one-size-fits-all newsletters and other "general updates." If you want to do more than clutter your partner's "unread" tab, you'll need to do more. That approach may be scalable, but it sure isn't effective.  

The good news: there is a blueprint

As I said earlier, it's fortunately been done before. What we're talking about here is partner lifecycle management. Think of it as a way of approaching each person within each partner organization in light of the stage they're currently in.

It's a structured communications and enablement process that can be automated. Not all of it, but some. The goal is to create better and more effective partnership experiences while ensuring the setup is scalable and doesn't require more and more partner managers. 

Touchpoints in the partner lifecycle 

The following paragraphs will discuss the different stages and touchpoints along the partner lifecycle. We've identified them through conversations with partner managers, CEOs, and revenue executives. They're also the foundation of what we do at Superglue. 

We've even turned many of them into blueprints our customers can access and customize to communicate better with their partners. However, using Superglue to implement what I will tell you is always advantageous! 

When you think about scaling your partner program, these are the things you should focus on first. 

As you can see below, there are many touch points along the partner lifecycle (I removed quite a few for the sake of simplicity). Let's focus on five of them to help us answer the question we asked earlier: how do great relationships get built in a scalable manner? 

Let's dive in.

Welcome & onboarding: lots of excitement, then silence?

Partner onboarding often happens like this:

You present your company at a partner's lunch & learn session. The presentation goes well, and you engage 15-20 sales reps you've never met before. Everyone goes home on a high note, and you send a nice (but long) follow-up email. It's got some spiffy slides and resources, like the login details to your PRM. The reps open your email. Some even check out the slides you've attached. Then, they move on. 

Touchpoints beyond the presentation

What's wrong with this picture? Nothing is wrong; it's just not complete. What should follow is a series of touchpoints over the coming weeks. Start by explaining to these reps what's in it for them: how does this developing partnership help them to be more successful in their roles? How will it enable them to win more deals? Perhaps most importantly, you must show them why this partnership is exceptional and why they should show their interest in it. 

At Superglue, we have identified a blueprint for finding that delicate relationship-boosting balance. And it's not as complicated as it seems. But it does require you to gradually onboard partners over time, slowly winning their trust and ensuring that they know who you are and then making them want to know more. One long email may be scalable, but it sure isn't effective. First, you build trust and excitement, then ask for their support (or better: they do it because they like you). 

Training & enablement: timing is everything

You probably have a PRM or other destination where partners can learn about your solution. If you want them to get excited enough to start using it, you must motivate them by triggering their curiosity and demonstrating why it's relevant to their lives. 

Identify when your partners are ready for training - and when they will benefit from it. At that point - and not before - you should be sending them to this destination. In other words, you must be attuned to the partnership life cycle to identify the right time to nudge it into the next phase.

And if you know it's the right time, they'll know it, too. It won't be lost on them that you timed your communications according to their needs rather than your own. This is a great way to show that you care, know what they need, and have what it takes to help them win.

The hard part is figuring out those triggers and getting the timing right. There are ways to do this and proven best practices. It isn't worth sending them long manuals about what to do right after the first call. Some trigger these training and enablement sequences several weeks after creating a new partner contact in your CRM. Others refine triggers further. 

Check-ins and inactivity: when it's been a while

You know that friend from high school that calls you after ten years of silence, asking for a favor? 

That feels like exploitation because it is. And it's the exact opposite of how you want to treat your partners. This is especially true regarding the "less important" people in your partner organizations. They, too, want to be valued, and neglecting them could be a mistake down the line. All it takes is a timely, relevant check-in to show that you're still there and you're invested in the relationship. The best check-in makes the other person feel there is no agenda behind it. It doesn't take much effort, and it's an opportunity to keep the flame going. 

Take advantage of that opportunity because the more inactive the relationship becomes, the more likely a partner will forget about you entirely. And once that has happened, you need to start building the relationship from scratch. Personalized communication is all it takes to keep things from falling back to square one. 

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Successful co-selling: keep everyone in the loop 

Co-selling is one of the most powerful and effective developing partnership. But it's not just about a great intro or getting your partner's teams on a call with yours. It's also about keeping people posted on what's happening when they're not around.

All too often, you hand over a lead to an AE, and after an initial burst of activity, they forget about the partner. Put yourself in that partner's shoes. At the very least, you'd feel undervalued. Even worse, you would feel like they had taken advantage of you. This is a quick way to ruin a relationship.

Partners want to stay updated so that the next time that customer talks to them, they know how to support you.

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Happiness & recognition: the most human touchpoint

The deal goes through, the dynamo of a partner who made it happen gets their commission, and everyone moves on. We're all good, right?

Wrong.

The commission is given. Do you want to be just another partner, or do you want to be indispensable? Remember, these are not (just) transactional relationships. They're built on trust and collaboration. Asking your partners how happy they are about a recent success is more important than you think. 

Feelings matter, not just facts.

We all get how important this is when it comes to customers. Companies care deeply about their customers' scores on Net Promoter Score surveys because they understand that success doesn't end with a sale. How do customers feel? How likely are they to evangelize on your behalf? These questions are vital to long-term growth. 

So, consider sending NPS surveys to your partners. Or ask them how happy they are and whether there is something you can improve. After all, how they feel about you is a powerful driver of future engagement. When they do something for you, don't forget to thank them, and do it with a personal touch. Great B2B gifting options exist solely to enhance relationships, and you should be using them. Imagine if, after helping you win a deal, your partner received a bottle of bubbly and a thank-you note. How great would they feel? How would you feel?

That, and not just the commission, makes you stand out. Human, relational touches get partners raving about you and convince them to invest in the relationship as a long-term asset.

Summary

It's hard to over-emphasize the importance of these touchpoints and that leveraging automation to achieve scale and efficiency can be a game changer. Every time you neglect one of them, the relationship gets colder. And once it's gone, it's even harder to win back. Thankfully, the reverse is also true. You score points, build trust, and foster goodwill whenever you generate a relevant, personal touchpoint. 

The moral of the story is quite simple. Don't be the kind of partner who shows up out of the blue, asking for favors. Instead, be that partner who's available, reliable, and willing to invest in lasting developing partnership. 

Sitting down and thinking about the partner lifecycle and recurring touchpoints will help you create more scalable ways to address those top three goals. 

Want to learn more? Have a conversation with other leaders facing similar challenges. Then join Partnership Leaders.

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