Learn how to build solutions customers actually want by tapping into what your partners already know.
Join Ben Wright and Bryan Williams’ session at Product Day at the Nearbound Summit.
The best deals help everyone win
We recently sat down with top sales leaders to dive into The State of Sales. During the interviews, we noticed a theme: they had all used nearbound to close some of the biggest deals in their careers.
And the best part? The deals helped their partners win, too.
I’ve seen the effect of a go-to-network strategy multiple times in my entire career, but there are two deals that stand out from the rest.
The first one was in 2019, and the deal was from a government institution. Thanks to the network effect that my “Industry Relations“ team at that time was able to create, we managed to close a $2.6M deal.
The Industry Relations team consisted of 5 to 10 people, and their role involved talking and doing business with people who already had the trust of our customers. So, technically, they were in charge of networking with those who could help us influence our deals.
They needed to go to conferences and connect with people so those people could refer our business. This strategy was really helpful, it opened multiple opportunities.
They helped us get intros, influence, and intel to finally close our $2.6M deal in 18 months.
The second one is more recent; it was one year ago. One of my tech partners approached me looking for intros to some of my consulting clients. And since they already trusted me, they said yes and took the call with my tech partner.
The deal between them was about $360K, and just for that intro, I got a piece of that cake, resulting in a $36K commission just for helping my partner.
Scott is speaking at the Summit!
Holy trust, Batman!
Linkon Axon shares that in order for partnership managers to become superheroes—or those who "overcome all and deliver every time"—they always need to come back to alignment and trust.
Thanks for sharing, Linkon!
Linkon writes:
Like in any rev-ops department, no joint-venture partner or end-client value = no commercial ROI.
In that order.
Partnerships are people-driven, tech-enabled, and result-focused.
They are built with relationships and based on trust to generate value.
- Do you have short-, medium-, and long-tail rev-gen strategies in place to justify your partner program?
- Can you show me how you intend to track and optimize your results based on data?
- Would you adopt your offer if it was presented to yourself?
- What is the risk of me not adopting this?
- What bandwidth is this going to take from our current resources?
- How do we know this is working?
These are all questions leadership is going to ask you when adopting/running a partnership program...
They are all based in and on just one thing: TRUST
- Trust that a program is not going to harm the brand
- Trust that they will see ROI
- Trust it will enrich not implode
- Trust they will get full stakeholder buy-in
- Trust that shared outcomes are the end goal
And if you want full partner program buy-in and sustainability, it comes down to 2 primary traits based on trust:
- The partner/client has to have complete trust in yourself and your team
- The partner/client needs complete trust in your process and outcome
So build your program with free-flowing enablement, keep the expectations clear at every stage, and trust in yourself and the process.
And in no time, you’ll be the partnership superhero you were always meant to be.
No capes.
B2B gets on the influence train
Image source: Ogilvy
Ogilvy surveyed over 550 senior leaders from B2B brands in 11 markets around the world to map the current landscape of influencer marketing in B2B.
As it turns out, B2B is all aboard the influencer train.
A whopping 75% of B2B businesses are already using influencers—which Oglivy defines as "credible expertise rooted in proven experience that contributes to professional opinion"—in their current marketing strategies.
And it’s working. Business Insider summarizes four other important takeaways that emphasize the importance of tapping influence:
- 67% of B2B influencer campaigns had more impact on the brands’ marketing performance than brand-only campaigns.
- 89% of C-suite marketers recognize that using employees as influencers holds value for their businesses.
- 90% of marketers said they believe that B2B influencers on social media are important to stay up-to-date with their industry.
- Besides LinkedIn, YouTube is the most used platform for B2B influence.
B2B marketers are quickly learning that buyers aren’t just going to take your company’s word for it. Buyers are looking to those they trust, those who’ve been to the promised land, for help.
Cast your votes for Nearbound Rookie of the Year!
This year’s Nearbound Rookie nominees are in, and we need your vote!
Our nominees are...
🏆 Coriena Merejo, Channel Program Manager at Pipedrive.
🏆 Eleana Robinson, Partner Manager at GoCanvas.
🏆 Mariana Pop, Partner Manager at Rydoo.
🏆 Matt Sobel, Partnerships Lead at Writer.
🏆 Virginie Cliquennois, Alliances & Partnership Manager at TalentView.
🏆 Supered and their CEO and Co-Founder, Matt Bolian
🏆 Securequest and their CEO and Founder, Ben Wright
You have until Wednesday, Nov. 1st, 2023 to vote for the winner.
The winner will be announced live at the Nearbound Summit, on Startup Day, Monday, Nov. 6th, at 5:30 pm ET.
Stuff you don’t want to miss!
- Join the official Nearbound Summit community brought to you by Partnership Leaders — Partnership leaders’ goal is to connect people interested in learning about partnerships around the world.
- November 1st —Firneo Partner Strategy Forum (Day 3): How to Get Executive Buy-In for Partnerships— Learn how to secure resources & support from key stakeholders that are critical to partnership success.
- November 6th-9th —Nearbound Summit 2023— The future of GTM is Nearbound. Join us for the biggest-ever remote experience in GTM where B2B leaders across departments unite to share how they’re winning with Nearbound strategies and tactics.
- Enroll before November 14th —PXP Academy Partner Manager Certification Course— Join the interactive learning session that equips you with everything you need to be successful in your daily job as an operational Partner person.
- November 16th —Elevate Your Presale GTM with Tech Partners— Learn from industry experts like Kelly Sarabyn (HubSpot), Jared Fuller (nearbound.com and Reveal), Sunir Shah (AppBind), and Alexander Buckles (Forecastable). Evolve your GTM strategy with tech partners.
- Enroll by November 17th —Firneo’s Mastering Partnerships Strategy (4-week course)— Registration is now open! Learn how to diagnose and solve your partner program’s biggest challenges from the world’s top partnership leaders. Use the code "NEARBOUND" for a 1:1 Strategy Coaching package (worth $1,000) for FREE.
- April 19th-20th —SaaS Connect 2023— It’s that time of year again! Get your spot early for the 11th annual partnership conference in San Francisco, hosted by Cloud Software Association.
Nearbound starts with you
People don’t connect with accounts, they connect with people.
At Startup Day at the Nearbound Summit, Mac Reddin, Founder & CEO at Commsor, will dive into why personal networks will help you win in the Who Economy.
