Nearbound Daily #598: American Airlines' Recent Mistake Validates The Nearbound Era
American Airlines recently upset customers with its distribution strategy. Instead of continuing to support customers booking through third-party sites and travel agencies, the company wanted to compel customers to make bookings directly with the airline.
Welcome to the Nearbound Daily Newsletter—the #1 partnerships newsletter in the world keeping thousands of partner professionals on top of the latest industry principles, tactics, and trends. nearbound.com is a project of Reveal. Join the movement here. And ask NearBot a question here.
PRINCIPLES
Partnerships 101: step zero
Partnerships are not rinse-and-repeat. They're company-specific.
Xiaofei Zhang (Head of Platform and Strategic Partnerships at Active Campaign) makes this point clear.
Step zero is what happens even before you define your co-sell strategy.
Step zero is this: begin with an internal assessment of your company's strategy.
Schedule a meeting with the leaders in your Go-To-Market (GTM) teams to get an understanding of your company's rhythm of business.
Why? Because any great partnership strategy takes into account business objectives and partnership department objectives.
TACTICS
Five expert tips for co-selling with partners
Co-selling has always been a formidable strategy for driving revenue, but lots of partner leaders and companies do co-selling wrong.
If you've ever experienced misaligned incentives, lack of clear communication, or inefficient processes while trying to co-sell, keep reading.
We asked seasoned partner leaders, Kevin Linehan, Jason Yarborough, and Jared Fuller, what they'd keep in mind while building a co-selling program.
- Clarity.
As partners, we often make assumptions about each other’s roles, responsibilities, and expectations which can lead to confusion and missed opportunities. Clearly communicate your desired outcomes, define roles and responsibilities, and set realistic expectations for each stage of the co-selling journey. - Fix your structural problems first.
- The biggest mistake B2B SaaS companies make is a structural problem, not an execution problem. The existence of an overlying Nearbound strategy vs. a singular partnerships department is what sets the winners apart from the strugglers, respectively.
Partnerships is not a department. Partnerships is a strategy, an overlay, and a commitment. - Put yourself in your AE's shoes—they aren't partnership experts.
Invest quality one-on-one time with your Account Executives (AEs). Remember, not all AEs have experience selling with partners, and some may not even realize they need assistance. Don't just assume they've got it. - Stay aligned with company objectives.
When deciding which co-selling opportunities to go after with your partners, build your target list of prospects so that it is aligned with what both your company and the partner’s company deem the most important prospect accounts. - Once you have the list of opportunities that best align with your shared goals, organize the segment data by rep and team
- Document progress and future next steps.
Always review the necessary data and document the progress of your program so that everyone is on the same page.
Bonus tip for Reveal users:
Use the 360° Goals to identify existing customers who are also potential customers of your partners, as well as open deals that your partners have with customers who could benefit from your offerings. By mapping out these accounts, you can uncover opportunities for collaboration and mutual benefit.
FROM THE ECOSYSTEM
American Airlines forgets the cost of friction
American Airlines recently upset customers with its distribution strategy.
Instead of continuing to support customers booking through third-party sites and travel agencies, the company wanted to compel customers to make bookings directly with the airline.
Under the strategy, American sought to rework its contracts with corporate travel agencies and customers, cutting perks and discounts. It also slashed its sales team.
Jay McBain (Chief Analyst of Channels, Partnerships, and Ecosystems at Canalys) noted the problem with this strategy in a LinkedIn post.
Companies today are overestimating customer loyalty.
In the past legacy companies could get away with high-friction buying experiences because customers were loyal to brands. Today, customers don't feel the same brand affinity that they used to.
They want frictionless buying experiences, and they'll go to the companies who offer it.
That's why this is the Nearbound era—companies are turning to partners to surround their customers with trust and ease.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Stuff you don't want to miss!
- TODAY—June 5th—The Future of Integrations—The average company uses 130 SaaS products, and counting. Join Jan Arendtsz (CEO at Celigo) and Franz-Josef Schrepf (Strategic Partnerships at StreamYard) to discuss how customers will integrate their tool stack and workflows in the future. Register here.
- Nearbound Summit 2023 Recordings—The future of GTM is nearbound. Watch the recordings to hear how B2B leaders across departments unite with Nearbound strategies and tactics. Listen here.
You're all caught up.
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See you tomorrow
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