Boost your GTM strategy with Ecosystem-Led Growth (ELG). Discover 4 proven ELG plays to increase deal velocity, expand reach, and unlock new revenue opportunities.
Let’s face it, 2024 taught us a tough but important lesson: we can’t hit our revenue goals alone. Collaboration isn’t just helpful; it’s essential.
LeanData’s 2024 State of Go-to-Market Efficiency Report reveals a staggering reality: 71% of B2B GTM teams found meeting revenue targets challenging in 2023. And in 2024? That number skyrocketed to 96%.
Not exactly the motivational kickoff you were hoping for in Q1, right?
But here’s the good news:
Companies investing in Ecosystem-Led Growth (ELG) are 24% more likely to meet or exceed their 2024 revenue targets.
ELG leads are 24% higher in quality than traditional leads, deals that involve partner collaboration close 38% faster, and they’re 24% more likely to close — numbers traditional GTM strategies often struggle to achieve.
Why?
Because ELG leverages the power of customer referrals, partner networks, and executive involvement to unlock new revenue opportunities in ways siloed strategies simply can’t.
Still skeptical? Just look at the results:
- Daniel O’Leary, Director of Partnerships at Box, and his team had 27% shorter average deal cycles when involving partners.
- According to Allbound’s The Year of Partnerships report, deals are 53% more likely to close when a partner is involved.
- Sendoso calculated that partner-influenced deals close 28 days faster on average than non-partnership deals.
- Okta Ventures surfaced 60 Ecosystem Qualified Leads for its portfolio companies in just two weeks.
- RollWorks reduced churn by 3.5x and expanded account revenue post-sale.
- Bombora discovered a hidden pipeline and closed $100K in 2 months.
- Fivetran has incorporated their partner ecosystem into every facet of their Go-to-Market model, in turn growing to over 5,000 customers and surpassing a $5 billion valuation.
- Intercom rolled out ELG playbooks to create a virtuous cycle of ecosystem development that led to + 30% more sourced revenue.
So, what’s the secret?
It’s all about tapping into the relationships and data that already exist in your ecosystem.
By strategically leveraging your partner network, you’re not just reaching new audiences — you’re accelerating sales cycles, improving lead quality, and unlocking hidden opportunities.
Let’s break it down with real-life ELG success stories from Crossbeam to inspire your next move.
Use case #1: ELG for customer success
Leveraging integrations to increase product adoption
The problem: Crossbeam built an integration with a key partner, but adoption was lagging despite customer enablement and promotional efforts.
Solution: Partner intel
The play: Instead of guessing, Crossbeam tapped into ecosystem data shared by their partner to identify joint customers who hadn’t activated the integration.
This account mapping view helped them identify who from their customers was either unaware of the integration or still leveraging both platforms separately.
Their next step was to build up a JVP and then empower each CSM to get in touch with their accounts. In the end, they increased adoption, improved retention, and even upsells — all by leveraging insights they already had access to.
In case you want to learn how Fullstory builds their tech partnerships program with Reveal’s help to increase their renewal rate by 14%.
Use case #2: ELG for sales
Closing the deal with a hesitant CRO
The problem: The team secured buy-in from most stakeholders except the CRO, who wasn’t sold on the value of an ELG motion. This particular CRO wasn’t much into the technical process, but wanted to know how exactly his ecosystem was going to help him close deals faster — he needed to see the impact.
Solution: Ecosystem data
The play: After talking to the account manager and the sales rep in charge of the account, the team decided to get a bit of support from the C-level — that’s right, your colleagues can also be your partners.
Once they had new insights about the CRO’s pain points, they demonstrated ELG’s impact by showing the CRO a custom report of their top 20 deals.
The report highlighted overlaps and partner involvement, providing a clear picture of ELG’s contribution to revenue growth. They even set up a Salesforce dashboard with weekly performance updates, making it easy for the CRO to track progress — exactly what he was looking for.
Ready to unlock the power of ELG for sales? Register now for personalized guidance on building a winning GTM motion!
Use case #3: ELG for partnerships
Growing the network
The problem: After merging with Reveal, Crossbeam discovered dormant customers who had never activated their accounts.
Solution: Partner influence
The play: These customers remained inactive until a couple of months after, when the Crossbeam team started their crossboarding plan, which helped them enable their Crossbeam workspace and understand the features so they could build reports and workflows as closely as possible to what they had on Reveal.
What boosted their efforts was that besides having 1:1 with the Crossbeam team, some of the customers received guidance and best practices from their existing partners who were on Crossbeam or from the ones who were a bit ahead on the crossbearding process.
This helped to accelerate network growth and dormant accounts became engaged, expanding reach and driving more connections.
As an extra resource, learn from Rachel Fefer, Head of Channel Sales at Bloomreach, the 10 lessons for SaaS orgs transitioning to partner implementations.
Use case #4: ELG marketing
Expanding your reach
The problem: A co-marketing campaign with a partner fell flat, failing to reach the intended audience and engagement.
Solution: A broader partner network
The play: Instead of relying on one partner, the Crossbeam team expanded their reach and drove better engagement by collaborating with multiple partners who shared a similar ICP.
They provided ready-made templates to partners for email campaigns, social media, and newsletters — making it easy for them to amplify the message.
This might sound contradictory, and many people would ask why the first attempt wasn’t as successful if they were leveraging a partner. The truth is that the more partners you involve the more chances you have to be successful, in this case, the more they partnered, the more audiences they could reach.
To keep learning about market expansion with partners, here’s a resource that could be valuable for you: Expanding to a new persona or market? Your partners can help you dive in with grace.
Running ELG plays and winning big
When you incorporate ELG plays into your GTM motion, you’re not just throwing darts and hoping something sticks — you’re leveraging trusted relationships and actionable data to deliver results faster.
With platforms like Crossbeam, you can uncover hidden opportunities, accelerate deal cycles, and drive higher close rates.
Start with Crossbeam’s free Explorer plan to see partner intel in action — or better yet, book a free ELG Strategy Call to learn proven ELG plays and get step-by-step strategies tailored to your business.
Don’t wait until you’re part of that 96% of companies that can’t reach their goals — unlock the power of partnerships and hit your revenue goals this year.
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