Bold Journeys Podcast

By Rob SpeeReligion & Spirituality Education Self-Improvement Religion

Bold Journeys Podcast episodes

March 26, 2024 136 Rob Spee: 5 Levers for Partner Sourced Business – CJ136
Rob Spee, SVP Partner Ecosystems at BeyondTrust and host Channel Journeys shares five partnering levers you can use to drive more partner sourced business.
11 min
March 13, 2024How to Make Partnering a Business Strategy with Jill Rowley
How does your company view partnering? Is it a functional department siloed from the rest of the organization? Perhaps it’s integrated into your sales strategy. But it stops there. One of the messages I’ve been promoting discussing with ecosystem leaders and analysts is that partnering has to be much, much more.
My thinking on this topic was actually inspired by today’s conversation with Jill Rowley, Strategic Advisor for Nearbound. Jill shares why partnering needs to be not just a department, but a fully integrated business strategy.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Here are some of the key things I learned from Jill:
When social networks exploded, buyers now had access to peers and communities with whom they’d rather engage than a pushy salesperson.
The ecosystem isn’t just partners, it includes peers, analysts, everything outside your four walls that your customer trusts and is influenced by.
Like Inbound and Outbound, Nearbound is the term coined to describe a sales and marketing play. It’s a strategy of surrounding the customer. How can you get nearer to those who are nearest to the customer?
People don’t want to be targeted, hunted, prospected, and interrupted. They are overwhelmed and inundated with content. They want to go to the people they trust for information.
We’re moving from the how economy to the who economy. Find out who is surrounding the customer, who can help the customer along the complete buyer journey. Go fish where the fish are swimming. Find out where your customers are swimming and become part of that network.
To execute a Nearbound strategy, starts with knowing your ideal customer profile, who else do they work with, what other technologies do they use, who are the partners who sell and implement those other technologies?
LINKS & RESOURCES
Send a personalized connection request to Jill on LinkedIn
Get a copy of the new book Nearbound and the Rise of the Who Economy
Try Impartner Partner Management
The post How to Make Partnering a Business Strategy with Jill Rowley first appeared on Channel Journeys.
45 min
March 12, 2024 How to Make Partnering a Business Strategy with Jill Rowley - CJ135
Jill Rowley, Strategic Advisor for Nearbound, shares why ecosystem partnering must now be a business strategy and not just a department or sales strategy.
45 min
February 28, 2024The 4 Success Metrics of a SaaS Channel with Angus Robertson
There’s a lot of talk about the demonstrating the ROI of the partner ecosystem as we transition to the SaaS model. The SaaS recuring revenue model is so different than the perpetual world most of us came from. How should we be thinking about the impact and ROI of a SaaS channel? To find some answers, we’re going back to my conversation with Angus Robertson who was Axcient’s Chief Revenue Officer. Angus shares how Axcient redeveloped and executed their 100% MSP channel strategy and the 4 key performance indicators he used to measure their SaaS channel success.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Here are 4 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of a successful SaaS channel strategy:
1. LTV to CAC
LTV to CAC compares the Lifetime Value of your customers to your Customer Acquisition Cost. Investors look at this ratio to see if you have product market fit and how smart you are with your marketing spend.
LTV is impacted by three variables; gross margin, churn, and how much your customers spend on your service
CAC is how much are you spend on sales and marketing divided by the number of new customers you acquire in a given period of time
A benchmark LTV to CAC ratio is 3:1
2. Demand Waterfall
The Demand Waterfall is your sales funnel that traces a buyer from inquiry to close. It looks at both the quantity of leads that you can bring in and the quality of those leads.
Look at impressions on social media. Impressions can be how many people see your ad or look at a post on one of your social media channels, and then how that translates into visits to your website and into leads.
Categorize your leads in two different ways; a thought leadership awareness, nurture type lead, and a lead that is already in a buyer cycle or has a funded project.
Build a dashboard pulling data from your marketing and sales automation tools to see the whole demand waterfall and measure your lead conversion ratios.
3. Sales Velocity
Sales velocity looks at how quickly leads are moving through your pipeline and how much value new customers are providing. It’s a key sales measurement as it tells you how quickly you are making money.
To calculate your sales velocity, look at your number of sales opportunities you’re working in each period, multiplied by the average deal size, and then multiply it again by the win rate, and divide that number by the length of your sales cycle.
Compare your sales velocity in different sales territories, from different campaigns, or even different channels. From that you can determine which territories, campaigns, or channels are doing better than others.
4. Net Promoter Score
NPS, or Net Promoter Score is used to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. It also measures your ability to create advocates or champions in your customer base or in your channel.
NPS comes from the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend our organization to a friend or colleague?”
Based on the number your customers or partners choose, they are classified into “Detractors,” “Passives,” and “Promoters.”
At NPS above 50 is excellent. Above 70 is world-class.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Follow Angus on LinkedIn
Hear Joe Golemba talk about his KPIs for the Modern Partner Ecosystem
Try Impartner Partner Management
The post The 4 Success Metrics of a SaaS Channel with Angus Robertson first appeared on Channel Journeys.
39 min
February 28, 2024 4 Key Metrics of a SaaS Channel with Angus Robertson – CJ134
Angus Robertson, now Partner & Fractional CRO at Chief Outsiders, shares the 4 key metrics he used while CRO at Axcient to measure their SaaS Channel success.
39 min
February 14, 2024The Future of Digital Distribution with Jen Anaya
Cloud marketplaces have gotten a ton of buzz, but what’s going on in distribution? How are the classic value add distributors (VADs) responding to the rapid growth of the AWS, Azure, and Google marketplaces? One VAD who’s not resting on their laurels is Ingram Micro.
Ingram is rolling out a new digital platform that is a game change for partners and vendors. Today’s guest, Jennifer Anaya, is Ingram’s SVP of Global Marketing. Jen shares the new norm of distribution driven by Xvantage, their digital experience platform enhanced with AI and machine learning.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Here’s what I learned is possible in the new norm of digital distribution with Xvantage:
A new digital experience. Xvantage is Ingram’s new digital experience platform that is aimed at providing a seamless, unified experience for partners and vendors, removing complexity and freeing up more time to service customers.
New buyer data. There are six different brands on every purchase that is made by partners from Ingram Micro. Ingram is capturing this data that tells the story of what products partners and their end customers are buying together.
More personalization. Xvantage is powered by a global real time data mesh containing years of transactional data, with proprietary engines enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for a personalized experience.
A single pane of glass for partners. Partners get faster configure / price / quoting, recommendations on what else to include in the order, automated order tracking, and view across all their business with Ingram in a single pane of glass.
Greater visibility for vendors. Vendors gain visibility to quote and order status, recommendations on other vendors to work with, and the ability to do more personalized and integrated marketing at scale.
Targeted marketing automation. Xvantage helps vendors achieve 3 marketing objectives: acquire new partners, acquire net new logos, and engaging partners to gain more mindshare and loyalty. Make sure you know what you’re looking to accomplish.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn
Hear Frank Vitagliano on How to Use Distribution to Drive Innovation
Try Impartner Partner Management
The post The Future of Digital Distribution with Jen Anaya first appeared on Channel Journeys.
33 min
February 12, 2024 The Future of Distribution Marketplaces with Jen Anaya - CJ133
Jen Anaya, SVP Global Marketing at Ingram Micro, shares the new norm of distribution driven by Xvantage, their digital experience platform enhanced with AI.
33 min
January 31, 2024How to Amplify Customer Experience with Nancy and Norma
Your gut probably tells you that partners amplify the customer experience, but you’ve lacked the data to prove it. Now I have the data you’ve been looking for and some tips on how you can drive customer success.
In this episode, Nancy Ridge and Norma Watenpaugh share the findings of their groundbreaking research on Partner Experience. They are the authors of an eBook titled Partners are the Customer Experience, brought to you by the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, also know as ASAP.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Here are just some of the key findings of their research:
The Ecosystem Experience. It’s more than just partner experience. It’s about ecosystem experience. Different partners touch customers at every point of the customer journey. And the end of the day, the product you’re offering is a business outcome. And many times you need other partners to complete the solution, and a systems integrator to pull them all together.
Hidden Influence. There’s a lot of unseen influence taking place. 87% of customers would say the partner identified the opportunity, but only 60% of the opportunities are transacted by the partner. Attribution of influence partners continues to be a massive challenge, both for the C-Suite who don’t see the influence and the sales reps who don’t always want that attribution to be recognized.
The Ecosystem Orchestrator Advantage. Partners who take a more holistic ecosystem orchestrator role, orchestrating the value proposition around the customer and the business case, have an advantage over a narrowly defined vendor or partner providing a single product.
Customers Say Partner Enablement is King. Partner enablement is the number one thing customers want vendors to be providing to their partners, highlighting their view of the importance of partner success. Customers realize better business outcomes with partners, especially when they have expertise and specialization in the customer’s industry.
Partners Are the Customer Experience. With the transition to the subscription-based world, customer success is everything for retention. Partner success is customer success is vendor success. All three go hand in hand. Benefits of the partner ecosystem approach include increased deal size, higher close rates, higher retention, and stronger customer lifetime value
LINKS & RESOURCES
Connect with Nancy and Norma on LinkedIn
Get your copy of Partners Are the Customer Experience
Learn how to gain Capital Efficient Growth with Partnerships
Hear How Customer Experience Drives Partner Success
Try Impartner Partner Management
The post How to Amplify Customer Experience with Nancy and Norma first appeared on Channel Journeys.
43 min
January 30, 2024 How to Amplify Customer Experience with Nancy Ridge and Norma Watenpaugh - CJ132
In this episode, Nancy Ridge and Norma Watenpaugh share the findings of their groundbreaking research on Partner Experience. They are the authors of an eBook titled Partners are the Customer Experience, brought to you by the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals.
43 min
January 17, 2024How to Get Your Reps to Embrace Partners with Jules Johnston
A big challenge almost everyone in the channel has to face is how do you get direct sellers to embrace partners? Whether you’re just starting in building a channel or you’ve got a long-standing partner program, you’re going to have sellers who don’t understand the value partners bring, or don’t know how to engage partners effectively. That’s the question we’re going to answer today.
Jules Johnston, SVP of Global Channels, faced this challenge at Equinix, a massive digital infrastructure company with over $7 billion in revenues. Jules stood up a global channel organization in a company that had been selling 100% direct for 20 years. It was a monumental task, both from a human and systems perspective, with everything designed for direct sales. Learn how she succeeded in gaining the mindshare of both her direct sellers and the partner community.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Here are some great tips from Jules on how to get your direct sellers to embrace channel partners:
Understand your seller’s motivation. Direct sellers aren’t against the channel or against you. They are just for themselves. You have to make the channel impactful and helpful for them.
Align with your sellers’ compensation model. Start with a comp neutral strategy so the partner discount doesn’t impact the seller’s compensation. Or, better yet, provide an incentive that makes it more lucrative for your sellers to work with channel partners.
Align your sellers with the right partners. Make sure you are aligning your sellers with the right partners who have overlapping customers, offer a strong value proposition, and have adjacent products and services to offer.
Start with what your customers need. Make sure your customers see the benefit in your sellers co-selling with your partners.
Hire channel savvy sellers. When hiring new direct sellers, hire those who have partner co-selling in their DNA.
Know the partner close plan. Teach your sellers how to work with partners to build a “path to paper”, understanding what it takes to close the deal, where the partner sees it in their forecast, and all the steps to get a PO from the partner.
Celebrate your heroes. Make heroes out of your sellers who are early adopters of the channel. Make sure all the other sellers are hearing of their successes with partners to spread channel DNA across the company.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Connect with Jules on LinkedIn
Check out the Top 5 Ecosystem Plays for 2024 with Jay McBain
Hear 10 Ways to Measure Partner Ecosystem Performance
Try Impartner Partner Management
The post How to Get Your Reps to Embrace Partners with Jules Johnston first appeared on Channel Journeys.
42 min