Lisa Penn is the Sr. Director of Global Indirect Partners at SAP and has been working in the partner community for many years, having started her career a partner herself.  Her take on the partner perspective is real and raw: “Partners will do what gives them the most comfort and gives them the most results until they are forced to a point where they can’t do it any longer.”

This way of approaching their businesses creates a significant challenge in the era of digital transformation.  Some partners may not be in enough pain yet to notice it, but their patterned and familiar ways are just not going to continue to net results as more and more customer buyer journeys are happening digitally and without any direct contact with the partner.

“The best way to have a partner understand digital transformation,” says Lisa, “is to have them think about their own actions.”  By encouraging partners to think like their prospects, it becomes easier for them to gain perspective of their would-be buyers, whether in B2B or B2C spaces.  “There is also a partner type out there that understands the world is changing around them, but they need help understanding that world.”