Rían Lanigan’s Post

🎯 Partnership KPIs: If your target KPI is increasing your number of signed partner agreements, you’re doing it wrong! ❌ 👻 Caveat: this KPI CAN be relevant - for example at the very beginning of your partnerships journey as a way to measure your activity, or if you’re focused on rapid expansion of your partner network. ⌛ However it’s a metric that expires very quickly, because increasing signed partners does not necessarily increase revenue- in fact, it can sometimes work against it! 🥇 With partnerships, it’s quality over quantity. Focus on acquiring the right partners, and make sure those partnerships get off the ground. This can be done through structured enablement, partner cohorts, or simply organised management. As a partner leader, make sure you are choosing the right KPIs and incentivise the right activities! 🙋♀️ To learn more about setting the right partnerships KPIs, reach out to Partnership Advisory for a chat!

🤔 Ever noticed how "partnerships" in tech feels like ordering coffee at that fancy place where everything's called something Italian you can't pronounce? Alliance, channel partner, reseller, referral partner, integration partner... sometimes it feels like we're just throwing fancy words around! 😅 And hey - did you realize we're just ONE MONTH away from 2025? 🎄 Time to think about those New Year's resolutions! Here's a hot take: if "figure out B2B partnerships" isn't on your 2025 growth strategy list yet, you might want to add it! 📝 Why? I could go on about TAM expansion, market penetration, and all that jazz (again!) but let's keep it simple: They. Just. Work. 💪 In today's video, I break down some key partnership terms, but grab the full glossary below 📚 Trust me - it'll be your partnerships navigation system throughout 2025! Link to the full glossary is in the comments 👇 Consider it my early New Year's gift to help you crush those 2025 partnership goals! 🎁

Here's what we're covering in this week's edition of Wednesday #Partnership! ✅ The first step to partnership-driven growth ✅ Creating unbreakable partnerships between teams ✅ Answering: Should I advertise or invest in partnerships? Tap the tile to dive in!

Entering into partnerships without well-defined targets is like trying to hit a 🎯 bullseye in the dark. Instead of telling execs that "partnerships are the future," show them the money. Radically focus on a select number of KPIs that the C suite cares about and optimize for those. Prove how partners can shorten sales cycles, boost close rates, and increase ACVs. Now, that's a pitch the C-suite can't ignore.

What does a successful corporate partnership look like? Well, a corporate partnership, like any other partnership, has to make sure that both parties are mutually getting value. The quantity of benefit for both parties is fairly the same. Much like any other partnership, you want to also have measurements, quotas, and milestones. All that simply means is that you want to check in every 3-6 months with the data showing the impact of the partnership, wherein both parties can make sure that the relationship is delivering the value that you guys initially signed up for. You want to make sure that you have mutual benefits as equal as possible. This doesn’t necessarily have to be exclusive to money. It could mean gaining visibility, a new customer base, a new marketing strategy, or an extended product line. You also need to check in with each other, not just to make sure that the values are being met, but to ensure that the relationship is still solid, the partnership is still beneficial, and the partnership can grow. You can invest in it like an account manager – perhaps it's delivering more than it's planned, and perhaps the impact is bigger than you thought it would be. Lastly, when looking at a corporate partnership, you want to make sure that there is an opportunity to expand, grow, and renew the partnership over time. Ensure that you are learning a lot about your partner to be able to add even more value at the end of the partnership at the renewal or the expansion phase. Look for those opportunities, use them as a learning opportunity, and grow your relationship that way. #corporatepartnership #clevelcommunity #businesscommunity 

I haven't talked about this much, but it's time. I'm launching a new company aimed at helping companies manage their partnerships 🎉 Meet Pavemnt! Evan Neises and I have met with dozens of companies that rely on partnerships as one of their main growth channels. We heard a very common pain point. Partner leaders are forcing their partnership management into CRMs that aren't built for it. It's causing a lack of visibility into what is actually going on and a lack of engagement with partners. Opportunities are being missed and countless hours of partner setup time is leading to nothing. That's where we come in. Pavemnt helps you get visibility into your partnerships, keep your partners up-to-date, and double down on your best referral channel. We'll be opening up for a limited number of Beta users in the coming weeks. MUCH more to come, but if you or someone you know is still using their CRM to manage their partners, let's chat! CRMs are built for customers. Pavemnt is built for partners. (Special shoutout to Forecastr for being so dang supportive and helping me launch this on the side!)

Partnerships don't generate deals as much as deals create partnerships. The most successful, committed, sustainable partnerships aren't built on "we should", they are built on "we have". I've seen this clearly in our own partner efforts. It starts with a mutual customer, a PE firm's portfolio company that needs help building pipeline. Crush it for them and others show interest. Then you're hard to ignore. Too many partnership requests come in hot and frankly sound like all the others. We should work together! There's so much synergy! Let's build a big co-marketing campaign! OK. But first let's work on one deal. This approach takes more time. It also works.

After last week's call, three amazing, talented, and successful business owners reached out for advice on their partnership strategy. My project officially kicked off earlier this week. Things happen for a reason. I just can't believe it's time... I'll do what I love. I'll show how partnerships can grow businesses so quickly and more consistently. The great thing about it is working with people who not only need support but also recognise it and understand the value of building strong relationships. I’ve met many people in the channel sales and partnerships fields who don’t understand their audience, are judgemental towards their customers, struggle to be good team players within their organisations, avoid #networking, and yet still try to sell somehow. As a result, I have seen many upset customers and partners, as well as loads of closed lost deals. It is important to make #partnerships more visible to business owners so they generate consistent #revenue and achieve #profitability. Exciting times ahead!

I was questioned on a call today, 'What were my key takeaways in the first few months of working in the world of partnerships?', to be honest, I fudged my response, as I thought about being clever with a reply. After which, I sat down and thought in more depth about this. It's about generating new business, right? Both ways? As much as possible? Which of course it is... but to get to that point there are a number of best practises to follow and so (as I buggered up the original question) thought I would share my key takeaways on LI instead: 1) Objective Alignment - Ensure the partners you opt to work with have shared goals and a visions which compliments both your goods and services. It is imperative to identify those that are looking to make a quick return and those that are in it for the long haul. Don't just work with anyone and everyone...as tempting as this is! 2) Future Opportunity - Can we link our systems through integration now or down the line? Does future development create a conflict of interest as we grow product features? Questions like these need to be addressed early on, where can this relationship start and where can it end up? 3) Build A Compelling Value Proposition - Not every partner is looking for a rebate or 'kick back', it may compliment their services and be seen as added value only. GET THIS RIGHT (as you may be giving away revenue when you don't need to). Also, make sure sales teams are enthused through incentivised programmes or you will lose their interest very quickly. 4) Continuous Communication - In the world of partnerships it is easy (enough) forming the relationship, it becomes trickier making sure the partnership develops to improve on delivery and increase ROI. Regular account meetings, lead tracking processes/tools and information around your system updates does not just help the partner to sell 'better' but it means you don't get lost in a sea full of their non-active partners. Quite straight forward tips for those that understand the role. However, for those that don't have a dedicated partner lead, these steps have essentially been what has made it key to early success for us in forming strong relationships, with trusted and like minded businesses, that will help us to continue to grow iAM Compliant at the exciting pace at which we have seen to date. #growth #partners #objectives #opportunity #valueproposition #communication 👬 🚀 📈

Struggling to get partnerships? Here’s how you can be more effective at it: Focus on the right partners. You’ll have to do outreach just like anything else But a partnership message needs to: → Showcase mutual benefits → Make them feel special A partnership outreach message shouldn't feel like a sales pitch They should feel lucky that you reached out. The goal for the message is to create enough curiosity to get them on a call Once on a call, have an open brainstorming session Many times the outcome is much better than you thought You’ll often chat about: 👉New hidden strategies 👉Upcoming events 👉Mutual goals These chats will give you a deeper understanding You’ll uncover the best way forward, naturally Let me know if you agree or disagree👇 P.S. DM me if you want a templated partnership outreach message