Play #003 When Should Partnerships be Part of the GTM Strategy?

Welcome to Play #003 of the Founders GTM Playbook Newsletter. Each week I will bring you one GTM play that is tested through scaling multiple 7-figure B2B businesses that you can put into action to scale your business.

In today's issue, we are going to talk about partnerships and how they can play a crucial part in the go-to-market strategy from day one. In the past partnerships have been something that companies don't pay attention till they mature a bit but the landscape has changed according to Jared Fuller at Partner Hacker. They are incredible work to inform people about what's working and what's broken with partnerships. I know after scaling four companies with two having an emphasis on partnerships as a major growth channel that having a successful sustainable partnership program is difficult. There are three different types of partnerships you can think about Tech, Channel, and Strategic partnerships. They are all equally valuable but you might want to focus on one-two at first before going all in on all three at the same time.

1. Tech Partnerships

Tech partnerships are when two tech companies partner up to integrate their products. Tech companies need to be thinking about tech partnerships from day one. In 2022 customers today expect your product to play nice with current tools in their stack. Not being intergrated with essential tools like CRM or email as an example will hinder growth. Potential customers make integrations a primary requirement when purchasing new technology. You want to think about the problem(s) you solve and what other tools users would need in their workflow while using your product. A great example of this is the personality Al in Lavendar  a cold email tool that is powered by Humantic. These are the most significant partnerships to establish in the early days. Good customer feedback will help build the roadmap of tech partnerships and help you rank them in priority.

2. Channel Partnerships

Channel partners can be an extension of your sales team. These are companies that have customer crossover with you. These can be a two-way street where each company recccomends customers to each other. In a lot of cases, there is a referral commission agreement in place. You will need to have the process, people, and tech in place to track revenue attribution and partner commissions properly. Lack of transparency is the fastest way to lose the trust of your partners. There is even tech that Adam Pasch turned me on to that helps two companies find account crossover, it's called Crossbeam.

3. Strategic Partnerships 

These can be some of the most powerful partnerships and can be whatever they need to be to create a wining scenario for your business goals and for the partner. It can be as simple as a combination of a tech and channel partnership or it be unique in each situation. With influencer marketing becoming more popular in B2B now it can also be leveraging the audience of people that are passionate about your product through social, newsletters, or podcasts.

To sum things up partnerships are important and need to ba taken seroius from day one of your GTM plan. Pick a strategy and dedicate time, resources and maybe budget to building momentum through partnerships.

See you again next week.

-CM