How does comp drive behavior in partnership co-selling?

I’m participating in the Cloud GTM Leaders current Cohort (Cohort 10), so I can learn more about going to market with the hyperscalers. I highly recommend it for anyone whose job it is to take their product to market in one or all of the cloud marketplaces. Roman Kirsanov brings so many knowledgeable partnership pros to each session—from large and small ISVs, across many different product types, covering all kinds of unique go-to-market issues they’ve faced.

One point that stands out to me from these sessions: In nearly every presentation is rooted the idea that comp drives behavior. The basic premise is this: when you’re working hard to establish co-sell relationships with key sellers, you’re likely making the wrong assumptions about what will motivate a partner seller to work with you.

Does this talk track sound familiar? (Hint: I’ve covered motivating teams to sell and common sales strategy pitfalls related to how comp drives behavior in recent blog posts.)

Common frustrations with partnership co-selling

• Why do I present over and over to the seller teams (CSPs, AEs, PSMs, etc.), but I get no leads on new business from them?

• How many lunch-and-learns, happy hours, QBR sponsorships, etc. do I have to sponsor to get engagement from these sellers? I’ve seen no return on these investments.

Why getting traction with sellers isn’t happening

If you partner with any big tech who has thousands of partners, many with a similar ICP, finding an opportunity to stand out is really hard. Expecting them to reward you with leads is a pipe dream if you aren’t giving sellers exactly what they need at that moment in time. 

The number 1 reason you don’t get anywhere is because you’re not coming into the conversation and the relationship laser-focused on their compensation and motivations. 

So many partners spend so much time upfront in a partner-directed conversation talking about things that frankly a partner seller doesn’t care about:

• How great your product is

• How long you’ve been in business

• Why your CEO is so great, etc., etc. 

• You’ve been voted a Best Place to Work in your state

First impressions are critical when you have a very brief shot at making something out of a meeting or meeting request. 

When prepping for a meeting with a seller at your partner—or, prepping an email or LinkedIn connection request to ask for the meeting—think about what they care about most, and make that the only thing you talk about:

What do sellers really want to know? 

1. How can you help me make money (i.e. close license deals, accelerate customer consumption/spend, retire quota, etc.) at one of my accounts?

2. How can you help me close my deal with XYZ Company faster?

3. How does working with your company help me to expand further sales this year or next (more seats, more licenses, more consumption) into my existing account list?

A hyperscaler seller, for example, might have a $10M quota, own 100 accounts and already be working with 20 preferred partners, five of whom sound similar to your offering. How do you compete with that?

What value do you bring to the table?

1. Relationships: How will your relationships in the customer account help that seller? What is your company’s relationship with the account to date?

2. Burndown/consumption: How much burndown does your product consume? How much will it consume from the customer’s cloud commits?

3. Crossover sales: Are there other accounts the seller owns, who work with your company already? What key stakeholder relationships does your company have at those other accounts?

There are many important processes around orchestrating partnerships, but the stark reality is that mutually beneficial relationships are the engine that grows co-sell and revenue.

Next steps

If you’re looking to figure out how to crack the code of co-sell relationships, it certainly starts with your partnering and GTM strategy. The dream is getting leads from a partner. The reality is it takes time, a co-sell plan and a commitment to get to that point. 

If you’re interested in a conversation about how to make this into a standard process at your company, let's talk.