About Norma Watenpaugh

Norma Watenpaugh is the founding principal and CEO of Phoenix Consulting Group (www.phoenixcg.com) which provides education and consulting services with expertise in go-to-market strategy, channel and alliance management, and ecosystem development. She was named a Woman of Influence in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal for her work in advancing best practices in Collaborative Business Relationships and was inducted into the Forbes Business Council, an invitation only community of successful business leaders.

Do you have a Recession Strategy for Alliances?

Is there a recession on the horizon for 2023?  Some economists say we are already in one and many others are predicting one for the coming year.  Still, other economists point to a growing GDP.   I'm not an economist and would not be foolish enough to enter my prediction.  Though I do like Fortune magazine's [...]

By |2023-01-04T20:47:34+00:00January 3, 2023|

Why Partner Experience Should Be Part Of Your Customer Experience Equation

As Published in Forbes.com Great customer experience (CX) fuels revenue growth. This statement sounds like common sense—plain, simple and supported by many studies over the years. However, it takes on new meaning in today’s world as analysts, sales leaders and executives alike agree the customer journey has forever changed. CX is the crucial element that [...]

By |2022-11-01T00:28:33+00:00November 1, 2022|

How Do You Know If Your Partner Ecosystem is Healthy?

as Published in Forbes.com As companies move inexorably to ecosystem business models, this drives many changes in how we conduct business. One of the more elusive aspects of these new models is evaluating how we know they are working. How do we measure success, and what KPIs indicate a healthy ecosystem? Traditional metrics used for [...]

By |2022-09-06T22:04:05+00:00September 6, 2022|

Do you know why you need a Repeatable Delivery Model?

Getting to scale means creating repeatability in the business and for your partners In our continuing Partner-Ready Series, my colleague, Gary Lam and I have repeatedly underscored the importance of creating a repeatable sales model. Here, we give you more in-depth information on the impact of a repeatable delivery model for your software. We also [...]

By |2022-06-13T20:26:25+00:00June 13, 2022|

Post Pandemic Partnering or “Are we there yet?”

as Published in Forbes.com -  Even before Covid-19, many leaders often commented that we were experiencing a disruptive business climate. Oh, little did we know. This climate has often been called VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The phrase started with the U.S. Military to describe the new world order or rather disorder after the [...]

By |2022-04-13T18:51:43+00:00February 23, 2022|

Do You Have a Lighthouse Reference Account?

Welcome back to our Partner Readiness series, where Gary Lam and I share actionable insights to help you develop your partner program. In the previous article, we discussed the importance of creating a repeatable sales model. This makes it a perfect segue for our next topic: Lighthouse reference Accounts. What are they? Why do you [...]

By |2021-12-20T17:18:33+00:00December 20, 2021|

Creating a Repeatable Sales Model in a Targeted Vertical

Previously on this #partnerreadiness blog series, Gary Lam and I discussed the importance of creating a partner program, and how to ensure your company’s culture is indeed partner-friendly. In this article, we focus on the next element in partner readiness. Are you ready to elevate your sales model and target a specific business vertical? In this article, [...]

By |2021-11-23T23:00:37+00:00November 23, 2021|

Leading The PAC With Strategic Listening

As recently published in Forbes.com According to Forrester, 75% of world trade goes through or involves a partner before it is delivered to the end-user. This underscores that partners are an increasingly important route to market. For some businesses, it is your partner who provides the customer experience. So how can you be sure your partners have [...]

By |2021-10-30T18:14:30+00:00October 30, 2021|

Partner-Friendly? or Partner-Phobic? What is Your Company Culture?

Welcome back to our Channel Jumpstart blog series! After discussing the importance of creating a partner program in our previous article, @Gary Lam and I have once again joined forces to address one of the least asked questions in the industry: Is your company culture partner-friendly or partner-phobic? In this article, we will cover: Why you need a [...]

By |2021-10-15T15:51:58+00:00October 15, 2021|