Are You Easy to do Business With?

Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) is frequently cited as a key element in successful partnering. In my business, I often find that partners cite that they partner with the Big Brand Gorilla in their market because they have to—customers demand it. But if they're given a choice, they will lead with the Challenger Chimp, a [...]

By |2023-06-22T18:48:13+00:00June 22, 2023|

Are You a Trusted Advisor?

As published in Forbes.com In the world of ecosystem partnering, everyone clamors to be "the trusted advisor," often without fully understanding what that means. Not every partner in your ecosystem can lay claim to that role—a role that, as it turns out, can be multifaceted. It’s possible to claim that role at a strategic level [...]

By |2023-06-01T02:20:48+00:00May 27, 2023|

Sleeping with the Frenemy

or How to Build Successful Partnerships with the Competition as published in Forbes.com. In the complex landscape of today’s business ecosystems, it is almost inevitable that companies with a large network of partners are, in fact, competing with some of those same partners. This has given us "co-opetition," a term that is derived from "cooperative [...]

By |2019-09-16T16:34:10+00:00August 19, 2019|

The Profile of Successful Alliance and Partner Leaders

star performers The role of a partner manager is to enable innovation, growth and competitive advantage through partnerships. That’s quite a tall order and implies quite a skill set to deliver. There are defined skills, aptitudes and attitudes of a highly successful partner manager.  They are skilled at adapting to an ever-changing environment [...]

By |2019-07-24T20:01:21+00:00February 27, 2019|

Are you Ready to Collaborate?

Imagine you have just joined a new high-flying company, leading the partnering organization.  You are full of aspirations and optimism.  This is going to be great!  A nascent partner organization that you can shape and grow to meet the astounding growth potential of this booming market. Then you quickly come to realize that this organization is [...]

By |2018-09-11T18:25:42+00:00March 13, 2018|

The Next Generation Partner Ecosystem

Business models have fundamentally changed from selling and buying gear to responding to how customers consume technology and how it changes their businesses. We are experiencing seismic changes in the tech industry driven by the convergence of SMAC (social media, mobile computing, analytics and cloud technology), the change in technology consumption, the rise of Digital [...]

By |2018-09-14T21:18:33+00:00September 28, 2017|

Partners ARE the Customer Experience

When we talk about digital transformation, so much about it is about the customer experience. At a recent ASAP Tech Partner Forum, Tiffani Bova from Salesforce cited an example of how as a consumer, you might order a Starbucks, from your Tesla, through Alexa. When you drive up to pick up your coffee, it has [...]

By |2018-07-27T18:50:25+00:00July 31, 2017|

Collaborating at the Speed of Digital Transformation

Recently I was invited to facilitate a roundtable/workshop at the June 7, 2017 ASAP Tech Partner Forum in Santa Clara, Calif., centered on digital transformation. We heard from many experts and pioneers in the technology space about the challenges and changes they were navigating. It was like drinking from a firehose. The workshop on “Managing [...]

By |2018-07-27T18:50:25+00:00July 24, 2017|

Strategic Partnerships – Strategic to Who?

How do you engage when your partner is strategic to you – but you are not strategic to them. My partner thinks of me as a supplier, or a channel, or 'fill-in-the-blank.' How do I become a strategic partner?  This is a common refrain from startups and small companies wanting a relationship with a big [...]

By |2018-09-10T18:12:55+00:00January 18, 2017|

Recruiting the Right Partners for Maximum Results

Do you Have the Right Channel for your Future? The Buyer's journey has changed in the past few years.  Has your channel strategy kept up?  Have your partners?  How are you transforming your channel to address how buyers buy? How is your channel changing to keep up? Here are some facts about the new world: [...]

By |2018-09-11T19:59:49+00:00August 4, 2016|