Maximising benefits with minimal resources is tricky – but can be achieved
Jason Rabbetts, Managing Director, GlassHouse Technologies (UK) Ltd

http://www.microscope.co.uk

After 15 years of developing product and indirect partnership models, the single most critical element to creating a successful partnership is ensuring that the services you supply are absolutely intrinsic to your partner’s business plan.

When the partnership goes live you want to be convincing customers “why you?” not “why the service?” so time spent researching responses from the partner customer base before committing time and resources to a partnership is never wasted. Only the identification of opportunities for both partners can stimulate the necessary commitment of resources and time and from both parties to sustain a successful partnership long-term.

Rarely have I seen more success, in terms of structure, than when the partner builds the success of your services business into their Sales compensation plan. This demonstrates true commitment and drives the behaviour both parties will need to succeed. If this compensation is not forthcoming are you sure your partner has enough demand for your services at all?

Equally don’t be tempted to try and bite off more than your partner can chew early on. Many of your services’ value propositions will be unfamiliar to your partner’s sales force, so keep the messaging simple, and just pick off one or two elements of your portfolio to start with rather than rolling in with the kitchen sink in tow. Instead match your strongest service packages, in terms of USPs and referencability, to a key sector for your partner.

Next comes identification of the best partnership model, and it is always best to keep things as simple as possible at this stage. Multiple combinations of partnership models exist, but always avoid the more complex arrangements where possible. Approaches like joint ventures, shared revenue, and risk/reward rarely work as a starting point. Simply agree a rate card for your service packages, a charging mechanism (time recording or fixed price), then let the partner mark-up from there.

From here the most critical element for successful partnerships is buy-in from the top. Once both parties are satisfied with the approach above then you should both commit some dedicated resources, ensuring the partnership is seen by your customers in a clear, positive light and that any customer requests are promptly and professionally responded to. Developing multi-level relationships between yourself and your partner from MD/CEO down is critical for this.

Ensuring your business plan is agreed with senior parties from both parties, with clear measurable, review periods, and roles and responsibilities, is also critical to ensuring mutual desire for success. Don’t just focus on measuring success criteria either – it is just as important to define parameters of failure and establish an exit strategy up front - just in case!

Having said that - winning is contagious, so shout about it loud enough that when you win some joint business your partner’s sales team hears about it. Make sure they know how it contributed to the Account Manager’s target, what else was leveraged from it, and make sure your customer’s customers hear about the key benefits the solution delivered to the end user.