Partner Compatibility Strategies for MSPs, CSPs and Hosting and Other Service Providers: Part Two
Best Practices for Enabling your Go to Market Model – Part 2
Part one of this series explored the overall vendor mix and compatibility strategies in building an ecosystem, what that might look like and some of the challenges in building vendor/partner relationships. Although there is no guaranteed formula in creating and supporting these ecosystems, there are best practices to employ when managing them. Building upon these best practices will help manage the go to market strategy with the ecosystem and be successful in communication with them.
Once a few partners are chosen and the ecosystem is growing, the next step is defining a set of clear expectations for both vendor and partner. This is a critical step that is often overlooked. A partnership needs care and feeding, just like any other relationship. Setting things up clearly from the start is critical for success.
Defining the priorities and goals in the vendor/partner relationship establishes a framework to build upon. Partners should agree on what the priorities and goals are and who is responsible for them.
A good, basic joint business plan will bring all parties together to agree on priorities, goals, responsibilities and time frames.
It does not have to be anything fancy, lengthy or require weeks of effort. But it does need to provide the documentation on what the partnership is based on and why it’s being done.
Some critical elements of a business plan for a vendor/partner or partner/partner relationship are:
Clear Objective Unified Goals
This is the first step in creating a plan together. All the goals in the plan need to clearly state what the goals are and how it benefits both parties. It is at this stage that partners can clearly define the value propositions to each other and if the value propositions and joint goals align, then the rest of the plan will come together far more easily.
Stakeholders and Responsible Parties
Once the goals of the relationship are defined, stakeholders and responsible parties for each objective along the way are mapped. More than likely, this will be a combination of both the partner and vendor teams to bring the goals over the finish line.
At this stage, it’s extremely important to define ownership about who is accountable.
Timeframes
Next up would be a best-case timeline. As with all goals, timelines towards success are needed. Drawing a line in the virtual sand helps prioritize actions and base other activities around the completed outcomes. Be cautious not to be too “set in stone” with them though. Sometimes it’s necessary to reset expectations due to things out of the partners’ control. Revisit the plan and adjust as necessary.
Milestones
As with any good plan, milestones or markers of progress should be built into the planning and review process. These are the “mini goals” within a larger goal framework. These milestones will ensure that the plan is on track, and that the teams are moving forward with regard to the specific goals. Often times, these are also good markers for other activities that can be done to bolster goal related efforts, like marketing or training.
Review Cadence – When the business plan is initially laid out, the cadence of how the partners are going to check in with one other to ensure everything is on track should be established. Best practice is a formalized QBR of some kind quarterly or every other month; along with a weekly or bi monthly status check with documented accomplishments, next steps, and open issues.
The next critical step in any ecosystem is setting up the communication channels. Research shows that communication is one of the biggest stumbling blocks in partner/vendor relationships. It seems that we often struggle to get and keep this aspect working. Partners can establish guidelines for communication models that work most of the time.
People have different ways they take in information. Some like to read, some like to watch, some like to do. And in today’s world, there are many different ways to consume information. If we want to get communication to work, then we need to commit to a multi-channel, multi-format process for communicating with the teams.
Some of the most important factors to consider:
Be Consistent
The best way for us to establish communication channels with vendors and partners is to become consistent and predictable in the time and type of communications we push out to our ecosystem.
Communication channels need to be at regular, predictable times and formats. For example, if communication is through a a monthly newsletter, send it on the same day every month. This pattern will set up as an expected way for partners and vendors to receive information.
Format
As many studies have shown, people need to see, hear and talk about something seven times before it is committed to memory. Studies also show that people learn in a variety of ways, so we should consider at least 3 different delivery mechanisms for messages. As a best-case scenario, the top three should be email, video and social. These 3 types of communication have shown to be the most accepted and successful ways to communicate with vendors and partners.
Be Relevant
The biggest difference between successful and unsuccessful communication strategies comes down to relevance of material. The more relevant the message is to the audience receiving it, the more likely communications is well received. Consider a newsletter packed with marketing information. A developer or other technical person is not going to read the newsletter because it is of no value to them. Likewise, a newsletter with only technical content would be glossed over by a salesperson. The closer you can align your content with the reader, the more effective your communications become.
Enable Communication at All Levels
Establishing communications using the best practices noted here will hit most of the communications channels we need to address: sales, technical, marketing, development, and executive. Depending on the vendor chosen and the strategic nature of the partnership, aligning at the executive level is a critical best practice often overlooked.
Again, like the business planning exercise, this does not have to be a big production; instead it is a connection between the executive levels in each organization to ensure they are in alignment with the strategic visions for each company. As much time as we spend making sure the product, sales, technical and marketing is in sync, it can all be washed away if the strategic vision for either the partner or vendor changes. Making sure communication is enabled within all levels of the organization is a best practice for success.
In conclusion, building out a partner ecosystem can be a powerful differentiator for the company, the market evaluation and as an enabler to your clients’ success. If the necessary time is taken to evaluate all aspects of a potential relationship, and then manage the relationship with these industry best practices, your company will be on its way to a successful, vibrant ecosystem that positively impacts top and bottom lines.
Join me at HostingCon July 24-27 to explore partnerships in even more depth.
Source: TheWHIR