How Partners are Driving Customer Success with Nancy Ridge and Norma Watenpaugh

Channel Journeys Podcast

After the last episode with Jason Beal where we talked about Barracuda’s Partner Success Program, it got me thinking about the book that was recently released with groundbreaking research on how partner success drives customer success. I interviewed the book’s authors when it first came out back in episode 132. Today I’m relaunching that episode for those of you who missed it and as a refresher to those of you who heard it the first time.

In this episode, Nancy Ridge and Norma Watenpaugh, share the findings of their groundbreaking research on Partner Experience. They are the authors of an eBook titled Partners are the Customer Experience, brought to you by the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, also know as ASAP.

Their research arms you with information and data you can use to gain the internal support and budget you need to develop a partner success program in your company.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Here are ten takeaways from my conversation with Norma and Nancy that you need to know:

• Partner Influence on Customer Success: Their research highlights the critical role that partners play in the overall customer experience. Partners not only scale sales but are crucial at every stage of the customer journey, from pre-sales to post-sales.
• Research and Validation: Nancy and Norma conducted groundbreaking research showing that nearly 100% of respondents believe customer business outcomes are better through partners. This research emphasizes the need for a mindset shift regarding how businesses view partner contributions.
• Diverse and Complementary Roles: The ecosystem involves various types of partners including GSIs, ISVs, MSPs, and vendors. Each plays a unique role at different touchpoints of the customer journey, collectively enhancing the customer experience.
• Ecosystem-Orchestration: Effective partner ecosystems require orchestration, often handled by a major solution provider or integrator, who brings together the various partners and aligns their efforts with the ultimate goal of improving business outcomes for the customer.
• Customer Experience Focus: The transition from a transactional model to a subscription-based model places higher importance on customer retention and experience. This shift is reflected in the evolving role of partners, who now focus more on providing ongoing value rather than merely closing deals.
• Importance of Partner Enablement: 82% of partners expressed a strong need for continuous sales and technical enablement. This includes training, certifications, and clear communication of value propositions, which are essential for partners to effectively drive customer success.
• Business Outcomes Over Products: The research shows that today’s customers seek business outcomes rather than just products or solutions. Partners help deliver these outcomes by integrating multiple solutions and building strong relationships to retain and grow customer accounts.
• Partners Need Customer Success Services: While partners are key to implementation and managed services post-sales, only 49% provide ongoing customer success services, pointing to a gap that businesses need to address. Efficient tracking of customer success and partners’ role in it is still an area of developing focus.
• Financial Benefits of the Ecosystem: Strong partnerships not only enhance customer outcomes but also improve deal sizes, closure rates, retention rates, and overall customer lifetime value. This demonstrates tangible financial benefits to adopting a partnership-based go-to-market strategy.
• Cultural and Organizational Shift: Implementing a successful partner ecosystem requires an organizational shift, with buy-in from leadership across all functions, including sales, marketing, finance, and professional services. This ensures that the entire organization is aligned towards enabling partners and delivering superior customer outcomes.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Connect with Nancy and Norma on LinkedIn
• Get your copy of Partners Are the Customer Experience – Second Edition
• Hear How to Build the Ultimate Partner Success Program with Jason Beal
• Learn how to gain Capital Efficient Growth with Partnerships
• Try Impartner Partner Management

The post How Partners are Driving Customer Success with Nancy Ridge and Norma Watenpaugh first appeared on Channel Journeys.