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Happy New Year!

This inaugural edition of Ahead of the Curve identifies the top three reasons companies turn to business partners - and how to tell if it’s time for you to get more serious about partnering. There's more to come, so stay tuned.

I welcome your comments!
jw signature
 John Wilkinson
jwilkinson@thoughtwav.com





cantgetimage It's Only a Dream

Everything starts off well. The salesperson is walking through the plush green jungle snacking on fruit from the trees while the birds reward him with song. In the evening, he is comforted by the rich smell of the prey he captured that day simmering over the fire.

Without warning, he is suddenly standing in a sweltering, barren desert without shoes, water, sunglasses or his Blackberry. Miles of sand separate him from the horizon that whispers to him from every direction to come forward; yet, he cannot see what lies on the other side. He cannot tell how far the desert extends before civilization will greet him. He shudders not knowing if friendly inhabitants will welcome him, or eat him alive. He cannot move, being so overwhelmed and alone. It is then that he realizes he is sinking into the quicksand. He is fortunately awakened by cold sweat and his own embarrassing scream.

A slight dramatization, but not too far off from the fear many salespeople, managers and executives live with daily, all saddled with delivering company growth objectives, day in and day out.

“Grow or die,” is the mantra.

And, because there are only so many customers and so much market expertise one sales person can deliver, even if a superstar, companies begin adding salespeople to gain greater reach. Before they know it, cost of sales balloons and Finance begins to raise the proverbial eyebrow. “Bringing home the bear” begins to invite greater scrutiny.

At the same time, the life cycle of the company’s products & services matures, and more competitors enter the market. Customers become impressively sophisticated at evaluating options and driving down the price and margins.

It’s a jungle out there. The VP of Sales secretly worries if the next vine will support his body as he swings through the trees (a different nightmare). The VP of Marketing may already be history. While no one will say it out loud, it becomes increasingly clear that ...

We Can't Get There From Here

Until, off in the distance (usually in the Midwest), a skunkworks project begins to gain attention. A few enlightened sales folks ran into a couple of business partners within their accounts and a marriage was born. Suddenly, the local sales team is hitting the cover off the ball in reaching their numbers. It’s the buzz at the next sales conference and everyone wants to know how they did it.

Simple, they say, we sold more because there were more of us focused on the customer.

Quick: name one $1B company that doesn’t consider partnering fundamental to their go- to-market strategies (OK, besides Dell!).

Those who thrive figure out the power of partnering to scale their businesses. Partnering with a complementary company integral to the customer solution enables each company the ability to leverage each other’s sales forces and core competencies.

As for the top three reasons companies turn to business partners, ask yourself the following questions to see if partnering makes sense for you:
  1. Do I want to reach new markets, or get deeper into existing accounts?
  2. Do I need to minimize cost of sales?
  3. Is my product/service ready to climb the growth curve, or cross the chasm?
And, if you are already partnering, your questions will be slightly different:
  1. Am I getting all I can from my partners?
  2. Is my partner value proposition compelling?
  3. Am I calling on the right partners?
But, that’s a topic for another newsletter.
Partnering puts into motion the opportunity for tremendous growth, reduced cost of sales, and a competitive advantage.

Sure, there’s heavy lifting in making partnerships work, but it always takes more effort to start the car from a complete stop than it is to pick up momentum while the car is running. May all your partnering initiatives keep you Ahead of the Curve!

Thoughtwav helps technology companies build and execute profitable go-to-market strategies through direct, partner and alliance channels.

email:  jwilkinson@thoughtwav.com
phone: 781-652-8727



Copyright (c) 2006 Thoughtwav, Inc. All rights reserved.  Lexington Massachusetts 02421 United States.