EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
BARRY D ’ ARCY , VP OF PARTNERS , STORYBLOK
The key to customer and partner relations is listening and understanding clients ’ needs . From our experience at Storyblok , partnerships are like a lever : the more partnerships we grow , the more heavy lifting we can do . They allow us to focus on what we do best and rely on our partners for the rest . And this can apply to any business because the main rule of a successful business is that you cannot be everything to everyone . Therefore , we have to focus on our core business and use partnerships to leverage what ’ s missing .
Being in a partnership can help partners get in touch with the right leads by leveraging each other ’ s networks . Each partner has a close relationship with their clients , which means their clients will trust them when making a recommendation . Trust doesn ’ t just happen overnight though – the key here is listening and understanding what clients need . If a prospect didn ’ t have a problem they were trying to solve , they wouldn ’ t be in the market for a new product . It sounds obvious , but in order to help the customer understand why your product is the solution to their problem , you have to understand and be able to clearly articulate why your product is the solution to their problem . This is a critical principle in how Storyblok delivers sales enablement to its agency partners .
bigger deals due to trust and collaboration . When partners approach potential clients together , they tend to drive higher ROI for every deal .
In times of a challenging economy , businesses need to use most of their resources on riding the storm out and focusing on their core competencies . When there are great partnerships in place , this can be done much easier . If a need arises , there is likely a partner that can help with it . This is mostly true for partners that complement each other ’ s offerings .
Drawing from our experience running our own Partner Programme , we are noticing that there is decision exhaustion among end-users when it comes to choosing multiple tech solutions . As part of the MACH Alliance , we want to contribute to reducing the friction around product selection . And the best way to do that is to educate , not to recommend and sell . Having all the knowledge in front of them , end-users will be able to make quicker and informed decisions about their tech stack needs .
WE ARE NOTICING THAT THERE IS DECISION EXHAUSTION AMONG END-USERS WHEN IT COMES TO CHOOSING MULTIPLE TECH SOLUTIONS .
An added bonus is that being part of a partnership or an ecosystem becomes an invaluable source of feedback on your product . If you are part of a technology partner programme that is focused solely on selling , you are unlikely to get that kind of feedback . Again , this is where listening and relationships come to help and add so much more value .
Lots of data in the market points out an estimated 40 – 50 % increase in customer win rate for deals with partners involved . We have also seen that partnerships tend to lead to
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