Jake Makler’s Post

In my role as a software partner manager and head of a partner portfolio, I get asked a lot as to what makes for a successful partnership in the SaaS/software world, especially among the large ERP players. To me, the most critical pillars of any successful software partnership ultimately boil down to: 1) Solution integration and fit: Does your solution tightly integrate with your partner's platform and solutions? Does your solution complement your partner's platform and solutions and fill a whitespace?  Have you built certified or qualified integrations that are scalable and adaptable, and can they be deployed in the cloud across hyperscalers, not just hosted in a private cloud? 2) Deal flow/revenue: Do you have a steady flow of deals and revenue within the customer base that overlaps with your partner? Can you grow that deal flow and average deal size with a large software partner involved in deal cycles? Are you prepared to share that revenue with a partner in order to grow both businesses? 3) Joint execution and relationships: Do you have the people, processes and tools in place (in multiple regions) for developing pipeline and nurturing that pipeline through deal close, and can you open those processes to partners? Do you take a collaborative approach and are you willing to cede some responsibility to a partner to help drive execution? Do you build and nurture field relationships necessary to play the long game and build a run-rate business? As you evaluate your partner programs and objectives, applying the principles and asking the questions above can really help set the stage for prioritizing and building out successful software partnerships. With that said, there is one more critical component for partnerships that underlies all of the principles above, and that is simply TRUST. In my years spent in alliances and partnerships, the one thing that I have found that can't be forsaken or faked or ignored is trust. When you have it, you know it, and the partnership hums. When you don't, you also know it, and the partnership sputters and often falls apart. Trust means doing the things you say you are going to do, being as transparent and open as possible in the interest of the partnership, saying what needs to be said, even if it is not what the other might want to hear, and representing each other's interests inside both organizations. Obviously there are times when your company's interests will take precedent, but transparency and open communication build and maintain that trust even during difficult times and disagreements. Trust is the backbone of all successful partnerships and it has to be nurtured for the success to be sustained! #softwarepartners #SAAS #alliances #partnerships #GTM

💡 Insights from 54 Failed Partnerships in SAAS - Part 4 💡 In this ongoing journey through the insights from 54 partnership 'divorces', I've examined the missteps on the partner side. Today, we will analyze what can go wrong, and often does, on the SaaS vendor side. Fasten your seatbelts. 🚪 1. The Open-Door Policy Challenge: In the SaaS world, there's a temptation to operate on a "the more, the merrier" basis, keeping the doors wide open for any partner prospect willing to pay the partner fee and sign the contract. Instead of screening each partner candidate and selecting those who are the best fit, everyone gets signed up. This approach quickly builds your partner network but devalues the partnership, making it into a commodity. Moreover, it allows partners that may fail your customers. Lesson: Prioritize quality over quantity in partnerships. 🔄 2. Transparency Challenge: Transparency is crucial. A lack of transparency or even unintentional miscommunication can destroy trust and potentially derail the partnership. Partner prospects will ask for detailed information about partnership support: marketing, sales, and technical. If you hastily answer "Yes, we do," without delving deeper, you might be doomed. Your understanding of marketing support as availability of brochures, marketing materials, and campaign templates might differ from your partner's expectation of a marketing budget for running joint campaigns. Similarly, you may perceive sales support as being their coach throughout the entire sales cycle, from discovery to closing, while they may expect special pricing for projects. Even if not deliberate, such situations will undermine trust and may lead to failure. Lesson: Be 100% transparent. It's better to break up than to divorce. 📢 3. Onboarding Challenge: Onboarding is the cornerstone of partnership. A new partner undergoes training on the product, sales and GTM, and support systems. The goal is to equip the partner with the competencies and resources to successfully sell your product. It's all relatively simple if your SaaS is a transactional product. But most likely, it will require consultative selling. This is where it all complicates. You need to not only explain the value for the customer but also ensure that the person selling your product can sell consultatively. The same goes for technical training. This element of the "quality badge" of the training is super important. If a candidate receives certification but cannot really work independently in the sales field or implement the solution, it means the onboarding was a failure. Learning: Treat onboarding and training as vital steps to success, not just checkboxes. 👇 Did I overlook anything? What failures have you witnessed on the vendor front? 👇 #Partnerships #SaaS #GoToMarket #RealTalk -------------------------------------------- 📑 Interested in a successful partnership with DocuWare? 📅 Book my time.

🚀 Decoding Partner Loyalty: Unveiling the Fundamental Anchors That Make Your Solution Irreplaceable! 🚀 Hello👋 In the ever-evolving realm of SaaS, where every solution is a contender, the question arises: Why would partners not only choose but staunchly stick with your SaaS solution? Let's unravel the reasons that go beyond features and functionalities. 🌐✨ **1. Unrivaled Value Proposition 🌟 Partners seek more than just a tool; they crave an unparalleled value proposition. If your SaaS solution addresses their pain points comprehensively, goes the extra mile in delivering tangible benefits, and becomes an indispensable asset, you've built the foundation of loyalty. **2. Ingrained Integration in Workflows 🔄 A SaaS solution that seamlessly integrates into partners' workflows becomes woven into the fabric of their operations. When your solution becomes more than a standalone tool, but a vital component of their everyday processes, it's not easily replaceable. **3. Strategic Alignment, Not Just Compatibility 🎯 Partners are strategic entities, and they crave a SaaS solution that aligns with their long-term vision. If your solution is not just compatible but strategically aligned with their goals, it becomes deeply entrenched in their growth strategy. **4. Continuous Evolution and Adaptability 🚀 In a competitive landscape, stagnation is a perilous path. Partners stick around when your SaaS solution is not just a static tool but a dynamic force that evolves with industry trends, embraces innovation, and adapts to their changing needs. **5. Robust Support and Collaboration 🤝 Beyond features, partners cherish a robust support system. If your team collaborates proactively, listens attentively, and resolves challenges swiftly, you're not just offering a tool; you're providing a partnership that transcends transactional relationships. **6. Data-Driven Insights for Strategic Decision-Making 📊 Partners value data-driven decision-making. A SaaS solution that doesn't just collect data but translates it into actionable insights empowers partners to make informed, strategic decisions, solidifying your solution as a strategic ally. **7. Comprehensive Training and Enablement 🎓 Education is empowerment. Partners stick around when your SaaS solution invests in their expertise through comprehensive training and enablement programs. The more adept they become in utilizing your solution, the less likely they are to explore alternatives. **8. Enduring Trust and Reliability 🤝 Trust isn't built overnight. Partners remain loyal when your SaaS solution consistently delivers on promises, maintains reliability even in challenging times, and becomes a dependable cornerstone of their operations. In the dynamic landscape of SaaS, it's not just about features – it's about becoming an integral part of partners' success stories. What's your take on building fundamental loyalty in the SaaS domain? Share your insights below! 👇 #PaartnerSuccess #PartnerLoyalty #BusinessGrowth

Transparency - I agree that it is crucial and I am totally convinced that we are very transparent to potential and existing #partners at DocuWare. At least, various partners I have spoken to have confirmed they appreciate our openess 🤗 #ECM #docuwarerocks #DocuWarePartner #documentmanagement #partnerchannel #partnerprogram #partnership #partnersuccess #partnering #cloud #paperless #digitalisation #workflow

Important partnerships of an IT services company: 1. **Technology Partnerships**: These partnerships involve collaborating with technology vendors whose products complement or integrate with the IT services company's offerings. For example, a software development firm might partner with cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform to leverage their infrastructure for hosting and deploying applications. 2. **Reseller Partnerships**: Reseller partnerships involve agreements where the IT services company resells products or services from other vendors as part of its offerings. This could include software licenses, hardware devices, or subscription-based services. By partnering with vendors as a reseller, the IT services company can expand its portfolio of solutions. 3. **Strategic Alliances**: Strategic alliances are formed between two or more companies to pursue mutual goals, such as entering new markets, expanding customer reach, or leveraging complementary expertise. In the context of IT services, strategic alliances might involve partnering with other consulting firms, technology startups, or industry associations to collaborate on projects, share resources, or access new opportunities. 4. **Channel Partnerships**: Channel partnerships involve collaborating with third-party intermediaries, such as value-added resellers (VARs), system integrators, or managed service providers (MSPs), to reach customers more effectively. IT services companies might form channel partnerships to leverage the sales, marketing, and distribution channels of their partners to extend their market reach and increase revenue opportunities. 5. **Academic Partnerships**: Academic partnerships involve collaborating with educational institutions, such as universities or vocational schools, to provide training, internship programs, or research opportunities. These partnerships can help IT services companies attract and develop talent, stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends. 6. **Vendor Certifications and Accreditations**: IT services companies often pursue certifications and accreditations from technology vendors to demonstrate their expertise and credibility in specific products or services. These certifications can enhance the company's reputation, qualify them for partnership programs, and enable them to access specialized training, resources, and support from vendors. 7. **Customer Partnerships**: Ultimately, the most important partnerships for an IT services company are those with its customers. Building strong relationships with clients based on trust, transparency, and delivering value is essential for long-term success. By fostering strategic partnerships across these different areas, an IT services company can enhance its capabilities, broaden its market reach, and deliver greater value to its clients.

  The world of SaaS is changing really fast making diversity in SaaS Channel Partnerships a Strategic Imperative. Looking at all the possible partnerships in the SaaS industry, I truly believe in the power of diversity. This isn’t just about being inclusive; it’s a smart business strategy. It means understanding that different partners have different strengths and using them to build a strong and flexible network of channels. For me, it’s more than just working with a lot of partners. It’s about finding the right fit and working together well. By teaming up with partners who are really good at what they do, we can create something bigger and better, reach more people, and come up with new ideas. Diversity is what guides me in developing partnerships. For me, this isn’t just something nice to have; it’s a key strategy. I’m not just looking for partners who do the same things we do; I’m looking for partners who bring something new to the table. Partners who help us see things differently, reach new audiences, and push us to do better. Most importantly where our businesses compliment each other allowing us to bring a stronger solution to customers. By having a variety of channel partnerships, you're not just protecting yourself against market ups and downs; you're setting yourself up for continuous innovation and growth. And in the fast-moving world of SaaS, staying innovative is the most important thing. I’ve been lucky to work on diverse set of people like renée berry, Kelly Hall, and Jason Rook to learn how the different Cloud providers think about these partnerships.   I’m curious about what strategies others are using to make sure partnerships are as strong and creative as they are diverse?

Most SaaS companies are terrible at partnerships. Early-stage founders think that partnerships are too time-consuming. Junior GTM employees they might hire simply don't know how to find good opportunities or end up wasting large budgets on bad opportunities (which reinforces the belief that partnerships don't work). We experienced this first-hand through our publication MarketSplash. In the past 5 years running the publication (and growing it from 0 to 800k monthly views), we've received relatively few truly creative out-of-the-box requests from SaaS companies. How do we define those? Good collaboration requests aim to add value on both ends. Ideally, give more value than asking for. Here's one superpower that SaaS companies have and rarely use — their damn software! Offer a lifetime subscription to those in your niche who might 1) promote you through their network 2) do something useful for you — bloggers, indie makers, consultants, agencies, etc. Many founders start shivering when they hear, "Give away the software for free!" Omg. Server costs (like $5/month per license, duh). Umm ... think again? I've done many successful partnerships in my earlier SaaS roles (with bloggers, other SaaS companies, or niche players like agencies), and looking back — 1) they were always worth it and 2) I wish I doubled down on partnerships earlier and harder.

As an expert in technology and tech infrastructure, I've learned that successful #SaaS leaders understand the importance of providing their SDRs with the right tools and autonomy to close more deals. Investing in the correct resources will yield a great return for your company! #ForbesBDC #SoftwareasaService #BusinessDevelopment

Leaning in on partnerships Building a B2B software company, you are entering the mindshare game. Do you get noticed? Does your idea get traction? 💡 I noticed this specifically when working with large cloud vendors. Offering 200+ services, how do you hope to get any attention - stand out from the noise? Attempting to build adjacent value propositions just adds to the distraction. You need alignment to show how you help your partner achieve their goals -- and how the customer will benefit. At Panoramic Data Limited - we have a longstanding strategic partnership with LogicMonitor. Our mutual customers benefit from advanced automations, delivering improved productivity and end-customer outcomes. Great results all round. I've learnt that leaning into partnerships can be hugely impactful. However - measuring results is crucial. So with your partnerships: - Are you getting the traction you deserve? - Is your partner reciprocating? - When is it time to draw the line?

SaaS vendors should either properly onboard and scale their customers with their solution or partner with consultancies/agencies that will do it for them. I just had a great discussion with Gareth Chilton at ManMachine who has worked in the industry for far longer than the 15 years that I have. And we both agree. SaaS vendors do too little to help their clients scale the solutions they sell them. Gareth and I have consulted for some of the biggest enterprises in the world and we see this issue everywhere. I know founders will tell me that getting a huge Customer Success team is just not scalable. They are right. So you partner with consultancies/agencies that specialize in digital transformations and change management that can help. You don't need to teach them the solution. That technical expertise can stay with the SaaS support. However, enterprises need help with the operations, processes, configuration, administration, and change management related to the implementation and exploitation of a solution. Your solution will benefit from the added seats/data usage/whatever your growth model is. Your customers won't churn after the next vendor comes along with a new solution that promises to fix the mess your solution left. Your partners will learn from using your solution and become ambassadors for potential referrals. This partnership is one you need to invest in. Don't just wait for a shared customer. Commit to it.