Скачать или смотреть Balaji Subramanian: Building Partner Programs that Align with Customers

Hey everyone! I had a fantastic conversation with Balaji Subramanian, former Head of Partnerships at Zuora, IGEL Technology, and ServiceMax, a PTC Technology.

With a wealth of experience in partnerships, Balaji shared valuable insights on what it takes to build a successful partner program.

Here are some key takeaways from our conversation:

🔵 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: Balaji emphasized the importance of building partner programs that align directly with the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). By understanding customer segments, industries, and specific needs, companies can recruit and enable the right partners for maximum impact.

🔵 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Recognizing that different partner types fit various customer sizes and industries is essential. For example, large enterprises benefit from GSIs, while SMBs often thrive with transactional resellers, ensuring the right partner matches the customer profile.

🔵 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Balaji highlighted that partnership success requires alignment across all internal stakeholders—sales, marketing, product, legal, finance, and executive leadership. Spending up to 50% of time on internal engagement helps keep the organization aligned and ensures partnerships remain a strategic priority.

🔵 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: As partnerships grow, so does the data they generate. Balaji sees AI as an opportunity to harness this data, providing insights that improve partner experience, streamline processes, and make partnering easy and rewarding.

Huge thanks to Balaji for sharing his expertise and perspectives on change management, strategic alignment, and the evolving role of AI in partnerships. His insights are a great reminder of the dedication it takes to build impactful partner ecosystems!