Culture: Direct Sales Mindset Fighting a Partnering Mindset– What most Tech CEOs get wrong when Starting in Partnering #3

This post is #3 in the series, Starting in Partnering: What most Tech CEOs get wrong. Click here to read #2 “Not Aligning Partnering Strategy and Business Strategy – What most Tech CEOs get wrong when starting in partnering”

After working directly with 100s of tech companies in helping them get starting in partnering to build their programs, below summarises some regular business cultural challenges faced, that you can now identify and work to avoid. 

Six challenges for you to learn and avoid in your partnering plans: 

1) Direct Sales Mindset Fighting a Partnering Mindset

I remember when I first encountered this challenge. A strong sales-focused tech CEO pushed monthly and quarterly sales targets hard, which led to a very short-term focus on the company’s development. The CEO’s viewed partners as part of his sales team, then drop the partner when they got into the market. The CEO’s plan didn’t work, due to a major culture clash with partners, and between the partnering team and direct sales team. 

2) Direct Sales and Partnering Teams being set up to compete

In this scenario, this distracts the direct sales teams with the thinking the partnering team is out to steal their lunch, and the sales team carries all the weight in this fight, as they are bringing in the proven and faster revenues.

3) Battling for internal resources; Sales Expertise, Marketing, Tech Teams, Management

Initial Partnering efforts and Partnering Teams are providing limited resources to get started and asked to prove partnering will work, before they get more commitment. This adds to the challenges of partnering plans success.  

4) Management Thinking ‘Control’ is Important

Restricting Partners’ success with over-protectionist policies for their Direct Sales, limiting the company’s overall growth. Eg: Starting partners in different geographies so as not to compete, => New to Partnering + New Markets = Many Unknowns + Risks

5) Depending too much on salesmanship rather than good sales process

Without clear sales process, along with the proven step-by-step materials and approach to win new business, you’ll end up blaming the partners’ salespeople inability, rather than their own lack of process and partnering enablement. 

6) Expecting partners to sell like their direct sales

This leads to pushing partners versus enabling partners.There is often a fundamental misunderstanding of ‘partnership’ when Direct Sales and Partnering culture clashes occur. The partner companies are independent companies with their own plans and cultures and the partnership is about business Partner Fit Alignment and not forcing one culture onto another.

The best teams seek to understand their own organisational challenges to partnering upfront, learning to partner with cultural differences and their organisational change from 100% Direct Sales, introducing and transitioning to a Partner focussed company.

Ease your Partnering Journey: Identify and Address Your Business Challenges to Partnering, and Partner Program Guiding Decisions, company policies & culture implications.

Read the next post in the series: Superficial Partner Type Selection Approach – Starting in Partnering: What most Tech CEOs get wrong #4.