It's always exciting to start a new business ecosystem but its a good practice to set up basic housekeeping rules so that you and your partners are on the same page.
- Set up ground rules. Establish rules and cadence around what would happen during a conflict. It will save your lot of time, money, and headache in the long run. Get your legal teams involved if needed to establish rules and procedures around topics such as - IP overlap.
- Formalize the partner program framework. Make it easy to scale your partner program and ecosystem with a formalized framework. Set goals, establish contacts and procedures, and have it all in writing and easily accessible.
- Establish rules of engagement. No partner program should go anywhere without a robust, well-documented, and agreed-upon set of guidelines and standards for both partners. Establish rules around communication, data flow, MDF funds distribution, incentives.
- Share collateral freely. Keep all your best practices, guides, tutorials, studies in one place where all the partners can access it. This will enable you and your partner teams to learn from each other. WorkSpan provides an easy, secure and flexible way to store all your collateral in one place, for and by all of your partners.
- Don't forget the first client. Your first customer is your opportunity to test your new solution. Give them the value and respect they deserve and carefully nurture the relationship as you evaluate your new alliance. Even after your new partnership sees success, don’t let that relationship fall to the wayside.
Follow these five housekeeping rules when you are establishing your new business ecosystem especially with net new partners. It could be beneficial in avoiding mishaps and miscommunications.
Vishal is the Director of Content Marketing & Social Media and leads our Alliance Aces Community. He has been in marketing for 14+ years and writes about ecosystem cloud, alliance strategies, and digital transformation.
Partnering Strategy
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