Strategic Alliance Magazine Q3 2019 - 48

COLLABORATIVE SELLING

sales representatives to take ownership of partner selling
success is still challenging for many reasons.
For one, sales reps may not see eye-to-eye with upper management's vision, especially in cases where they are already hitting
quotas on their own.
"Companies enter into [an alliance] because, although it will
create a little friction in the field, they get that there's some
larger strategic objective [they] want as an organization," said
Halle. "If a guy is doing really well and you tell him he has to
do it completely differently now, he's going to look at [management] like 'you're crazy.'"
Gregory Burge, CSAP, principal of Collaborative Partnering
Services and former global alliance executive at IBM, illustrates
how the aforementioned account control issue often proves to
be a formidable barrier in these early stages.

In any alliance, it's the ﬁrst few
wins that are the most important,
and usually that's done with
a lot of hand-holding.
"It took me three weeks to see this director, I'm not going to
just hand it over to some [partner rep] that I don't know," said
Burge, mimicking a typical sales rep's response to selling with
a newer partner. "Let the guys in Europe do it. Don't get in my
territory."

Getting Sales Rep Buy-In
The most important tactic for overcoming the "sales mentality" hurdles is to create positive examples with a few reps who
understand the power the right partner can have in generating
new leads and cashing in on existing ones. These are usually
veteran salespeople who have already experienced the great
long-term gains that result from building a solid relationship
with a partner.
"There's an interesting saying, 'You can lead a horse to water,
but you cannot make it drink.' That's very true, but a horse
often will drink when it sees other horses drinking from the
same location," said Sack.
Together, the alliance manager and the alliance-minded rep identify the low-hanging fruit and set about to net a quick win or two.
"In any alliance, it's the first few wins that are the most important, and usually that's done with a lot of hand-holding," said
Watenpaugh.
Sack agrees.
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Strategic Alliance QUARTERLY

| Q3 2019

"[You have to] really focus on assisting [the sales teams] in overcoming hurdles, engaging with them, and driving them to a joint
outcome. They're going to be in effect your poster children."
It is in this stage that many alliances fail, according to Sack,
in part because time is of the essence. These first few wins are
so important, companies even go so far as to offer perks and
financial incentives to get them, albeit on rare occasions.
"The quicker you get to a win in selling, the easier it is to
promote it, replicate it, and drive more momentum."
Once that first deal is signed, it is time to simply "promote the
living heck out of it internally," according to Halle.
Formal and informal communications throughout the
company announcing "not just that you won, but how you
won and why a partner was instrumental" are a must, according to Watenpaugh.
"Give all the credit to the sales rep. It was their brilliant salesmanship and arm-in-arm collaboration that brought in this
giant deal," added Halle.
You can use traditional internal marketing tools such as a case
study of the two companies' successful customer win. Or, an
alliance manager may just have to resort to less conventional
means to ensure that the counterpart organization helps
shamelessly self-promote.
"I started sending a case of jelly beans to the rep to assist us in
requesting a client testimonial," said Burge. Turning the focus to the
internal sales reps, Burge adds, "Once they're bought in, they're your
best advocate. They're doing [the internal promotion) for you."

Governance Measures Help
Sustain Momentum
As the rest of the sales team falls into line, governance measures need to be in place to keep everyone on the same page
and resolve issues that come up. Regular cadence review programs between high-level executives and ground troops are
essential to review goals and evaluate whether the chosen
metrics "are leading or lagging alliance success," said Sack.
Certain administrative forms also help crystallize procedures.
For example, the joint account planning form clarifies your
roles and responsibilities and those of the partner's sales reps
at the outset of a sales pitch. Some companies use lead registration forms to illustrate the partner's contribution, although
other companies eschew them because "people game it,"
according to Burge. The end goal of both forms is to prevent
any party's "selective memory" from minimizing the partner's
role after a lengthy sales process-sales engagements commonly last several months.

Strategic Alliance Magazine Q3 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine Q3 2019