Part 3: What people make excellent partner managers
My last newsletter covered how I got my start in partnerships: how I got asked to pick up and run with a partnership function at my previous company.
It got me thinking...are there specific roles or skills that made me successful in my first role in partnerships?
What intangibles or skills help you drive value in a partnership role?
What are the things that I look for when hiring someone for my team?
So I thought I would give you my thoughts.
We are currently experiencing an uncertain time in the world.
Recession.
Layoffs.
Words that make me anxious.
Words that I think make everyone anxious.
But do not despair, it is not all doom and gloom. Something I find exciting and should bring hope to those reading these newsletters...if you search for partnerships into LinkedIn, there are 270,000 open job roles!
More than the current openings for account executives!
Wild isn't it?
The other wild thing is that most people don't have long tenured careers in partnerships.
It's just the nature of the role.
It's still a relatively new discipline, which people are learning and growing into all the time.
That means that there are opportunities for people to transition from other roles into a role in partnerships.
This newsletter will detail some of the key skills that I believe are critical to be successful in partnerships.
I am currently hiring for a few roles at Help Scout, so I can speak confidently to what I am looking for, and I believe others are looking for when making a partnerships hire.
Key Skills
1. Strategic Thinker 🤔
This one is a tough skill to quantify, however the ability to think about the value that you can bring to a specific partner is an invaluable attribute to have.
Being able to thoroughly research your partners business and demonstrate the value that you can bring to them is a critical skill.
The more you clearly show a partner that you care about them and want them to succeed, the more likely they are to provide value in return.
2. Tenacious 💪
Partnerships require the ability to sometimes have tough conversations, and push partners in directions that perhaps they haven't thought of or are not comfortable with.
Anything from ideas for co-marketing campaigns, sharing account information or simply creating a partner success plan that holds them accountable.
The ability to stay on your partnerships (especially the larger partners) and not get disheartened is worth its weight in gold.
3. Politician ⚖️
You are cross-functional by nature in a partnership role.
You either need support, or are supporting multiple departments inside the company you work for.
Knowing when to push, when to ask for resources, and when to have some tact and patience are key attributes in a partner role.
Without the support from the whole company, you can quickly fail in partnerships.
4. Patient 🕛
Partnerships take time.
It's the nature of the role. As much as you need tenacity, you also need to patience to allow for the time it takes for a partnership to mature.
You need to build trust over time, you need to organize co-marketing activities; its not going to be as instantaneous us as a direct sales role.
So, after pinpointing some core skills that I think are critical to success, are there any specific roles that I think transition well into a role in partnerships?
Short answer, yes there are.
Roles that transition well
Customer Success
Those in Customer Success know how to continually provide value to a customer throughout a relationship.
When a customer success manager takes over an account from the sales team, they need to deliver on what has been promised.
Some of these activities include creating joint success plans and conducting QBRs.
These are similar activities that a partner manager will be involved in, so having confidence and experience in these activities make a transition into partnerships easier.
Account Executives
This may be an obvious one for the partner manager role as revenue generators.
Tasks such as demos, lunch and learns etc., usually require some sales skills in order to be done effectively.
As an account executive you are also used to long, complex sales cycles and, as mentioned above, partnerships take time. This baseline understanding is valuable when moving in to partnerships.
Marketing Managers
A big ask from all types of partners will be co-marketing.
Co-marketing can take on several forms from case studies to webinars, all with a goal of promoting your joint relationship.
Having someone with a marketing background is great because they are already full of creative ideas to implement effective marketing tools for the partnership.
This can be crucial especially for new partnership organizations where partner marketing is often under resourced (p.s. if you are having this problem check out www.partnerfuel.io). Someone with a marketing background can be invaluable to a partner team.
Conclusion
If anything, I hope this newsletter has given you hope.
If you are not in a partnership role yet, there are a number of core attributes and tangential positions that could make you a good fit.
If you are in partnerships and are hiring for roles, look further afield.
Don't require 5+ years in partnerships, as there aren't many of us out there.
Take a chance on someone with the intangibles, you might be surprised!
Until next week!
Cheers,
Ben
PS...with all the scary news about job cuts, and layoffs, the file below will be updated with people looking for their next role in partnerships.
If you are looking for a new hire, I would love to introduce you to the people below.
If you looking for a new role, hit me up and I will add your name to the sheet.
