The Power of Tech Partnerships

Welcome back to another edition of the Partnership Pocketbook!

I hope everyone is doing well!

Winter is still firmly here in Salt Lake, which is wonderful for skiing but not so good for anything else…

Wanted to kick this issue off with some partnership news! This news comes from the teams at PartnerHacker and Reveal, who announced some blockbuster news this week.

Reveal will be acquiring PartnerHacker

Amazing news not just for the teams involved, but also the world of partnerships in general! Congrats to both teams!

Partnership in the wild this week comes courtesy of one I came across whilst watching the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary on Hulu.

For those that haven't watched it, it follows Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney as they take on ownership of Welsh soccer team Wrexham.

Shortly after taking control, they agreed on a sponsorship deal with Tik Tok.

Although not software related, it’s still an interesting partnership that made a lot of sense for both sides. For Wrexham, it provided an injection of much needed capital, and for Tik Tok, it gave them exposure to millions of people not just from the documentary but also on national television where Wrexham games are now aired.

Partnerships are about mutual benefit, and this one nailed it.

With that out the way, let's dive into this week's issue!

This week I thought we would explore a topic that is near and dear to my heart, but is unfortunately one that many businesses still don't understand the power of: tech partnerships.

For those that are new to partnerships, a tech partnership is when two companies integrate their solutions together.

In my opinion, when done well, tech partnerships are the most powerful type of partnership in SaaS.

The benefits are numerous but include:

• Influencing buyer behavior: Buyers now rank integrations as a top consideration when deciding to buy a new tool. Without having integrations with tools they use on a daily basis, your tool will not be as attractive. It makes sense right? Customers want a seamless product experience, where they are able to use your software in conjunction with their favorite tools, and not have to flick between tools and waste time. Every business wants more leads, and more importantly wants conversion. Those leads are going to look for alternative solutions that make their lives easier.  If you do not prioritize tech partnerships, you risk losing those leads.
  
• Unlocking new business: When you create an integration with a company, it also unlocks a whole new market of customers. Let's say for example that you have created a HubSpot integration for your tool, which transfers data across to their CRM. Working with HubSpot you can get added to their app store, which gives you access to potentially hundreds and thousands of customers. If partnering closely with a company, and you are able to connect via tools like Crossbeam and Reveal, you can share account information which unlocks go-to-market opportunities.
  
• Higher Adoption Rates: Expanding on one of the points above, the other additional benefit of strong technology partnerships is increased adoption of your product. When you have seamless integrations, your customers are able to stay in your tool and not have to tab between multiple products to access information. The more time spent in your product, means higher adoption rates.
  
  

So with the benefits being plentiful, how do we go about creating tech partnerships?

Firstly, you need to identify the partners that make the most sense.

To do this, you can use a number of different methods:

✨ feedback from current customers on what they want you to integrate with
✨ account mapping data using Reveal and Crossbeam to figure out companies where customer overlap exists
✨looking at companies that sell into similar ICPs

Using these methods will give you a good idea of the categories of software that you should be exploring for potential partnerships.

Once you have identified potential partners, it's important to research and evaluate them thoroughly to ensure they align with your values, goals, and objectives. This can include an analysis of:

their track record📜
customer reviews ⭐
financial stability 💰

It's also crucial to establish clear communication and expectations from the outset, and to work collaboratively to develop a mutually beneficial partnership that delivers value to both parties.

Ultimately, a successful tech partnership requires careful planning, ongoing communication, and a shared commitment to driving innovation and growth.

As with many things in the world of partnerships, it also takes many departments to create a strong technology partnerships motion.

Product needs to be involved to help with the technical implementation of integrations, and also (if relevant) to add it to your internal app store.

Marketing needs to be involved in order to promote the integration to your wider customer base as well as potential prospects.

Customer Success and Sales need to be involved in order to communicate the benefits of the integration to both current and potential customers.

Building an integration but ignoring the components above, will lead to an unused integration and none of the benefits highlighted above.

Technology partnerships when done well, are $$$!

If you aren't doing them, why not?

If you are, but not realizing the benefits above, why not?

Building an integration is just the starting point. In order to build a robust technology partnership strategy, it takes a holistic approach which incorporates everybody at your organization.

Until next week!

Cheers 🙌

Ben