TL/DR: The Co-Sell Quarterback is a very cool role emerging in companies with large partner ecosystems. A Co-Sell Quarterback gets to be very strategic and proactive, drive top-of-funnel co-selling conversations at scale, track and get credit for net new pipeline generated by each co-sell play.
Over the next few articles we will dive into details about the new ecosystem and co-selling leadership roles emerging in companies that sell with and sell through their partner ecosystems. The first role covered here is the Co-Sell Quarterback.
What is a Co-Sell Quarterback?
A Co-Sell Quarterback is an individual responsible for designing, orchestrating, and tracking the new pipeline generated by data-driven co-sell workflows.
A Co-Sell Quarterback works closely with sales and partners to design, run and track sales plays.
This role should report into the CRO’s organization with cross-departmental ties into both partner and marketing teams.
This person should be analytical, strategic, proactive, and able to lead cross-functional initiatives across sales, partner teams, and partner companies.
Why is the role of Co-Sell Quarterback emerging now?
The modern B2B buying journey has changed and this has shifted the power in deals from vendors to partners that already have a trusted relationship with an account. This once-in-a-decade shift has made co-selling transformation a top strategic priority for companies with large partner ecosystems.
It’s not possible to scale the “Random Acts of Co-Selling” process that companies do today, so companies are investing in enterprise co-selling transformation tech stack and platforms like PartnerTap to get the data and automation they need to orchestrate co-selling motions for each of their segments and solution areas.
Why do companies need a Co-Sell Quarterback?
Every CRO already knows the top priority sales plays they want their reps focused on. But today there’s no way for those sales plays to easily involve partners – because sales reps don’t know WHO at each of their partners already has trusted relationships with their prospects and customers.
Co-Sell Quarterbacks design and orchestrate sales plays that involve partners in some ways. That involvement may be simply zeroing in on a list of that partner’s existing customers that need your product, or actively connecting your sellers and partners together on their mutual targets for a high-impact sales play.
Connecting sellers across companies to share information they know about an account can unlock a net new opportunity.
The status quo approach of introducing sales reps with partners one by one can’t scale. If you’re reading this you have likely done this tedious process at some point in your careers:
- Realize your rep needs help on an account
- Call around to ask which partner might already have a relationship with that account
- Ask the partner manager at a partner for the name of their sales rep on that account
- Wait about a week for that partner manager to get back to you on whether or not their rep opted-in to talk with your rep
- If they said yes, then finally making the introduction between your rep and theirs after way too many days (or weeks?) have passed
This is a hot mess “process” that hasn’t been able to scale without adding headcount.
This is one of the many reasons companies that rely on partners to sell into or accelerate deals are investing in PartnerTap’s enterprise co-selling platform.
Instead of reactively introducing sales reps and partners one by one, the Co-Sell Quarterback can plan and run hyper-targeted co-sell plays that connect hundreds, or even thousands, of sellers for pre-opportunity conversations.
What does a Co-Sell Quarterback do?
The Co-Sell Quarterback must have a clear understanding of the top sales and revenue priorities, because every sales play they plan should be directly tied to a specific company goal.
Here’s a breakdown of what the Co-Sell Quarterback does on a regular basis:
- Communicates regularly with sales and partner team leaders about the most important priorities. Example, is pipeline low in the southeast region? Run a sales play with your partners that have strong existing customer relationships in those states.
- Analyzes all the mapped data your company has with each partner to identify the highest value accounts to target with or through each partner.
- Designs and runs strategic sales plays with the best messaging and order of operations for each situation. There is no one size fits all approach, each sales play strategy is nuanced based on the segment, the solution, the partner involved, the current relationship between your company and this partner, etc.
- Nudges sellers and partners that don’t respond (with automation of course)
- Tracks and monitors all net new opportunities generated from each sales play
- Report out to the business about all the net-new pipeline generated by each sales play
- Shine a light on your best co-selling reps and partners
The ideal profile for a Co-Sell Quarterback
If you like data, strategy, efficiency, and want to make a big impact then you’ll love being a Co-Sell Quarterback.
A great Co-Sell Quarterback candidate should:
- Have a good understanding of the core sales priorities and sales plays important to the CRO
- Have worked with partners and understand that they have their own business priorities
- Be good with data and managing large lists of data
- Be a strong collaborator with both internal and external stakeholders
Backgrounds that could be a good fit for a Co-Sell Quarterback include:
- Integrated campaign managers
- Sales strategists
- Sales and partner program managers
If you’d like to learn more about the Co-Sell Quarterback role feel free to reach out to us at https://partnertap.com/contact-us/ and we’re happy to share more.
