Have you ever noticed how the sales reps and deals that get called out for praise usually sound like a superhero storyline? There’s the big opportunity. Winning the deal requires a grueling battle against a villainous competitor. There’s a last minute plot twist that almost ruins everything. And then there’s the heroic save by the lone-ranger sales rep who pulls off a miracle, wins the big prize, and is now glorified like a superhero.
I’m tired of that story. It overlooks everyone else that helped get that deal over the line. It’s a false narrative and it hurts your business.
Yes, there is a big opportunity. And you will always have one or more competitors you can still vilify.
But that heroic save? It’s more often than not, a team effort, and one that goes beyond the four walls of your company. Putting the spotlight on the superhero account executive obfuscates all the other team members, consultants, and strategic partners that came together to vanquish the competitors and win the deal.
The days of the lone-ranger direct sales superhero are over
The lone-ranger approach to sales is dead. Even selling with your inside team of experts is no longer enough. Why? Because businesses don’t want to buy from your superhero salesperson anymore.
With so many vendors, suppliers, and delivery options to choose from, business buyers are turning away from the traditional direct sales and channel sellers they used to rely on, and instead relying on trusted advisers and consultants to make their purchasing decisions. There are a variety of reasons why this is the case but three stand out:
- The cost of switching solutions or vendors has decreased with subscriptions and new products available in most markets. This changes the balance of power between vendors and buyers.
- Marketing content overload has made it difficult for buyers to wade through the morass of available content churned out by every vendor.
- High sales turnover has made buyers more skeptical of new and unknown sales reps assigned to their account. It’s getting harder for new reps to get enough time with customers and prospects to build the trust and rapport needed to sell and grow your products on their own.
With all this, it shouldn’t be a surprise that buyers are seeking out back-channel feedback from trusted advisors and consultants before making a purchase decision. And if buyers are relying more on your partners, then the lone-ranger sales behavior is going to become even LESS effective over the next few years. To learn more about the way business buyers’ decision making processes have changed – and the impact that’s having on traditional marketing and sales motions – check out this article: “Why Is Co-Selling Suddenly So Important?”
Future-proof your sales: start building a culture of co-selling today
As the marketing and sales motions that worked over the past decade are waning, selling with partners, or co-selling, is stepping up in a big way. While many organizations recognize the benefits of “sell with” and “co-sell” motions, moving your entire sales organizations from pure direct sales to a partner-first or co-sell-first motion is going to take time. But there are things you can start doing now to get that transformation underway and increase the likelihood of success.
Celebrate the co-sellers and co-selling behaviors you want others to emulate
If you want your sales reps to start actively selling with partners then change who gets praise and recognition. Instead of shining a light on the lone-ranger sales reps, celebrate the salespeople that consistently hit their number, or bring in large deals, by selling with partners.
This doesn’t require any changes to comp plans or committee approval, and doesn’t need to wait for the new fiscal year to start.
Start by shining a spotlight on the sales reps showing the most positive co-selling behaviors: bringing partners into deals early, spending time getting to know partners, or proactively helping your best partners get into your accounts to build trust and good will.
This is something that sales leaders at every level, from RVPs up to the CRO, can start doing immediately at your next team meeting, all hands, or SKO.
We are happy to share lots of best practices in this area. We also have partners like Spur Reply, AchieveUnite, PureChannels and JSG that have decades of experience helping enterprises go through these co-sell transformations.
Shine a spotlight on partners’ contribution to your pipeline and wins
It’s just as easy to shine a spotlight on your partners’ financial impact to your pipeline and revenue. When your reps start to realize how much revenue these partners have already helped others close they will start proactively reaching out to them on their own.
Measure the pipeline sourced and accelerated by partners
You can’t shine a spotlight on the partners’ financial impact if you can’t measure it. So start tracking the new pipeline sourced, and existing pipeline accelerated, by each partner. PartnerTap’s enterprise co-selling solution gives you visibility into all the data mapping, co-selling activities, and partner pipeline shared between your sales team and partners. You can learn more about our partner ecosystem platform and enterprise co-selling solution or speak to an ecosystem sales consultant by contacting us here.
Be intentional
In the meantime, be intentional about which sales behaviors you celebrate. Start shining a bright light on the co-sell behaviors and actions you want your sales team to emulate to grow faster in the next few years.