How I built and scaled a partner channel from 0 to 40+ partners over 6 months — during a pandemic

When I accepted an offer to run partnerships with Vidyard in September 2020, I was gifted a herculean challenge right out the gate: Build a brand new, revenue-generating partner channel from the ground up.

To shed some light: I’ve never done this before. Not properly anyway. I’d run some off-the-desk partnerships at my previous company, on top of my direct sales role. These were agencies and systems integrators who shared our ICP and created a funnel of warm referrals that helped me achieve my revenue goals. But it was just me running the show — the company lacked the infrastructure to support my efforts, and outcomes primarily hinged on the quality of my personal relationships.

So when given the opportunity at Vidyard, it seemed pretty crazy. No guardrails. No blueprint. No training. Just an insane amount of freedom and the opportunity to build something brand new that would have an immense impact on the future of the company. But I guess I'm pretty crazy too, so I dove into the opportunity headfirst, knowing I'd figure it out.

Now, after almost 5 months of laying the groundwork a channel that consists of almost 40 net new partners, who are generating a consistent pipeline of business and represent almost 9-figures worth in total addressable market, I wanted to share my lessons here in the hopes it may help someone who may one day be in the same seat.

It starts with relationships

You have nothing without them. And relationships my friends, don’t scale. Partners are a long term bet that require a degree of faith and trust and alignment not only in mutual customers but missions. Once you sign the dotted line, it's just the beginning. Now it's time to buckle up and figure out how you work together for the long ride.

One of the most rewarding parts of my role has been getting to learn about my partners’ businesses inside and out. The channel I’m building out consists of an ecosystem of sales trainers, coaches and consultants. These typically are business owners who have all enjoyed a high degree of success in their own corporate sales careers, who are now placing a bet on themselves. Super inspiring to learn from.

What are their goals and motivators? Who are their best customers? What are their biggest challenges? What are their personalities like? How do they prefer to communicate? 

The guiding principle that has shaped most of my success in these partnerships has been this: find out what's making your partner successful, and help them do more of that. Your prescriptive program won't work here. There’s power in identifying the partner’s natural rhythm and harnessing that to drive more wins for both parties.

Be surgical and systematic

Strategy is just a word until it’s executed against. When working with global partners, comprising hundreds if not thousands of stakeholders, it's necessary to figure out how to be laser focused and intentional with your time.

In the last 5 months, I have established a partnership with one of largest and well-established sales and leadership training organizations in the world, consisting of a global network of over 300 franchisee operators. So, in effect, 300 different businesses. ‘Good luck herding wild cats,’ was the feedback I received from one of those franchisees when I was just starting out.

I'll cut to the chase: it’s been one of the most successful partnerships I've forged to date, and has earned our team the right get in front of some of the biggest enterprise companies in the world to educate on how we can help their sales teams sell better with video.

Think about how you can rally others around your cause when you're not able to have direct 1:1 conversations. Are there strategic alliances you can build at the top? Partnering with a small handful of influencers with a huge reach and influence may get you further than you canvassing on the ground, one by one. Social capital speaks. Start high, and you’ll naturally create a moth to the flame effect. And trust me, once you have a bunch of powerful internal advocates on your side, it makes the rest of your job a hell of a lot easier.

You're still selling — just differently

Revenue counts. In Partnerships, your primary goal is to generate enough pipeline of qualified leads which ultimately contribute to your company's revenue goals.

That said, I’ll go out on a limb and say something counterintuitive here. We’re taught to focus on the highest ROI activities — activities that produce quantitative, measurable, results. But ultimately some of the highest ROI you’ll ever get is focusing on what isn’t measurable.

How do you measure the quality of a relationship? If a partner isn’t producing, do you go cold and move on? What if they’re a significant influencer, who by virtue of your nurturing the relationship and adding value to them, eventually connects you with someone who can produce a mega deal?

On the topic of deals, your sales professionalism matters here. Treat EVERY referral your partners sends you with urgency and a personalized response. Under no circumstance should you let intros grow stale in your inbox, nor should you let the reps you're passing them onto do the same. Keep the SLA to 2 business hours minimum, and have a strategy in place if that's not possible. How you treat these referrals shapes your partner's reputation and therefore is a non-negotiable.

You’ll need sharp instincts in Partnerships, which I’ll talk about in the next point. Instincts can't be taught — only honed over time through impeccable observation and execution. Don’t spend endless hours with tire-kickers with no decision-making power, who talk more than they do. Do spend time with people who can potentially move the needle in a huge way — just maybe not right now.

Trust your instincts; Cut the fat ruthlessly

The best way I'd define sales instinct is a healthy amount of intuition, backed by data and is honed over time. Intuition absolutely matters, and don't let anyone out of touch with their own tell you otherwise. And when that intuition identifies small red flags that look like they'll bubble up to a real issue later on — act.

This is especially the case in the partner world, where a heavy dose of good faith is required before embarking on any partnership. Partnerships aren’t a transaction, they’re a long term bet. And while quick wins are great, they won’t be on the table all the time. Your success here is predicated on identifying and ferreting out toxic partners as quickly as possible.

Let me give you an example. A prospective partner reached out to me via LinkedIn, expressing an interest in working with Vidyard. This company was a small consulting firm in the UK, run by husband and wife, with a handful of global enterprise clients that fit our ICP. They’d been using our platform, promoting us in their private workshops with their clients, and were now seeking a way to monetize that channel.

Things went downhill fast. On one of our initial calls after signing an agreement, the CEO began aggressively asking when they would start receiving referrals from us, quid pro quo, despite the upfront contract that was not the nature of agreement we were in. Not two weeks went by before I received an email out of nowhere from him containing a lengthy, incoherent screed, levelling false accusations of stolen IP regarding a part of our business that had been in existence for over 10 years, and threatening termination if we did not accede to their demands.

We had a call booked a couple days later, in which I immediately cut the cord and ended the partnership there and then.

Lesson: Bad business exists. Not all revenue is made equal, and I encourage you to play the long game. I would rather turn down 10 deals than deal with an unstable, megalomaniacal partner who can't control themselves and starts doling out threats when they don't get what they want. Basic respect and professionalism are the bedrock of a partnership. Compromise on these values early on and you will pay the price.

Communicate often, internally and externally

Writing is a skill that generates massive returns in innumerable ways. It clarifies your thinking. It creates a paper trail of your efforts. It’s an asset that lives on beyond yourself and markets your work to your intended audience. Excellent communication will take your work from a fart in the wind to something concrete and tangible.

Tip: Add ALL of your partners to LinkedIn and engage with them regularly there. Whether it's adding value to posts they've made in the form of a comment, tagging them on posts that'll be relevant to them, or brokering new connections to grow their network, the value of doing this is immense. In a remote world where we can no longer do on-sites and meet our partners in person, this will help you stay top of mind and build thought-leadership, even while not engaging in real time.

Internally, record all positive feedback from partners and customers and share it with your team. Bring what you're learning externally back to your team and manager who have a stake in your success instead of keeping it in your brain. Doing so not only gives the right people an insight into your world, but allows you to quickly identify blindspots and ask for help where needed.

Don’t go at it alone — find business partners with complementary skillsets

I’m fortunate to have a handful of people both in my team and outside of it who have elevated my efforts beyond anything I can imagine having done so on my own. My role is a bit like being a chef in the back of a kitchen, where it's my responsibility to guide the cooks out front who are cooking up a storm that are our partnerships. From my hardworking colleagues in Marketing, to our Video Coaches, to our SDR team, many of colleagues have put their hand up for opportunities beyond the scope of their role and in doing so, deepened our relationships with our partners, improved their skills, and grew our pipeline.

Trust me, doing this remotely in a brand new role and company where you've not met folks in person isn't easy. Being at a company with a culture as strong as Vidyard has enabled me to tap into an immense pool of talent who are entrepreneurial by nature, have a growth mindset, and get EXCITED about taking on new opportunities outside the day to day is a rare find and I'm exceptionally grateful to have that.

And when they do well? Express your appreciation often, and loudly! Encourage the right behaviours and nurture that instinct for excellence. And whenever you can, pay it forward by being a mentor for those who put their hand up and want to do more.

It's still early days in building out this channel. Much of my efforts to date have been phase 1 — setting up the right foundations and systems in order to enable our team to execute on it in the year to come. I'll share my findings once I'm in a position to scale, but it's been an awesome learning experience to date, and I'm beyond excited for what lays ahead.