You've been working hard for over a year on strategic alliances. Your program is out there; you've got solid partnerships going; you've even seen partner influenced wins. And you hear, "what value has the alliance organization delivered?" Your program needs visibility!
Somewhere between your first and second partnership, you realize you need a partner program. Can a me-too program actually drive results? No. You want a well-conceived and executed partner program that makes a real difference in the success of your alliances and partnerships.
Partnerships overwhelming fail for the same reason - an unbalanced attention to the three dimensions of partnering. Understand these dimensions and how to bring balance to your alliances and you alliance results will soar.
Starting a new program is a full time job setting up partnerships and "another" one building a team. So clone yourself: one of you to manage partners and a second one to lay a foundation, hire partner managers, and shape a pro-partnering culture.
Growing companies often ally with industry leaders for rapid growth and success. But large companies can drain resources and frustrate smaller partners. Some small companies figured out how to work with the larger companies and reap the rewards.