behind the SaaS: Recent Episodes
behind the SaaS
Join me (Aaron Howerton) as I go behind the SaaS and talk about what makes SaaS companies tick. We'll talk about all things SaaS, but will likely circle around Partnerships and Ecosystem as well as SaaS operations, because... well... it's my podcast and I really like those things.
Yes, that's a huge niche, but that's what happens when you move quick, pivot once, and try not to over-analyze decisions made after a layoff.
Ready yet? I wasn't either, but here we are, together, figuring it all out.
This week we take another stroll down PartnerOps lane and hear from Wendy Wen!
Wendy got started in PartnerOps just over a year ago at Pigment and is now on the verge of hiring her first intern. Although new to PartnerOps, Wendy brings the kind of background that makes for a great leader in the space. Tune in to learn more about:
- A few of the places Wendy has recently popped up online
- How Wendy got into PartnerOps after losing another role
- Where PartnerOps is situated within the organization
- The benefits of where she's situated
- The role of persuasion in her success
- Does Wendy still like her new-found professional direction?
- Challenges working in a growth company
- A bit about her tech stack and some fan commentary around Click-Up
- Bonus Question: Which video game is the most overrated? (warning - responses may trigger aggressive responses!)
As always, I'm deeply thankful for my guest and the folks that keep tuning in. I missed a few weeks because #lifehappens, but more is coming!
Until next time, good luck partnering!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week, I'm taking a play from "Stuff You Should Know" and I'm going into the archives to pull back a 'classic' - CRM Foundations for Partnerships!
UNLIKE my para-social friends Chuck and Josh, however, I'm calling it a 'rehash' because I'm not just cycling up the old content. I've pulled it out for an update and tied it a pretty big announcement, at least for me... and maybe anyone trying to make Salesforce 'work' for Partnerships.
In this episode:
- What's happened in Partnerships since last year
- CRM's are still worthless for Partners OOTB
- The Ice Machine Problem - still relevant!
- Psssst, you Salesforce people... wanna buy an "ice machine" for Partnerships?
- Announcing Partner Foundations - now seeking Beta customers!
If you're struggling with attribution and want to make Salesforce 'work' for your team so that you can focus on program growth and scale, let's talk!
aaron@partnerstrat.com = email me here for access to a demo video of Partner Foundations, a Salesforce native solution for scalable Partner attribution!
If you're not on Salesforce.... well I'm sorry... I can only do so much! I'm still happy to chat and advise on the principles that are driving our new solution and, as soon as we get to market and 'stabilize' growth ourselves, we'll be looking to duplicate the concepts across other platforms.
Check out my LinkedIn Newsletter for the writeup and a screenshot teaser - look forward to chatting soon!
Until next time, good luck partnering!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week we're circling back to PartnerOps and introducing everyone to Ashely Ortega on her podcast debut!
Ashley recently received her THIRD promotion within Partner Operations at Klaviyo and was kind enough to join me to celebrate! We also discuss her trajectory from Channel Operations Analyst to her new role as Senior Manager, Partner Operations alongside a slew of other topics...
- Ashley's path from Sales to Partner Operations
- The value of that history to success in her current role
- The value of Scrum as an Operations Manager
- How learning to push back and challenge ideas made her better at her job
- What Ashley feels is her 'superpower' in supporting Partners
- The varying definitions of 'Partner Operations'
- How the work of Partner Operations changes with company growth
- The value of internal connections to drive project success
- The difference between 'requirements' and 'solutions'
- Which food just doesn't make sense
You can find Ashley on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-ortega-90482385/
If you connect, make sure to tell her I sent you!
As always, thanks for listening, and until next time, good luck partnering!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Antonio is currently the Senior Director of Channel Programs at Megaport where he's been building and expanding the partner foot print for nearly 3 years. Before that, he cut his teeth at a global powerhouse called IBM (maybe you've heard of them?).
Today, Antonio and I basically realize we need more time to go through a few more things. BUT... in this episode we did talk about:
- The baggage of being called/viewed through the lens of 'Channel'
- The evolution of channel into modern partner concepts
- How industry impacts the type of language/program you build
- Handling ops in homegrown v. purchased tooling/systems
- Being "ops" as a program manager
- When to hire PartnerOps in a modern program (hint: Getting really consistent answers here!)
- The role of empathy and the lack of recognition for PartnerOps (and other Ops) in traditional reward methods (President's Club, etc.)
- How Antonio has leaned in to network value and growth to share experience and highlight other's success
- Bonus Question: Which sport would Antonio eliminate from the world if he had the chance?!
If you enjoy the energy Antonio brings, definitely encourage you to hear his thoughts on some other recent calls.
- "Should Santa Bring you a PRM for Christmas?", hosted by Franz-Josef
- Partnernomics Show, hosted by Marc Brigman
Also, if you're in Ops, you should follow and support Antonio, especially on this post where he's shining a light on the gaining momentum of Partner Ops as a role.
Antonio Caridad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniocaridad/
As always, deeply appreciate the listen, follow, subscribe, or review, and until next time... good luck partnering!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Last week (because #life after #SKO sickness has delayed everything), one of my favs joined me to share insight into her journey as a Partner Tech Founder and a few other things, such as:
- Who is "Bluey" really made for?
- An unreasonable amount of time discussing how long we've known each other
- Jessie's journey as a tech founder from initial launch to current state
- What Fluincy does
- Jessie's unexpectedly fantastic promotional idea for her next conference (hint: think dress up and mixed tapes).
- Why Aaron is getting random work calls via Zoom
- The challenges of selling partner tech: emphasizing budget constraints, long Partnership ROI timeline, and shifting buyer personnas.
- How Jessie's background has paved the road for her current efforts and the skill/interest that I think drives her efforts
- The changing landscape of partner tech and the potential for companies like Fluincy to offer alternatives to traditional PRM solutions.
Follow Jessie on LinkedIn to stay connected on her growth and just get banging ideas on how to drive improvements, and check out her platform if you're looking for helping uncovering partner referrals from everyday conversations.
Until next time, good luck Partnering!
PS - please forgive the typing sounds that pop up somewhere in the middle of the episode! I don't always remember to mute while taking or adjusting show notes!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week it's early stage partnerships with Adam Pasch!
Adam brings several years experience with early stage program development as well as a deep background in public sector partnership work. He was kind enough to jump over from our time on Literal Scratch and join me for a 1-1 where we covered:
- His background and 'qualifications' to level set the audience
- Getting shit done in an early stage program as the 'all in one' partner leader (ops, marketing, sales, recruitment, onboarding)
- Key operational needs to get partnerships off the ground within existing systems
- Things Adam wants to track in these early stage programs and why
- What happens when you can't tell the revenue story of partnerships
- When to hire PartnerOps as a dedicated hire, why the company and program plays a role in that decision, and where he likes to find them
- ... man other great things!
As mentioned in the podcast, Adam is soon to spin up networking events for the new year, so reach out on LinkedIn for more information and be patient while he fields a response!
As always, thanks for your time, and good luck Partnering!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week we circle back to Tech Founders and I'm very excited to drag my friend and founder Rob Rebholz onto the podcast. In this episode:
- Rob describes Superglue and it's value in building bridges between Partners and AEs
- Discussion on the importance of integrating technology to assist sales and partner teams more effectively, focusing on real-time assistance and data-driven referrals.
- Challenges and solutions in partner operations, emphasizing the necessity of CRM integration and data quality for successful partner management.
- Insights into building and maintaining a partner ecosystem, with an emphasis on creating a science-based approach to partnerships and the vital role of partner ops.
- Superglue's commitment to working with customers that are ready for the integration and holding off on the ones that aren't (hint: it's a CRM thing)
As partner tech continues to see new entrants, Superglue stands out to me as a unique solution for the partner space due to the self-administrated nature and value of the platform to help teams automate engagement at scale.
Learn more by following Rob on Linkedin or by visiting his company at www.superglue.io.
Until next week, good luck partnering!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week I'm thrilled to have my friend Mollie Bodensteiner join us to discuss the connection between PartnerOps and RevOps. We didn't cover everything I wanted to cover, but we did manage to chat about:
- The evolving definition and significance of Partner Ops roles.
- The evolution of operations at Deel, where we first ran into one another
- How PartnerOps is more than RevOps (prepare to be seen!)
- Pillars of Operations (straight gold)
- How to re-center a meeting and focus on productive conversations
- The structure of RevOps and her varied placements in hierarchies
- "Your data doesn't suck - your process sucks."
- Pay scales and current trends
And that's not all.. because when I get on the horn with Mollie I can't help but interrupt, ask more questions, validate with my own experience, and drive us all over the place.
Want to learn more about Mollie?
- LinkedIn Profile
- RevRoom January Member Spotlight
- People Center Tech Stack
- RevOps Framework
- Crucial Conversations (one of her top recommendations)
I'll definitely work to have Mollie join us again the in the future and we'll strive to finish all the questions I didn't get to today. Give her a follow and let me know what else we should have covered!
Until next time, good luck Partnering!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Welcome to a new episode of Partner Ops Partner. This week, we're excited to feature Linkon Axon from Arys Consulting and a conversation around ISVs and Partner Ops.
In this episode...
- The role of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) in the fintech sector.
- Managing partnerships in both hardware and software domains.
- The significance of Partner Operations for scalable growth.
- Understanding diverse partner types: ISVs, OEMs, resellers, etc.
- Tackling operational challenges within the partner ecosystem.
- Structuring operations to align with strategic business goals.
Don't forget this is also posted at YouTube for a visual experience!
Connect with Linkon on... um... LinkedIn... or through his new site at Arys Consulting.
Good luck Partnering!
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Kick back with a drink and get to know a fellow Ops professional!
This week I'm very excited to introduce everyone to Kim Stagg, a relatively new friend that is now also acting co-founder for PartnerOps Partner as we forge into a new year!
Kim has, count it, nearly 20 years in Channel, with the last several being dedicated to the Channel Ops function. That means an Ops pro with a background in Partner Management, program development.. the works!
So what do we talk about? Lots of things, like:
- Kim's journey in channel from day one to Atlassian where she ended up with my old team
- Where Kim and I met (Hint: It was LinkedIn)
- The unexpected layoff that forced a delay in her wedding - twice!
- How her community didn't let that second cancellation stand
- The value of community
- OH... and how Channel Ops is not the same as Partner Ops (see, we pulled it back together somewhere in there!)
Connect and follow Kim on LinkedIn!
As always, thanks for your time, your attention, and your support - good luck partnering!
Aaron
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week, a conversation with Kenny Browne! A few caveats about the episode before we dive in...
- We recorded a while back so this isn't a bonus episode - it actually convinced me to shift focus for this year and do more of this work.
- Stay tuned for the report mentioned - it should land any day on Partner Fleet's social media channels.
- The 'In-App' marketplace was launched 2023 - I say 'this year' because it was recorded in 2023.
Let's go!
Kenny one of the co-founders at Partner Fleet and joined me for a discussion that covers a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time. I met Kenny at the original SuperNode and have followed the company's growth since then. I'm very excited to get to talk to Kenny and share this conversation with others. My hope is that you get to know Kenny and Partner Fleet beyond the curtain of 'sales' and 'product', but we definitely talk about a few key aspects that I feel like 'Ops' professionals will be interested in hearing.
- Kenny's origin story
- Computer Science: College or Bootcamp - the value of perspective
- Partner Fleet: Sales Values
- How much Partner Fleet business comes from ecosystem
- The Importance of Integrations for Partner Fleet
- Why picking a 'small player' is not necessarily a risky move with Partner Fleet
- The challenges of 'do it yourself' solutions and borrowing resources to drive partner solutions
- Distinction: Partner Fleet is not a PRM
- Time to Launch: What does it take, really, to get up and running, and who sets the tone?
- What are people not asking that they SHOULD be asking in the sales process? (hint: it has to do with your customers and it's really nuanced gold!)
- State of Partner Tech - Observations and Predictions
- Partner Fleet does not do Deal Reg
- Buyer Intent
- Hot Topic: Which Star Wars movie is the best in the series and why
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWVrUvAPSC8
Good luck Partnering!
Aaron
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Welcome to 2024 and a new agenda for PartnerOps Partner! This is, hopefully, one of the few if not the only episode of the season in which you have to listen to just me rambling for 10-12 minutes. In this episode:
- A new website for PartnerOps Partner - sign in required?!
- A new co-founder for PartnerOps Partner
- A new format for the PartnerOps Partner Podcast (geez, that's a lot of P's!)
- What to expect and.. how to help in 2024
Next week I'm joined by what I hope is the first of many guests for the year, the irreplaceable Kenny Browne from PartnerFleet and I can't wait to share our conversation.
Feel free to follow along, drop a positive rating (or.. not), and connect with me on LinkedIn to stay in touch!
Aaron
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Welcome.... to the season 2 finale episode. I'd love to say it's chock full of lots of goodies but the reality is that it's actually a double episode that's still only 12 minutes long.
In this episode:
- Week 12 Summary: Wrapping up the 90 days
- PartnerOps Partner - Big things coming in 2024 (for me anyway)
- Did I find a partner in this endeavor?
- Wishes for your end of year season
If you've been listening this year, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It's been a privilege to be in your ear for these brief spells and for those that have reached out to bridge the digital gap between listener and connection, many thanks over.
Next year - things are coming!
Until then, good luck partnering!
Aaron
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
I'm nearly two weeks late, but there's good reasons, and I talk about them in this episode. I also talk about:
- How my diagnosis has impacted my understanding of myself
- How ADHD has impacted my career to date
- Different coping mechanisms for achieve success anyway
- How success still didn't feel like success because #impostersyndrome
- The impact of finally having medication
This one runs a little longer and likely doens't include all the things it COULD include because I'm still trying to cram it all in. Still, it's a small window into the world of someone with ADHD, symtomps, coping, and the breath of fresh air that medication is giving me (but not everybody).
Thanks for your time, as always. And in this case, your patience while I pulled this one together.
Good luck living, as well as Partnering.
Aaron
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week has been on hell of a long month. I'm late to publish, went too long, and am simply grateful that I get to take on such a vain project. This week:
- Stats: Crossing 1200+ downloads across two platforms
- The Twist: Mindset from IC to Influence and back
- The Twist: Unexpected results for this post on LinkedIn
- ADHD Diagnosis! For reals though...
- The Stuff of Life
- Literal Scratch: Sister Podcast
- BONUS EPISODE ANNOUNCEMENT (that's it, there will be a bonus episode with a guest...)
Have a great week - we're close to the end of season 2! Thanks for hanging in there with me.
Aaron
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Week 9 brings a birthday for my sister who will always and forever be older than me - thankful for small blessing, #amiright?
Professionally, week 9 brings real control in my position over what's coming. In this episode I'm talk (i.e. ramble) about:
- Ownership v. Control
- Slowing down v. running fast
- Prioritizing relationships
- The tension between what IS and what could Be
- Quick musings around level + where I'm at
- How we all wish we had arrived earlier than we did
- The balance of what is 'locked' and where I can 'influence' direction
- Personal contentment as a driving force of my current satisfaction
Also, you and I should talk. Seriously. Let's be friends.
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
Aaron
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Week 8 represents the first 60 days of the new role! In this episode:
- The difference in 30 and 60 day summaries
- The audience and purpose for this content
- What's included in the 60 day review?
- My internal battle with pointless content
- Content creation as a learning tool
- PartnerOps as a career - we need more direction!
- Events I'm working in
- Thanks and congrats for recent invites/hires!
I'm dropping a couple of links into the notes this week to encourage some engagement and share some resources. If you're up for it, check out the following:
- Firneo Partner Strategy Forum: Free workshops by top industry professionals (and me, apparently).
- PartnerOps Job Board: I'm slowly (sloooowly sometimes) adding new jobs as I hear about them. Continuing to work on enhancements and resources for the PartnerOps Community. Signing up is an indicator you want to be part of that effort!
Thanks for tuning in!
Aaron
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Every record a podcast and then... forget to publish it?
Welcome to Week 7: Influence, published one week late! Let's think of it like a bonus episode after a well-deserved week off?
Everyone taking a new job has to take on the effort to rebuild their influence in a new organization. Building influence takes a variety of skills and is often the critical element in your overall success in any given role. This week (or last?):
- Defining influence by the dictionary
- Something unique about this role in particular
- Professional growth through networking creating confidence/presence
- Alignment and prioritization for influence
- Owning a roadmap is not owning a house
- Empathy as a requirement for building cross-functional influence
- Bi-directional: Being influenced while influencing others
- Why influence matters: Tooling and systems + Partner Experience Vision
Apologies for a week delay, for those of that care, and thanks for staying tuned!
Aaron
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week is a pretty clear transition to fully owning my role and work effort. It's where the rubber meets the road for blending the narratives that already exist with the story I want to tell.
This week:
- Recognizing historical cognitive bias
- Project ownership and influence
- Kicking off a Listening Tour
- The value of qualitative research
- Musings on what it means to be 'Senior' on a team here and elsewhere
- Musings on the nature of aloof leadership
This is a pretty critical week for me professionally as I step into the hot seat on a few key projects and start building the influence I need to drive the architectural changes that I believe support the long term growth of the Partnership organization.
I appreciate you coming along for journey, whoever you are! Thanks for subscribing or downloading on whatever platform you're using.
Aaron
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This week I get to be on-site for an off-site with my team and the rest of the Partnership organization at Samsara! The big challenge for me - distilling my 'vision' for Partner Experience into a 30 minute presentation for my team.
- What's the foundational assumption for building Partner Experience?
- Viewing the partner tech stack as a 'Product'
- The actual audience for Partner Experience (hint: think C-Level)
- How Partner Experience is tied to Revenue
I'm excited for the trip and the chance to build foundations for the long-term success of this opportunity. If you're enjoying the podcast, do me a favor!
Subscribe, like, share, and rate on the app store of your choice!
If not, also totes okay. It's not like I can make you do anything after all and I'm having a great time whether you like it or not.
Good luck Partnering!
Aaron
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
This is week four of a multi-week series following my first 90 days in a new role dedicated to PartnerOps and Experience. Subscribe today to follow along and check out the historical episodes to get caught up!
Four weeks already - next week I go onsite! But.. what about my 90 day plan?
This week's focus: Small Wins. Literally taking a chapter from the book - Chapter 5 to be exact - and covering how the transition from onboarding to ownership includes picking up small wins for those first few weeks as we march ahead toward 90 days.
- What I'm not really looking at from this chapter of the book, The First 90 Days
- The organizational mindset shift when embracing PartnerOps and Experience as a role for the first time
- Early wins in Projects, Process and Meetings
- Stupid things I've done with Slack and ... yeah okay mostly Slack.
- Navigating new relationships and boundaries for where to 'push'
- Next Week: Crafting a Vision
I'm behind on release, but partly because of how much I'm enjoying the new challenges. Come along if you want.. or not... you know I really just do this for me. ;o)
Aaron
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Following last week's discussion around junior v. senior roles, this week is a focus on the transition from onboarding to ownership. In this episode:
- The end of structured onboarding content
- The big things left on my 'onboarding' plate
- How I maybe should be using 'The First 90 Days' as a resource
- The value of workflow!
- My Priorities for week 3
- Gratitudes!
This one runs about 13 minutes and, like the others, is full of me talking to myself about myself.
If you're listening and enjoy, feel free to rate it or drop me a note LinkedIn and let's get connected: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
Aaron Howerton
www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton
www.partneropspartner.com
Week 2 is all about... doing the same thing in new directions. That's right - still building connections and leaning in this week just toward new learnings.
Tune in to hear my ramblings on:
- My tendency to run fast
- Slowing down to build relationships
- Respecting what's already here
- The difference in junior v. senior ops roles
- The difference in ramping Ops v. other roles
- What I'm looking forward to at the end of my first 30 days
Also, I definitely stick my foot in my mouth. If you know me it's fine. If you don't, it's also fine. Welcome to my world.
Until next week - Good luck partnering!
www.partneropspartner.com - check out the job board!
This is it! The first week of the new role! I'm excited and a little anxious, but mostly excited because I really do enjoy change when it's time.
This week I cover:
- The general outline of the next 3 months of episodes covering my first 90 days in a new role
- What I will and won't be talking about (hint: proprietary stuff is off the table!)
- Connection Goals
- Leaning In to Learning and Existing Knowledge
- My big take away as I get started on a new adventure
Bonus: I'm going to try video podcasting! Why? Mostly because I want to understand more about how all the tech works together but also because, somewhere, someone tells us that it's another great medium.
I'll hopefully add other stuff, eventually, for now, you can get a visual by following along here: https://youtu.be/AgfTuyckgTM
WHAAAAAAT?!?!
Yes, that's right. After a brief 10 month stretch I've accepted a new role at a new company and I'm leaving Atlassian!
"But Aaron..." , you scream into the darkness, "why would you leave Atlassian right now?! You're less than a year in, you're about to vest stock, the economic market is nuts, the benefits are great, and you keep talking about how wonderful the people are?!"
All true. All accurate. All irrelevant (to me).
In this episode:
- The logic behind my decision
- My values around working 40 hours a week
- The story I want to tell and narrative alignment
- Where I'm going and why (ever so briefly, more to come)
That's right... if any of this is even remotely interesting, you'll have to give up 12 minutes of your life to hear. No reveals in the show notes!
Welcome to Season 2 of the PartnerOps Podcast!Season 2 will be focused on this job transition, starting with this announcement and covering how I got the role and how things go in the first 90 days!
Last week I stumbled across a dream job in Partner Experience and quickly went about getting an interview.
Within two days I got into a screener with the recruiter in spite of 900 applicants ahead of me.
15 minutes later I was out of the running.
So.. what happened? What did I lack? Where do I go from here?
More than that...what does it take to shift your career when working Partner Operations?
Listen in this week and let me know what you think, especially if you're facing similar challenges!
This week I focus on understanding who the audience is for PartnerOps content. I'm still turning over the implications for how it impacts what I do professionally but also what it might mean for others and the continued evolution of the role.
At the end of the day, we as PartnerOps professionals have to get deeper understandings of how our efforts are tied to revenue because our budget lives and breathes under the CRO.
Good luck partnering!
I recently turned down a job offer and recently learned the top range may be $30k higher than the offer I received - did I miss out on a $50k raise?!
Probably not, but it got me thinking about the process and all the things I maybe did wrong that lead to my own decision to walk away from a leadership role with a team in a pre-PRM organization (yes... it DOES sound like a dream role doesn't it?).
In this episode, I deconstruct the process and cover:
- A bit about me, my values and how I approach new work opportunities
- The basic of the offer process - initial offer, response, adjustments, and walking away
- My thought process and assumptions
- The things I think contributed to the offer falling apart on both sides
Overall, I'm generally pretty good at getting offers and, as you'll hear, have a lot to learn about negotiation. Some big takeaways?
- Be explicit in your asks to help THEM have a tangible conversation.
- Get on the phone to keep lines of communication open.
- Providing a salary need up front is still a bad idea because the benefits may not line up to your current situation
- Remember it's negotiation - it's not personal (but also, it is?)
Overall, the company is a strong company, the benefits really aren't bad, and the people were great to connect with. Someone will definitely land a great role with great people and, maybe, get a better offer than me!
Got thoughts? Send me an email at aaron@partneropspartner.com
This week, details on the inflection point I'm facing and where I'm going from here. Topics include:
- A summer break for weekly article generation
- The future of the podcast (hint: interviews!)
- Masterclass
- Service Offerings
- Community
Stay tuned because the podcast isn't going anywhere and will hopefully get a little better.
Got questions, feedback, or snide remarks? Let me know - aaron@partneropspartner.com!
You need an Account Mapping strategy. That means you need a vendor. This week - a guide to selecting that vendor!
- Gather the Stakeholders
- Readiness Check
- Validate the Strategy in Advance
- Vetting the Vendors
Get the full guide online via LinkedIn or through my friends at PartnerHacker.
Need help picking a vendor? Reach out at aaron@partneropspartner.com!
This week - we explore the challenges faced by Partner Ops professionals and their reliance on CRM systems that aren't designed for their needs. Maybe it's time to drop the CRM?
- CRMs are't designed for Partnerships out of the box.
- Heavy customizations create highly sensitive and unique environments.
- Integrations continually add dead weight to CRM infrastructure and icnrease complexity in management
- In a perfect world, the CRM is a source of truth, but in reality it's often never realized.
- PartnerOps faces an often uphill battle trying to bring everyone and everything together on the data front.
Currently available technology opens a door for new approaches to how we manage Partnerships and Data that is no longer dependent on the CRM or even being IN the CRM for the Partnership org.
- Centralize partner data through a streamlined data layer.
- Integrate via synchronization to avoid direct CRM engagement.
- Provide a layer for access/visibility that enhances the Partner Manager and potentially Partner experience.
- Create actual truth through data normalization.
- Send data wherever you need it to be, for whatever audience you need.
Join me as I question why Partnership teams continue to work with inadequate technology platforms and suggest an alternative that just might improve things for everyone.
Click here to subscribe to the weekly newsletter where you can see the diagrams that go along with this episode.
As always, to discuss this or anything else Partner Tech, reach out for a discussion!
This week it's back to tactical advice on how to start managing Partner Experience! The topics are riveting and include whiz-bangers like:
- What to track about the tech stack
- Mapping the Stakeholder Journey
- Casting a Vision and Securing Buy-In
- Coordinating the Roadmap
- The Daily Grind
- Summary: Everyone is in Partnerships.
Next week I'll be returning to more tactical guidance as I've had more requests show up around SFDC architecture, but of course I reserve the right to change my mind at the last minute and cover whatever I want. It is MY podcast after all ... but yeah it'll probably be on Partner Account Architecture.
Aaron
In this episode, we (okay I) talk about who should "own" the concept of Partner Experience in a company.
We'll (okay.. again... I) will cover:
- A summary of last week in case you missed it!
- How I used Descript and ChatGPT to help generate my content this week (hint - it wasn't perfect)
- The way several other roles are tied to Partner Experience and why they aren't really suited to 'owning' the vision as a whole
- Partner Operations (PartnerOps) is a natural place for Experience Management to live due to its overview of different tech and architecture, its collection of allies and not-allies for the Partnership banner, and its timeline for entry for most PartnerOps professionals
- The reality that Partner Experience is not limited to a single role or department and is, in fact, owned by everyone in the organization
- A call to action to get involved and drive the conversation for your org!
Regardless of your role in the company, understanding your tie to Partner Experience is crucial in driving a conversation and making a meaningful impact on the success of partnerships.
Read the details on LinkedIn or via my weekly Partnership with PartnerHacker.
Until next week!
Partner Experience is more than a buzzword - it's a critical element of your Ecosystem planning.
This week's podcast dives three main 'Why's for establishing a Vision for Partner Experience, discussing:
- Partners are customers
- Layered relationships create complexity
- Intentional effort and thought needed to manage complexity
- Partners are foundational
- Essential for business growth and scaling
- Important for company planning, especially in software companies
- Informed decision-making
- Avoid making decisions in a vacuum
- Example: PRM acquisition and deal registration
The episode explores how building a solid Partner Experience foundation from day one can help businesses scale effectively and efficiently, ultimately attracting top partners, talent, and investors.
Next Week: Who Owns the Partner Experience?
Read this on the weekly Newsletter!
I love Partner Tech. After years in SaaS I feel like I'm finally found a 'niche' of the industry where I 'get' the point and 'see' the roadmap.
This week in formerly Behind the SaaS, now PartnerOps Partner, thoughts on my Partner Tech Dream State. I rant about...
- PartnerOps as the foundation of truly great Partner Experience
- The state of PartnerOps as a role with historically limited authority over tech acquisition plans
- PartnerOps in Early and Late Stage companies as evidence of the prior point
- The tech itself challenging preferential treatment
- Finally... the dream
- Bonus! For podcast listeners, I actually talk about a few vendors I'm following and think have major potential.
Tune in, subscribe wherever you're at, and share with friends!
Aaron
This week we clarify the purpose of Partner Ops - delivering strategic value. That's it - skip the episode if you want because that's what we talk about or listen in for a reminder of what you already want/believe.
- Upcoming Changes/Housekeeping
- I got a new mic! Audio quality is improved
- Defining Partner Ops as a Strategic Role
- Strategic Mindset = Asking Questions
- Examples of strategic value add
- How to train other people on your new outlook
- Balancing strategy to higher level OKRs/MBO's/whatever to learn strategy
- Bonus Tips on tracking work: Brag Book and Metrics
Check out the newsletter tomorrow for the write-up that goes two steps further to discuss challenges you'll face in early stage companies as well as the existing, established companies as you grow a career in Partner Ops. Also, check out the archive and touch-base on anything that resonates!
Thanks - Aaron
I'm back at it this week with a personal revelation after gettin gmy own project stood up with the help of ChatGPT after literally MONTHS of beating my head against a wall looking for help and thinking about it.
Meet OSCAR: www.oscartech.co
How does this story of AI generation impact Partner Experience? Listen in to find out! In this episode:
- The generation of a new toy, OSCAR.
- PRM as a Hot Topic in Partnerships
- The Frustrations From Portal Users (see the newsletter for more details)
- How It's all Connected to AI and Experience
As always, thanks for giving me 10-12 minutes of your time (okay... 12 again). Reach out anytime to let me know what matters to you on all things Partnerships!
Aaron
What up Partner People? Welcome to another episode and this time we run 13 minutes (yeah.. I know... I'm working on it....) all about Partner Influence. In this episode:
- Partner Influence is a murky topic without a lot of clarity on the long term value.
- None-the-less, people are asking to track it and we're going to talk about how to do it.
- As with anything, there are caveats and advanced plays to consider when planning out architecture.
Get the details in the write-up!
As always, thanks for listening! And to those that are sending me feedback, it's most welcome! Keep doing it - aaron@partneropspartner.com!
Aaron
This week... my microphone failed and I had to use Airpods so #1 - my apologies and thank you for listening anyway! I think I'm about to have to buy some new gear so if you've been sitting on the sidelines waiting to jump in as a sponsor, let's talk!
Now... for the show.
We hear from the community to understand how shifting PartnerOps under RevOps can impact the role. Five of my colleagues from Partnership Leaders jump in to help another program leader get this critical insight. Who are these folks?
Jason Ng, Meredith Hayward, Katrina Penny, Jason Breed, and Darren Bibby all jump in to respond to Jason Lawson.
What I take away is that Partner Operations is on the verge of a moment and in the middle of a movement all swirling around the increasing interest and investment in Partnerships and the broader concept of Ecosystem. It's a great time to be in, or to get into, Partner Operations.
Account Mapping is a strategic play that comes with lots of incredibly powerful data. The real downside of Account Mapping is really the amount of potential it has because organizations are often under-staffed or under-prepared to utilize all of it at once!
Tune in this week to hear:
- What is a 9-Box strategic plan?
- Prediction for how people will handle Account Mapping in the next 12-18 months
- General Foundations for getting started
- Guidelines for each of the 3 major buckets: Prospects, Opportunities, and Customers
You'll have to go to the writeup to get ALL the details because this short format podcast doesn't provide the time needed to hit every single Overlap in the 9-Box Strategy. Nearly 2000 words and a few premium GIFs to help drive it home.
Check it out on LinkedIn: Partner Experience Digest
OR.. click on the 'Newsletter' button on my new website!
Search for "The Partner Experience Weekly" - usually published by noon the same day.
As always, good luck Partnering!
This week on Behind the SaaS, building CRM for Partnerships. Hint: the ice machine is your architecture.
Also in this episode:
- Big news in the partnership world for Reveal and Crossbeam as they announce new partnerships around content/community.
- Don't Skip the Ice Machine (or, my weekend date night observation)
- Elements of Partner Architecture
- Questions to help use those elements
- Teases about coming announcements
- A call to action - reach out if you need help with your architectural planning!
What are you waiting for.... hit play already!
Looking for the detailed write up and a place to connect?
- Subscribe to the newsletter on LinkedIn
- Search for 'The Partner Experience Weekly' on PartherHacker
- Join me at Partnership Leaders to build excellence around Partner Operations (Referral link to get you $50 gift-card on acceptance)
Salesforce, like any other platform, is only going to be as good as you make it. That being said, in my continuous effort to drive Partner Operations value out of the tech you have, some ideas on how to make Salesforce Views work for Partnerships. In this episode...
- Acknowledging the software that works is the software people use
- Building views that work as process drivers
- Tips on how to organize views with names and security access
It's another week of trying to bring tactical advice to the field for the small to mid-size company. Let me know your thoughts anytime and check out the full write up through the newsletter.
Although this focuses on Salesforce, the concepts are the same for any CRM with comparable tools. Join me today for a quick discussion on:
- Why we need a partnership app
- Design principles for building a space
- Steps on setup
- Considerations for Home Page
- Custom Pages
As always, this post is available in detail on LinkedIn and now, weekly at PartnerHacker!
Got questions or thoughts? Shoot me an email and let's chat - aaron@partneropspartner.com. No website, but the email is real... I promise...
Partner Recruitment is an often overlooked aspect of program development. It lives with program leads and ends up lost in spreadsheets and email.
Odds are, even a startup has all the tools you need to build a basic partner recruitment model that creates more transparency and improves your partner experience. In this episode, practical guidance on how to achieve that reality as well as commentary on the broader trend of purchasing unnecessary software and how org-wide teams can improve utilization of existing tech and avoid one-off feature acquisitions.
No video this week due to technical issues - apologies on the darkness!
Check out the newsletter or PartnerHacker.com for the detailed walkthrough with screenshots and, if your a member at Partner Leadership leaders, drop in to office hours every Wednesday at 9:00am CST to ask me more questions around your operational challenges!
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/partner-ops-digest-from-bts-7003369929953464320/
Partnership Leaders: Sign Up Today with $50 back > https://fbuy.io/partnership-leaders/aaronhowerton
Geez what a title.... but why not be specific?
In this episode, the value of enhancing your Crossbeam (or really any) Salesforce widget with the power of Spekit, a just-in-time learning platform designed to bring enablement and education to where your teams work in real time.
I put this tech together for the first time at 6sense and found it incredibly helpful for improving how the organization sees partnership data cross-functionally. Once you see it, it makes sense.
For images, links, and supporting content, check out my newsletter on Linked or search for me at www.partnerhacker.com where these articles go up every Wednesday.
NewsLetter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7003369929953464320/
Building trust with Partners, like with people, takes time. 2023 is going to be a hard year for many and the word of the year is going to be 'Retention.'
Shift the narrative with your Partners and start measuring what you GIVE instead of what you GET. Tune in for ideas on:
- Leads
- MDF
- SPIFFs
- Training
- Account Mapping
- Renewals and Retention
- Reporting
The main idea? Give more. Track it. Share it.
See the write-up on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/partner-ops-digest-from-bts-7003369929953464320/
SaaS has a well established book of metrics as an industry that tend to revolve around a few key pillars of Revenue, Customer Behavior, and Marketing Costs. There's a lot to talk about within that space alone. If you've been listening then you know I tend to drill down toward Ecosystem. I'll come back to a primer on SaaS metrics soon, promise, but today is a conversation around the way I'd love to see Partner metrics evolve.
There's ongoing conversations around lagging indicators v. leading indicators and I went deep on a concept called Pipeline Velocity over the past few weeks. I think it's really fascinating and would love to see it applied to Partnerships. However, as I worked on a great comprehensive list of leading and lagging indicators FOR Partnerships.... I came up a bit short on the leading side. Even ChatGPT didn't help much.
I realized that all the metrics are built around lagging data, things that HAVE happened, and got back to what I really, truly want to see happen.
I want to see it all... by Program and Partner.
Another week, another podcast!
This week we go back to basics and review foundations of Partner Architecture. Yup... I know that's also obvious in the title.
What do we cover?
-
Why Architecture Matters
-
Core Assumptions
-
Ideas for a Good Foundation
Also, if you're interested in building your network around Partner Operations use this link to sign up for a monthly connection event network thing I'm working on: https://forms.gle/rDA8W5EXLaXkRjh89.
Finally, get the written details on this podcast at the newsletter page on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/partner-ops-digest-from-bts-7003369929953464320/
To all my loyal listeners - I appreciate the lot of you. Stay tuned as I have high hopes for making 2023 a great year!
Closing out 2022 with a podcast is just fun. This is far and away my favorite 'thing' outside of work that's still professionally oriented. My apologies in advance as this one goes a couple minutes past my typical 10 minute goal, but there's just a lot of good things to say.
This week's episode covers the ideas in my weekly newsletter over on LinkedIn (link below). It's all about self-care in 2023!
Here's the big ideas...
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Build a brag book.
-
Expand your network.
-
Join a community.
-
Do things you like that aren't work.
I'm also starting up a monthly session for Partner Ops professionals in January 2023, sign-up link below if you're interested in learning more. We'll talk about a lot of things with a goal of keeping it loosely structured and value-add.
And.. that's it for 2023!
Partner Ops Monthly MeetUp: https://forms.gle/2HpEWVdYwAe8CRUw9
Partner Experience Digest: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/partner-ops-digest-from-bts-7003369929953464320/)
Continue the journey as I shared where I've landed, why I picked it, what I'm excited about, and why I still have some concerns.
As always, I approach this with transparency and honest thoughts. I feel fortunate to have landed quickly at such a strong company with a manager that comes with stellar reviews from my personal network and a chance to start before the end of the year. There's a lot to be thankful for in this entire process, including this podcast being born because I'm only just getting started.
This process was really interesting and opens the door to a different future than I expected. I see the upside and look forward to... oh.. you know what? Just listen along. It's only 10 minutes after all.
Aaron, Behind the SaaS
This week I got a challenging response from a new friend - it's more than Partner Operations.
I'll admin, I get sucked into existing frameworks pretty easily. I think it's the nature of my personality, lots of fun personal history we can talk about sometime over a beer, but ultimately it's this desire to figure out what IS and work WITHIN that model to drive change. Not wanting to rock the boat, etc. etc.
It's apparently also got me talking Partner Operations when what I should be saying is Partner Experience.
Join me for another 10 minute, one-way conversation as I think about this change, why it makes sense, and why hiring Channel/Partnership leaders without an operational background or at least a plan to fill that gap is just a really bad idea.
Aaron
Working in SaaS #4: Job Search Update and Offers
Another lightning fast discussion around my job search! Tune in to learn about:
- The three different roles I got into process on within a couple of weeks of being laid off
- The disparity between three roles all tied to 'Partner Operations'
- How I got into those processes (hint: people make the difference!)
- What the processes looked like and why I didn't mind 5+ interviews for some of these roles
- How the offers were presented (i.e. the main components of each offer)
- How many offers I got (and didn't get)
- Why I think one fell through - rationalizing 'rejection' after a great process with 100% conjecture on what may have happened
- Which offer I decided to take..... naawwww just kidding. That comes later so you have to come back.
Here's what I DON'T talk about, but would be willing to chat through in a 1-1:
- The companies I interviewed with
- Details on the packages (restrictions may apply here, just being fully transparent)
- Detailed thoughts about each process - what I liked and/or didn't like with each role
- My final decision (also coming in a future podcast)
I am having a BLAST putting these together, so I certainly hope you enjoy them, too! Subscribe, like, share, and send feedback!
Aaron @ Behind the SaaS
Working in SaaS is not all roses and sunshine, as we're seeing in the news week over week. One big risk for anyone in and around SaaS - layoffs.
This week, I talk about my first experience with layoffs, how to spot them coming (hint: it's all about growth), and the strange upside around perception that comes from being included in the cut.
Pull up a saddle and let me bend your ear for a minute... you might just enjoy it.
I stumbled into SaaS almost 15 years ago after working for low pay as a restaurant manager coming out of college. I got a referral in, underbid the salary, and they took a risk. I'm now here to tell you - there are great things about working in SaaS.
A few things I talk about in this episode:
- Education requirements for SaaS work (hint: there are basically none)
- Career mobility
- Do you need to know code? (hint: nopers)
- Remote work and flexibility
- Innovation and pace of change
- Rewards (comp, increasing pay, etc.)
- The great people
- Where to go for training (hint: www.aspireship.com)
Special note, this episode was NOT sponsored by Aspireship - I've been on the platform and evaluated the training and think it's a great place to get exposed to thought leaders and the initial ideas that build the framework for SaaS. Other great places include Partnership Leaders, PartnerHacker, RevGenius and other online communities.
Bonus Hint not in the episode: your best way in is through REFERRALS. We can get into that in yet another episode but it's worth knowing now.
Come along if you like, but... if not... that's okay, too.
Oh, I also end this 'good luck partnering' because I'm still looking for a good signoff catchphrase. Send me ideas, please. It's... starting to feel weird.
You ever wonder what a job search in SaaS looks like following a layoff?
Yeah.. me either, but here we are and if talking through it offers some encouragement for the people I know recently impacted, why not be open on the journey?
I was going to talk about the pros and cons of working in SaaS but after a few tries realized those were worth their own shorts, so tune in next week for those.
Also, a word from one of my biggest sponsors. ;o) If you only get 30 seconds in, you'll be glad you did.
Good luck partnering.
If you work in Professional Services AT a software company, your job is not about Professional Services. Yes, that's what you do each day, but you do it in service to the Total Lifetime Value of the customer. The TLV impacts retention, which impacts valuation, which impacts shareholder value. Professional Services itself is wrapped up in the Customer Acquisition Cost so there should be a vested interest in keeping those costs low.
Enter the ecosystem.
In todays' cast I talk about the mindset of Professional Services for Ecosystem and the difference between non-partner centered PS teams and partner-centered PS teams. I also talk about Chris Murray over at Lead Forensics, but in a nice way because he spurred these thoughts on this morning.
Feedback? Find me on linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton and let's have a conversation.
Operations is almost an entirely 'behind the scenes' function for your average SaaS company. Projects in this space invariably touch 'live' environments where people are working and downtime is extremely limited or prohibited, depending on the system. The result is that most of the best moves happening in your ops ecosystem are nearly invisible to anyone outside the team, much less the company. This makes it easy for companies to undervalue operations on the whole.
In this episode I ramble a bit about these invisible projects, the impact on organizations, and the simple plan to improve that visibility and recognize your ops pros for the value they bring (hint: you just ask and share - boom! Saved you 7 minutes...)
Thanks for coming along. Let me know what you think over on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhowerton)
In 2022, I was unexpectedly laid off from what I thought was going to be a much longer and more lucrative journey in a SaaS unicorn. This podcast is born from that time, driven to explore the unknown side of SaaS companies and the constant ebb and flow of new technology. It was originally called 'The Partner Syndicate' but... well... I changed it.
I got to thinking about how many people I know that just don't understand SaaS, or even those within SaaS that still undervalue the complexity of the SaaS model and what it takes to operate well. I wanted to take people behind the scenes, talk about the different operational and business challenges of growing a successful SaaS company based on my own experience working inside these companies.
So here we are... looking behind the SaaS to discuss all things operations, partners, ecosystems, growth, failure, and success.
Thanks for taking a minute to check your interest - see you behind the SaaS!
Day 5️⃣ The future of #PartnerOps (hint: think #ecosystem)
Time for some speculation! Where, exactly is PartnerOps heading in an ecosystem driven world? Getting to the future requires we consider a bit about the current state.
#PartnerOps is not like other careers.
❌ There's not a clear entry point - usually pivoting in from program management (where ops begins) or an internal transfer from another ops role.
❌ There's also no clear end point - anyone ever see a C-Level Partner Ops role? Anyone? ... Bueller... Bueller.... (seriously, please comment and get me introduced to nail down that path...)
❌ We often work across multiple other departments but have no direct reports (i.e. lack management control and/or experience).
❌ Our mandate (as already discussed this week) can be broad, foggy, and lack prioritization.
❌ True expertise and opportunity tends to exist in only in the largest organizations (i.e. your Salesforce, Orcale, Atlassian, etc. etc. etc.
So we exist in this weird cross-section of roles where much is required in terms of corporate knowledge, collaboration, and cross-functional skill sets but little is offered in terms of growth and development.
Where is this all headed? Enter the #ecosystem.
As companies shift to #ecosystem thinking, #partnerled mindsets will start to emerge throughout the organization. This will lead to a lot of new opportunities that are partner-centric or partner-tangent roles. Those working in and around #PartnerOps right now will be the natural option to niche down into the roles needed to support a vibrant ecosystem.
What kind of roles?
➡ Partner Business Analysts
➡ Partner Project Managers for integrations and internal cross-functional project delivery
➡ Partner Experience Managers helping guide the overall experience (also coming out of and in collaboration with #enablement)
➡ Ecosystem Architects guiding the partner tech stack and tracking,
➡ Partner Support Managers inside or next to CS Managers
➡ A continued breakout of all the work of PartnerOps in organizations that truly understand and embrace the value of an #ecosystem mindset
The PartnerOps manager of today is the Ecosystem Leader of tomorrow, helping organizations navigate the change in mindset alongside the Partnership/Channel leader.
Looking for a place to connect with other experts in #partnerships? Then join Partnership Leaders , the home for the home for everyone in partnerships!
Day 4️⃣ New #PartnerOps Hires - Tips for Success
If you're new to #PartnerOps or just feeling a bit lost in your current role you might benefit from a few tips on getting started that can also help an established role get re-centered in an off season.
✅ Map the Partnership Processes. Go find every process tied to Partnership, write it all down, get it reviewed, and collect it into a single SOP to build from.
✅ Map the Relationships. Sign up for Lucid or another charting tool and start mapping all the people that are in any way connected to Partnerships. This helps you keep up with names/roles but also clearly demonstrates the company-wide culture of Partnerships.
✅ Map the Data. Part of process mapping will be figuring out the data model, during which time you can build out some basic reporting to check for quality issues like "Do we know how many partners are in X program?" or "Do we have a definitive list of Partner Contacts for event marketing?" Find all the gaps in process and data quality that need filled up.
✅ Map the Technology (are you seeing a trend here?). How does the tech stack support or, more likely, not support the larger partner ecosystem? Do they have a PRM? Do they offer SSO for partners? What's the LMS for enablement? How are they managing integration projects? What are they using for contracting? Just ask questions - every process likely has or needs supporting technology. Write. It. Down.
✅ Find the Reports. Pretty straightforward - find them, bookmark them, figure out how they are made, look for innovation.
✅ Ask about program prioritization. Which program matters most to the org, and why, so you can properly set your own agenda and work effort. Something will eventually have to give and you shouldn't have to make that call on your own.
✅ Setup Recurring Meetings. Program leads will appreciate regular touchpoints to share grievances an ideas. Start with bi-weekly half-hour sessions if the schedule affords it and then shift to monthly once the meetings close out in less than 15 minutes. Ask all the questions you think of throughout the week in this space to help drive the agenda. Listen listen listen.
✅ Define the process for change. If you want to drive change you'll need to know the who and how behind it. Do they have a well established framework for requests tied to CRM updates, data changes, etc? Do you do that work or do you write up requirements? If not you, who does and where do you send it? You may find they don't have anything like this, super flexible org, etc. so be prepared to offers ideas. IT/Systems will need to be your best friend here.
Looking for a place to connect with other experts in #partnerships? Then join Partnership Leaders , the home for the home for everyone in partnerships!
Day 3️⃣ Refining the Scope: #PartnersOps or #BusinessAnalyst?
Partner Operations, more than many other operational roles in my experience, tends to be a catchall title reflecting a deeper need for operational AND programmatic support. Operational work falls to the first few program hires trying to stand things up and by the time an Ops hire shows up on the scene there's a mixed bag of work that needs done.
The difference in skills overlap but the jump back and forth from daily operational work into deep research and analysis on how to drive improvement can slow down delivery and be mentally exhausting (i.e. being all things to all people, always saying yes, etc).
You might benefit from refining the scope of your need and balancing that against the maturity of your company to drive the results you really need, right now.
Below is a loose breakout of how you might visualize each role to more clearly delineate value and purpose in your hiring process and deployment of the role into the organization.
Partner Business Analyst:
✅ High level project management as core function
✅ Requirement development and road-mapping for strategic projects
✅ Cross-functional collaboration to drive partner initiatives internally
✅ Strategic program support - dedicated or multi-pronged
✅ Drives requirements into Operations to deliver
Partner Operations:
✅ Core reporting/dashboard development and maintenance
✅ Enterprise architecture/Ecosystem management
✅ Data enrichment/hygiene management
✅ SOP development and enforcement
✅ Daily support rhythms for team and external partners
✅ Maintaining and improving manual processes into automation
✅ Technical system ownership/representation into core business tools
Personally, I think early stage companies would benefit by leaning into the Analyst definition more heavily than the Ops as part of that role is driving or-wide awareness and resource alignment toward Partnerships. This ultimately benefits the company-wide effort to make partnerships an integral part of the organizational fabric and pushes ownership deeper into the org as those operational functions build out and support partnership solutions.
What do YOU think?
Looking for a place to connect with other experts in #partnerships? Then join Partnership Leaders, the home for the home for everyone in partnerships! Also check out their upcoming report on the state of Partner Operations: https://lnkd.in/gPjfZuye
Todays Post: 2️⃣ Making Your First #PartnerOps Hire
Yesterday (see link in comments because LinkedIn posting needs help), I covered a laundry list of things that typically fall into/around Partner Operations. The potential scope of the role combined with the timing of your first hire determines whether you look INTERNALLY or EXTERNALLY for your first partner ops role. Let's talk about the benefits and challenges of each.
INTERNAL PROS✅ and CONS❌:
✅ Well suited as early hire due to cost and ability to ramp with program growth
✅ The know the #organization, #product, and players already, making #collaboration easier and improving long-term performance potential
✅ Start part-time to help you define your true needs and make a more intentional hire/decision later based on actual program success
✅ Backfilling any other Ops role is easier than finding experienced PartnerOps hire in the open market right now
✅ It's likely more affordable that hiring outside the org
✅ #blunt: If you fail at scaling the program, an internal hire's existing relationships improve their own position to shift back into another role
❌ Ground up training means you likely go slower at the start
❌ No experience means a lack of best practices, tech debt, rework, etc.
❌ Taking talent from another team may create some tension if your partner culture isn't established
❌ Risk of mismatched talent that goes with any internal transfer
❌ May lack the technical skills or project management capacity of experienced hires
EXTERNAL PROS ✅ and CONS ❌:
✅ Would prefer to be an earlier hire but capable of coming in a little later and making an impact
✅ Outside experience brings knowledge of best practices, rhythms, and program models to support scale
✅ Familiarity with industry = help developing program model, definitions, and norms
✅ Will have existing relationships with vendors/platforms to leverage
✅ #Experience adds strategic value to #decisionmaking
✅ Collaboration and project management basics are already present
❌ May need 2-3 months to get to know the product, players, and program as well as decipher what's already been done to build a roadmap
❌ May come with higher upfront cost, challenging for younger programs
❌ As with any 'experienced' person, may be entrenched in specific ideas not suited for your program
❌ May have a different view of the role that does not reflect your goals
In an ideal world, companies investing in Partnerships would bring in experienced ops support right behind their first Program leader. This would allow your program to scale faster from the start and at every point along the way.
The short answer: A jack of all trades supporting a wide set of initiatives to drive Partnership process deeper into the org they serve. The long answer: It's really not well defined and will largely depend on your organizational maturity around Partnerships. This role could be responsible for the following (non-exhaustive) list of "things" within the organization:
✅ #PRM Implementation and ongoing management/enhancements (often a driving reason for the initial hire)
✅ #Reporting and #Dashboards in CRM/Reporting systems
✅ #Inbound referral process management/enhancements
✅ #Data hygiene and program modeling
✅ #Product level reporting for ISVs/OEM utilization/analytics
✅ Daily support of inbound partner issues for system access, quote support, license allocation, etc. etc.
✅ #Enablement systems tied to PRM or LMS delivery
✅ Account mapping solutions and ongoing reporting requests
✅ #Territory creation/alignment into direct rhythms for affiliates and resellers + conflict resolution
✅ System training and enablement, internally and externally
✅ Partner Onboarding - technical and otherwise
✅ Requirement gathering for Partner based initiatives
✅ #ProjectManagement for a variety of partner-related projects extending from every program deeper into the organization
✅ #Enterprise Architecture for #ecosystem tools such as LSM, PRM, SSO, etc.
✅ Turn ideas into scalable solutions to support Partner oriented growth/expansion Basically, your #partnerops role is a #partnermanager without the day-to-day responsibility (or potential financial upside) of managing partners.
▶ They will #advocate for more support and partner inclusion.
▶ They will #educate on what Partners do for the business.
▶ They will #collaborate with literally everyone in the org..
▶ They will #support... ucate.... (and it was going so well....) all the initiatives needed to make Partnerships successful.
The trend right now hiring a PartnerOps role between 12-24 months into program development, often tied to a major PRM (or other system) project and without a lot of clarity for the potential scope and influence of the role.