Maximizing Co-Sell Success: Cassandra Gholston’s 11-Step Playbook

Channel Journeys Podcast

What does co-selling mean to you? Is your company co-selling at scale with your partners or are you still at the stage of random acts of co-selling? The changes in buyer behavior that we’ve all been talking about is making co-selling more important than ever. And the advent of automated partner mapping technologies is enabling co-selling at scale.

In this episode I’m speaking with Cassandra Gholston, CEO and Co-founder of PartnerTap, about her playbook for co-sell transformation. Cassandra shares a robust framework any organization can leverage to enhance its co-selling efforts. These steps underscore the necessity of strategic leadership, clear communication, and the proper use of technology and data in driving successful co-selling. If you’re looking to enhance your co-selling capabilities, these strategies from Cassandra’s playbook are an excellent place to start.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Here’s what I learned from Cassandra about the 11-steps to co-sell transformation:

1. Change Agent Leadership: Identify and empower internal champions who advocate for and can lead co-selling transformation across your organization and with your partners.
2. Co-Selling Strategy – The Why: Develop a compelling reason for co-selling that reflects market shifts and operational changes, ensuring that everyone understands its importance and the key measures of success.
3. Design the Program Around Customers: Shift your focus from partners to shared customers, ensuring your co-sell strategy prioritizes customer success.
4. Automation: Utilize technology to automate and scale co-selling efforts, reducing your reliance on spreadsheets and manual processes.
5. Update Roles and Responsibilities: Redefine roles, making your Channel Account Managers (CAMs) and Partner Account Managers (PAMs) more proactive and strategic.
6. Training and Enablement: Implement robust training programs for sellers, partners, and internal teams to embrace and effectively execute the co-sell strategy.
7. Running Sales Plays: Define specific sales plays that align with partner capabilities and market opportunities, making it clear what actions to take, by whom, and when.
8. Attribution: Ensure you have clear tracking and attribution of activities and results to measure the success of co-selling initiatives.
9. Change Management: Implement structured change management processes to support the new co-sell roles and responsibilities throughout the organization.
10. Identify More Deals with Real-time Account Mapping: Use live data connections to keep account mappings up to date, providing a constant feed of relevant opportunities.
11. Co-Sell Quarterbacks: Develop a centralized co-sell desk or team to coordinate and manage co-sell activities across partnerships, ensuring alignment and efficiency.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Connect with Cassandra on LinkedIn
• Read The 11-Step Co-Sell Transformation Playbook
• Try Impartner Partner Management

The post Maximizing Co-Sell Success: Cassandra Gholston’s 11-Step Playbook first appeared on Channel Journeys.