"I’ll keep an ear to the ground."

I used this expression the other day while talking to a partner pro friend who had recently lost their job. 

But after we hung up, I found myself chewing on the phrase. 

This expression is said to originally refer to the Native American practice of putting one’s ear to the ground to listen to vibrations and sounds in the distance.

French author and diplomat François-René de Chateaubriand first mentioned the practice in Voyage en Amérique (Travel in America), in 1827:

The footprints having been minutely examined, the Indians clap their ears to the ground, and judge, by murmurs inaudible to a European ear, at what distance the enemy is. (Wordhistories)

But for those of us working in B2B SaaS, trying to decipher what’s coming can be like ’putting our ear to the ground’ in the middle of a damn elephant stampede. 

There’s too much noise. 

There are too many opinions about what to do with that noise.

And partner pros are getting trampled in the process. 

We have to train ourselves—not only as individual partner pros, but as a united GTM front—how to tune out the chaos and tune into our siren song: the needs of our customers.

Once we get clear on that, we can prioritize and action the data, ecosystems, tools, stories, and strategies that help the customer win. 

Find the right rumble 

To accelerate your sales cycle, you need to influence your customers’ journey. The problem is that people and companies that aren’t you currently own and influence 85%+ of your customers’ journey.

This means that if you want to drive more revenue, you need to partner with the people controlling these touchpoints. Here’s what Jay McBain, Chief Analyst at Canalys advises you to do:

🌍 Understand the changing landscape: Stay ahead by recognizing new buyer behaviors, embracing integration-first approaches, and understanding the pivotal role of marketplaces.

💬 Shift to ecosystem language: Focus on what you can multiply on top of a deal and who can you involve to close the deal faster. It’s about creating synergies that benefit all parties involved.

📊 Leverage data and second-party data: Understanding customer behavior and establishing data-driven partnerships is essential.

Learn more about the state of the partner ecosystem and some predictions for where we are headed in Jay McBain’s full Nearbound Summit session. 

Canalys crowns Reveal 👑

Reveal joins the ranks in the 2023 Canalys Global Co-Sell Software Leadership Matrix alongside WorkSpan, PartnerStack, PartnerTap, Tackle, and Crossbeam.

This is Canalys’ first Global Co-Sell Software Leadership Matrix, and will be a new and vital part of the Leadership Matrix reports. The matrix’s objective is to,

assess which vendors are playing an integral role in driving the success of the partner ecosystem across their respective channel and technology areas.

BIG thanks to Ben Wright, Jay McBain, and the Canalys team for the honor. 

Stuff you don’t want to miss!

• Nearbound Summit 2023 Recordings—The future of GTM is Nearbound. Watch the recordings to hear how B2B leaders across departments unite with Nearbound strategies and tactics. Listen here.
• January 25th— CEO Summit — Join Pavilion and many more companies to be part of expert-led educational sessions, covering top-of-mind issues for CEOs and Founders. Learn about the latest sales insights, building a pricing strategy, and co-selling. Register here. 
• Feb 5-7th in Miami — Impartnercon 2024 — Partnerships are the future of growth. Join partner leaders to learn what it means to build the future of business, together.  Register here. 
• March 19-20th — Affiverse’s Amplify Summit — Join them for a 2-day virtual event to help affiliate businesses amplify their performance. Learn about digital, partnership, and affiliate marketing. Register here.

Send the nearbound signal

Share this with a partner pro who needs help navigating the noise.