In this blog you’ll learn: 

• How to find the right revenue mix

• Which KPIs do you need to track Nearbound’s impact

• The next step after nailing your Nearbound sales math

Most companies are using a mix of outbound and inbound strategies. Most organizations are also struggling to hit their revenue targets.

Simply upping your outbound and inbound activities is unlikely to cover that gap.

You need a third revenue source.

The missing strategy can not only unlock new revenue, but it also layers on to outbound and inbound activities, making them more effective in the process.

This strategy is NEARBOUND. 

Nearbound sales is the dead simple way to operationalize plays from sellers that utilize partners.

Nearbound sales scenarios

In this new economy, you’re not going to achieve 100% of revenue if your strategy only includes 2⁄3 of the picture. Outbound and inbound strategies are good, but they aren’t enough. 

44% of your new customers are already a customer of one of your partners. If you’re not engaging them on these customers, you are missing an opportunity to improve win rates, deal size, and time to close (by 2-3x!).

Scenario one: less or equal to 10% of partner involvement

We know that not all companies have an established partner program. According to the State of Partner-Led Growth Report 2023, 34% of Sales and Marketing teams will only allocate 10% of the budget to their Partnership teams. 

So, their current revenue mix might look like this: 

50% outbound, 40% inbound, 10% Nearbound (it is not partnerships; it’s how you use it)

Even though your team is fully dedicated to their job, they are currently producing 60% of your sales productivity. 

Meaning that you’re leaving aside 40% of revenue.

Scenario two: +33% of partner involvement

Let’s say that you play it fair and allocate ⅓ of your budget and resources to each part of your revenue mix: 

⅓ outbound ⅓ inbound ⅓ Nearbound 

This means that at least 33% of your leads are partner-sourced. 

As an example, we have a couple of Reveal customers who saw a boost in their metrics since they implemented a Nearbound strategy:

AssessFirst, an HR recruitment solution. 

We don’t know what their current revenue mix distribution looks like. But what we know is that since François Lehec, Head of Partnerships at AssessFirst, implemented a Nearbound approach, he has seen over a 100% increase in lead generation, plus a 15% increase in fully integrated clients. 

AB Tasty, a customer experience optimization company.

Since they allocated a fair amount of resources to a Nearbound strategy, Devon Boyd, Channel and Alliances Director, EMEA at AB Tasty, and his team were able to uncover $10M of sourced/influenced revenue potential from partners, and fully integrated with Salesforce to drive adoption of the partnership program at AB Tasty.

Nearbound will boost your win rate by 41%, your open opportunities by at least 33%, and even 2-3x your pipeline. But everything will depend on how much effort, resources, and budget you allocate to it.  

In the end, it’s math, not magic.

Nearbound sales is not about asking for a referral, it’s about making it logical and easy for partners to help. To activate your Nearbound sales strategy follow Jared Fuller’s three steps: 

Keeping score of your Nearbound sales game plan

Now, let’s see how can you execute that partner attach rate of 33%. Spoiler alert: it’s all about how you collaborate with your reps. 

Identify the number of accounts that each of your reps has. Let’s assume that they own 100 accounts per quarter. 

If we follow the ⅓ rule (⅓ outbound ⅓ inbound ⅓ Nearbound), then 33 out of 100 accounts should have partners attached.

So, what can you do to leverage them? 

At the beginning of every quarter when accounts are assigned, you (as the Partner Manager), need to have a meeting with your rep, to determine the accounts with the most influential partner overlaps. 

These 33 accounts should be tracked and attributed to your Nearbound strategy–basically, you need to build a Nearbound account list. 

Once you have your list, you can run it through your favorite Nearbound Revenue Platform. 

Measuring and Tracking 

Instead of measuring partner-sourced as the main KPI to track the success of Nearbound activities, establish KPIs that help you think bigger and align with your organization’s goals. 

Key metrics may include:

1. Partner-attached rate/ Partner-influenced revenue  

2. Partner-sourced revenue 

3. Retention rates

4. Upsell opportunities influenced by partners

5. Integration activation and product usage growth with partner involvement

6. Partner Revenue (the revenue made for partners; this kind of exchange is what makes partner relationships successful)

It’s true that all your GTM teams have different KPIs, and Nearbound is no exception. 

For your Sales team, you can choose between the number of pipeline activities that involve partner influence, average deal size (with and without partner involvement), or average close rate (with and without partner involvement). 

For your Marketing team, to track Nearbound’s impact, marketers should also focus on generating Nearbound Qualified Leads (NQLs)–accounts that already live in your ecosystem and have a higher potential to convert because they are customers or prospects of your partners. 

For your Partnership team, you can choose between partner-sourced revenue or partner-influenced revenue:  

• You can measure and ensure partner-influence by tracking:

  • The number of opportunities where your partner was involved

  • The resulting number of deal wins secured through your partner’s involvement

  • Your partner’s engagement level 

• You can measure and ensure partner-sourced revenue by tracking:

  • The number of new leads passed over from your partner

  • The number of opportunities that moved to the pipeline from those leads

  • The number of deal wins that were converted from those opportunities

Taking your Nearbound sales strategy to the next level

Once you have nailed the perfect balance between your inbound, outbound, and Nearbound mix. You can start implementing Nearbound Sales Plays like the 3 I’s of Nearbound: 

Intel: Any information that your partners and/or partnership technology can provide you about an opportunity. Get the answers to the test from those who know. And here’s what it should look like:

Influence: Use a relationship to advance to the next step. Surround key moments in the buyer journey. And here’s what it should look like:

Intros: The holy grail. You are leveraging trust at its highest level with your partner to get you connected with the right people. Tap into trust already built. And here’s what it should look like:

The power of your Nearbound sales strategy

Nearbound sales is a crucial addition to any organization’s revenue strategy. Relying solely on outbound and inbound methods can leave substantial revenue untapped. By integrating Nearbound, companies can enhance sales productivity and customer relationships. Keep in mind that success depends on resource allocation.

The better balanced your GTM strategy is, the more you can achieve these types of results: 

• Increase your win rate by 41% 

• Increase your open opportunities by at least 33%

• Boost your pipeline by 2-3x

• Close deals 35% faster than other accounts

• Decrease your total CAC

Nearbound isn’t magic, it’s the strategic GTM approach for achieving revenue goals. 

To learn more about how you can win with a Go To Network approach and actioning the 3 Nearbound sales plays, join Scott Leese at the Nearbound Summit.