How to Start Partner Experience Leadership: Start partner experience management with your business objective and a plan for who should do what, when and why.
Avoid the temptation to buy a technology or start a survey until you have created your plan.
1) Example business objective: retention, differentiation, industry leadership, partner value, profitability, or risk minimization.
2 ) Who are your core-growth partners? What do you already know about your them regarding this business objective?
3 ) Who in your company (and its ecosystem) is a contributor to these partners’ behaviors regarding this business objective?
4 ) How has a previous initiative with these contributors succeeded or failed? What lessons learned can you borrow?
5 ) How can you engage these contributors in aligning their behaviors with your answer to question 2 above? What will you need to do to minimize their resistance and workarounds, and to maintain their ongoing energy for these behaviors?
6) Referring to your answer to question 2 above, what will make the most sense to your partners as ways to engage them toward your business objective?
7) How can you tie-in your answers to questions 5-6 to the routines of contributors and customers? Routines include planning cycles, reviews, meetings, and so on.
8) Communicate your answers to questions 5-7 above to the contributors and engage them in making a difference.
9) Engage partners, buy technologies, and so on in accordance with your answer to question 8.
See also: Partner Experience Playbook
