The Partner Channel Magazine Summer 2017

SMART P2P calls for completion of its “Partner Profile Template” as an excellent way to help team members
prepare for Partner meetings and as a tool to educate the broader team (sales, engineering, marketing, legal,
and executive) about the value of the proposed channel partnership. This education is important as these may
be the stakeholders called upon to invest time and resources into the partnership to move it forward.
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Get Serious – It is time to set up meetings to get to know each other better. Since you have a list (albeit,
narrowed and prioritized – still you only have limited time and resources available) of potential Partners
waiting to confirm whether your company is a good fit, you want to quickly determine if there is a basis
on which to take the relationship to the next level. This is where all the work you did in step one to get to
know yourself as a business and capture your core value comes into play. If you start the conversation with
prospective Partners on your short list by building a solid understanding of each other’s value proposition, it
should give you both a strong indication at the outset of a likely future together.
It is realistic to expect to sign between three and five Partners after this step. Through the course of further
discussion and as more is learned about each Partner, you will prioritize how you allocate resources such that
the larger proportion of what is available goes to those who have the most promise of delivering results.
HAPPILY EVER AFTER
Finding an ideal business partner is akin to finding a partner in your personal life. Knowing what one values in
oneself and what one finds of value in another, be it a person or organization, and staying true to that as the list
of prospective Partners is evaluated, can keep you from investing time and energy into an endeavor that will not
lead to anything fulfilling. Use the seven steps above to guide your company’s search for “the one” who will create a
happily ever after situation for your partnership goals.
For more information, check out www.smartp2p.net.
THEPARTNERCHANNEL.COM | SUMMER 2017 17