How can you ensure your alliance partner's sales team is trained and incentivized to sell your products?

The initial step in forming an alliance partnership is to articulate and communicate the objectives and benefits for both parties, aligning them with respective sales strategies. Establish clear and realistic targets, metrics, and incentives for the alliance sales, and agree on tracking and reporting methods. This fosters a shared vision, minimizes confusion and conflict, and facilitates the measurement of progress and performance. Clearly defined expectations contribute to the success and sustainability of the alliance partnership.

Set clear KPIs with incentive scheme in place should they achieve those KPIs. Monitor and review progress weekly or monthly with OTJ training support and coaching to ensure progress is on-track.

Mathematically, it makes sense that if increasing the sales team will proportional increase the final company sales. However each individual has to be guided, motivated and provided with the tools, knowledge, confidence and security in order to reach its maximum potential. Providing the effective training is esencial to secure well performing team, looking after their needs and keeping their motivation and enthusiasm to the highest level is the manager duty.

Following the definition of objectives, ensure your alliance partner's sales team is equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively sell your products. Provide comprehensive, tailored training covering product features, benefits, value proposition, and differentiation. Offer ongoing support, including access to sales materials, tools, resources, and experts. This support enhances their confidence, competence, and credibility with your customers, ultimately contributing to the success of the alliance partnership.

Here’s an average idea: why not just do what everyone else is doing and get the same mediocre numbers you got last year! More traditional product-focused training, right? Wrong. Outdated. Instead, get your partner's sales team in the customer's world. Get them experiencing the pain points your product solves. It's not about features my learned friend; it's about the transformation your product brings to the customer's life. This emotional connection crush any spec sheet. Sell the problem, not the product.

Alignment makes sense, but let's not get lost in the processes. Instead of syncing cycles and stages, focus on syncing mindsets. Do things that create a shared entrepreneurial spirit where both teams are locked into win-win mutual success, not just following procedures. Get out of your old cardboard box and start in on creative deal structuring and close some more deals. Break away from the pack, and supercharge your alliance partnerships.

Collaboration is a lot more than base communication; it's about creating a shared success story. Don’t do what the rest of the pack is doing. Challenge yourself to be better. What if you had mixed teams, with members from both partners, working on deals together? Let them share leads, strategies, and even successes and failures (dare I say compensation/commissions - Heresy!). If you want to win big, remember, this isn't just about aligning goals; it's about building a joint mission where everyone has skin in the game.