Building trust in pay-per-call partnerships

Here's the new rule of GTM for 2025: it's about about TRUST not DISTRACTION. In 2024 and earlier, most companies were STILL playing the volume game: More cold emails More ads More noise But here's what I learned building partner programs at WeWork and Amex: 1. Identify Trusted Advocates Customers are more likely to trust recommendations from voices they already know and respect. Who influences our target audience? Who already has their attention and trust? These could be industry leaders, complementary solution providers, or niche communities. Build partnerships with those who already have a strong connection to your ideal customers. 2. Collaborate to Add Value, Not Noise Instead of interrupting your audience with another cold email or ad, collaborate with partners to create meaningful, value-driven touch points. - Co-host a webinar addressing a shared customer pain point. - Develop a joint white paper showcasing both brands’ expertise. - Offer bundled solutions that make life easier for the customer. 3. Leverage Existing Trust to Open Doors Partners are amplifiers AND bridges. They help you cross the “river of distraction” and reach customers without the noise. A well-placed introduction or co-branded recommendation carries far more weight than another outbound message. 4. Measure the Shift from Interruption to Influence If trust-building is your new GTM focus, your success metrics need to change too. Track things like: - Partner-Sourced Leads: Leads generated through trusted partner referrals. - Engagement Rates: How customers interact with co-created content or campaigns. - Pipeline Velocity: How quickly partner-driven deals progress compared to direct sales efforts. Breaking through the noise requires genuine relationships. It's no longer about whose voice is the loudest, it’s whose voice your audience already trusts. The future isn't about interruption and distraction. It's about trust.

Most partner programs fail before they even start. Not because the product isn’t great. Not because the partnership isn’t valuable. Not even because of bad execution. They fail because nobody cares. The number one mistake in partner enablement? Jumping straight to training before building awareness and trust. Here's the real real: Your partners aren’t sitting around waiting to learn about your product. Your sales team isn’t automatically excited about working with partners. So, before you roll out certifications, portals, and one-pagers, you need to earn their attention. The Awareness-Trust-Training Framework 1️⃣ Awareness – If they don’t know you exist, they won’t care about your enablement. Do this: Identify keywords and triggers in customer conversations that signal a need for your partnership. Sit in on sales calls, map out common pain points, and make sure your internal and external teams know when to pull a partner in. 2️⃣ Trust – If they don’t believe in the value, they won’t invest their time. Do this: Show your own team the impact of partnerships. Share real success stories. Help your partners’ sellers see how working with you makes their jobs easier, not harder. 3️⃣ Training – Once they’re bought in, then they’re ready to learn. Do this: Only after awareness and trust are in place should you introduce training materials, playbooks, and certifications. At this point, they’ll actually use them. Too many partner teams are throwing enablement materials into a void, wondering why nothing is sticking. If you’re not seeing traction, ask yourself: Do they even know we exist? Do they trust that this partnership will help them win? Or are we just expecting them to care because we built a portal? Start with awareness. Build trust. Then train. That’s how you make enablement stick.

Most partnership leaders think they need fancy tech to scale revenue. They don't. I've built partner programs for 8 years, and as I wait for our breakfast order to come out, here's the truth no one tells you. Tech without trust is useless. Platforms without relationships are worthless. And expensive tools without a clear strategy are just a faster way to drain your budget. The most successful partnership teams I work with focus on one thing first: Building systems that make it easy for partners to add value WITHOUT jumping through hoops. Most partner programs make the mistake of: - Creating rigid processes that partners hate - Building portals no one uses - Requiring complex forms that kill momentum - Measuring activity instead of outcomes - Focusing on volume over value When we flipped this approach, we saw immediate results. We streamlined the experience for partners. We met them where they already work. We made collaboration effortless. Partners started creating content with us. They engaged with our audiences. They shared our message in a genuine way. Partner-influenced deals closed 40% faster. Referral quality improved dramatically. Attribution became automatic, not a battle. Partnership leaders don't need more tools. They need better systems. What's one way you've simplified your partner experience that paid off unexpectedly? P.S. Over the next week, I'll be sharing my best insights on how to transform your partnership program without breaking the bank. Follow along if you want the playbook that's working right now.

In this episode of the "Tell Rana" series, I’m joined by my colleague Uttam Reddy, Head of Partnership Sales - North America at Gen. Uttam brings over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, sharing a wealth of practical knowledge and insights into building successful partnerships. In this episode, I asked Uttam: "From your experience, what are some best practices for sales reps to effectively collaborate with partners and ensure a win-win relationship?" Here’s a glimpse of Uttam’s advice: 🔑 Have the end customer in mind. Understand who the partner’s customer is, what they’re trying to solve for their customer, and align your solution accordingly. By focusing on the common customer, you create shared alignment, a shared service, and ultimately, shared goals 🔑 Embed your offerings into their value stream. A commercial product doesn’t just sell itself. Your solution must integrate seamlessly into the partner's value proposition, messaging, and processes—whether that’s through embedding, reselling, or collaboration. 🔑 Treat partners like an extension of your team. Build trust by protecting deal registrations, collaborating as one unified team in front of customers, and ensuring you're working with partners, not against them. 🔑 Celebrate wins together. Recognize and celebrate successes—highlighting how you worked together, grew your businesses, and aligned on strategic priorities for the future. Show partners you’re invested in their growth as much as your own. So, I ask you: How are you developing high-trust relationships with your partners? Let’s discuss in the comments! 👇 #tellrana; #partners; #sales; #trust