Jen Spencer, CEO of SmartBug Media,
is speaking at the Summit!

Jen is a customer-centric, revenue-driving master who will be sharing how to best use partners to uplift customer experience.

Don’t forget the humans

Behind every demo call or sales strategy are humans—individuals with their own unique set of struggles, goals, and concerns.


You might be thinking, "Duh," but this is why it matters:


Your job as a GTM professional is to bring in and retain the most revenue as quickly as possible. This means using tools like data, automation platforms, and the like at scale.

And in the chaos, it’s easy to forget the humans behind it all.

In an ideal world, you’d be able to sit down for hours with each of your customers and potential buyers to get to know them and their needs, but that is not realistic nor is it sustainable.

By gleaning intel, influence, and introductions from those your buyer trusts, you can paint a clearer picture of who these people are, who they lean on, and what they’re working toward.

And by connecting them to the right solutions and partners, you get to show them that you’re listening and that you care about their success as much as they do.

Segment partner for success

In Jen Spencer’s latest article on LinkedIn, she shares how SmartBug has successfully structured their channel partnership program to give customers a personalized experience, as well as leverage the full potential of their ecosystem:

1. Make partnerships part of your DNA

2. Segment your clients by maturity level and persona to better understand their distinct pain points and specific needs

3. Leverage and analyze integrations delivered through different ecosystems, like HubSpot’s App Ecosystem, and align these technologies with your client’s specific requirements

And lastly, remember that creating a customized experience for clients with partners is a long-term investment.

Thanks for advice, Jen!

Jen will be speaking at the Nearbound Summit.

Data distrust is subjective

The Association for Computing Machinery’s global Technology Policy Council (TPC) recently released its TechBrief, "The Data Trust Deficit", and the results might surprise you.


We know that society has become more and more distrusting of how their data is being used, but this study reveals that it’s not just the use of personal data, but who is using it and how
it’s being used that makes all the difference.


It comes down to context and the institution that is handling the data.

For example, the report cites that the general public "feels a high degree of confidence when their data is managed by a medical organization and a far lower degree of trust when their data is handled by a social media company."

The TechBrief also explains that trust can vary according to demographic background. The negative effects of structural inequalities dictate whether people trust. The author explains that “…both historically and more recently, it has been found that the wealthy and well-educated have higher levels of trust than disadvantaged groups. This may be because the consequences of misplaced trust can be more severe for the disadvantaged.”

"The Data Trust Deficit” TechBrief came down to the following three conclusions:

Source: "The Data Trust Deficit" TechBrief

(It almost sounds like "trust is the new data"...😉)

It’s time to evolve from mass-targeting demographics by using their personal data to using a nearbound strategy to understand their personal experiences through their trusted network.

Earning trust through real connection is the only way forward.

The meme battle continues

The meme war on the
Nearbound Summit’s WhatsApp community hosted by Partnership Leaders is still going strong. Here’s a great one from Greg Higgins.

Wow, shots fired! The conversation around sales is getting spicy.

BDR Managers, feel free to fire back!

Stuff you don’t want to miss!

• Join the official Nearbound Summit community brought to you by Partnership Leaders —
  Partnership leaders’ goal is to connect people interested in learning about partnerships around the world.
  

• Oct 11th, 10 AM EST —Women in Alliances Summit—
  Join the FREE global summit featuring speakers like Jay McBain, Tina Gravel, Christine Bongard, Allison Munro, and more. They’ll touch on AI’s impact on the ecosystem, how partnerships are changing, and tips to boost your career.
  

• Oct 11th, 2 PM EST —Building a Partnership Strategy—
  Join Cari Kesten (Former Director, Global Strategy & Partnerships Lead at Spotify) and Scott Pollack (CEO at Firneo) as they share key elements of a successful partnerships strategy and more.
  

• Oct 12th, 11:30 AM EST —Direct is Dying—
  Join two CMOs, Isaac Morehouse of Reveal and Pete Rawlinson of Allbound, for a 30-minute discussion diving into the implications of a pivot from direct to partner-led demand generation.

• October 18th —Firneo Partner Strategy Forum (Day 1):
  How to Fix Your Broken Partner Program—
  Learn how to fix the root cause of your partner program’s biggest challenges.
  

• October 25th —Firneo Partner Strategy Forum (Day 2):
  
  How to Prioritize the RIGHT Partners—
  Learn how to make sure you’re investing your (limited) resources in partners that will generate a meaningful.
  

• November 1st —Firneo Partner Strategy Forum (Day 3): How to Get Executive Buy-In for Partnerships—
  Learn how to secure resources & support from key stakeholders that are critical to partnership success.
  

• November 6th-9th —Nearbound Summit 2023—
  The future of GTM is Nearbound. Join us for the biggest-ever remote experience in GTM where B2B leaders across departments unite to share how they’re winning with Nearbound strategies and tactics.
  

• April 19th-20th –SaaS Connect 2023–
  It’s that time of year again! Get your spot early for the 11th annual partnership conference in San Francisco, hosted by Cloud Software Association.
  

Success Day at The Nearbound Summit

Join Jen, Jill Rowley, Sunir Shah, and more at the Nearbound Summit.