Collaborative Selling Models

Something remarkable happened when we started bringing Customer Success leaders into our sales conversations. The traditional sales process transformed into a strategic partnership discussion that benefited everyone involved. After implementing this approach across hundreds of deals, we discovered benefits that went far beyond our initial expectations. Sales teams gained a deeper understanding of post-implementation challenges, which helped them qualify opportunities more effectively. Instead of focusing solely on closing deals, they began asking questions about operational readiness, internal champions, and resource allocation. Prospects received authentic insights into what successful implementation truly requires. Our CS leaders shared real examples of customers who thrived and openly discussed common obstacles they might face. This transparency built trust and helped prospects make informed decisions. Better aligned customer expectations from day one. When CS leaders joined these conversations, they highlighted potential roadblocks and success metrics based on similar customer profiles. This practical guidance helped prospects understand the work required to achieve their desired outcomes. This early involvement proved invaluable for our CS team. They gained visibility into the customer's vision before contracts were signed, allowing them to proactively plan resources and create tailored onboarding strategies. A surprising result was the reduction in "rescue" situations during implementation. We eliminated many issues that typically surfaced months into the relationship by addressing potential challenges during sales discussions. The data supported our approach. Deals that included CS leaders showed 40% higher implementation success rates and 25% faster time-to-value. More importantly, these customers renewed at significantly higher rates. For those considering this approach, start small. Choose strategic opportunities where CS insights could substantially impact the prospect's decision-making process. Document the outcomes and refine your strategy based on that feedback. Great customer relationships begin with the very first conversation.

Stakeholder Engagement Map for Sustainability 🌎 Sustainability advances when companies move from speaking to stakeholders toward building solutions with them. Engagement becomes powerful when it shifts from information-sharing to participation and co-creation. Employees are not passive recipients of corporate policies. When positioned as innovators and ambassadors, they can drive cultural change that scales faster than top-down initiatives. Investors increasingly evaluate not only financial returns but also resilience and impact. Open dialogue and credible disclosures create the foundation for financing models that reward long-term value creation. Regulators and policymakers shape the boundaries of what is possible. Proactive collaboration ensures that emerging rules both protect society and enable business innovation. NGOs and civil society connect business with pressing social and environmental realities. Partnerships with them help translate global challenges into concrete, measurable corporate actions. Customers bring more than purchasing power. Through collaboration and product co-design, they accelerate the adoption of sustainable solutions and redefine what markets demand. Suppliers and partners extend responsibility beyond a single enterprise. Joint innovation in sourcing, standards, and technology transforms sustainability into a shared endeavor across the value chain. Communities ground sustainability in place. When businesses co-invest in local development, they secure trust and create ecosystems that benefit both society and the enterprise. Media and opinion leaders influence how actions are perceived. Transparent storytelling backed by evidence strengthens legitimacy and reinforces accountability. Academia and experts contribute the critical lens of science and independent validation. Engaging them ensures that strategies are rooted in knowledge, not convenience. Risk and resilience demand collective approaches. Working groups and cross-sector alliances elevate sustainability from individual commitments to systemic impact. True engagement means entering a space of shared design. It is in these interactions that sustainability moves from compliance to transformation, and from promises to outcomes. #sustainability #business #sustainable #esg

𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Most organisations treat alliance best practice the way they treat their gym membership in January — as an ideal to aim at, not a standard to operate by. That's a costly mistake. After more than two decades of benchmarking several hundred alliance relationships, the research at Alliance Best Practice Ltd keeps arriving at the same three conclusions: 𝟭. 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹. They are measurable, repeatable and consistent across industries. We call them Common Success Factors (CSFs) — the specific behaviours, processes and structures that appear again and again in high-performing alliances. 𝟮. 𝗔 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗦𝗙𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀. Not a correlation observed once or twice. Observed across every cohort we have benchmarked. CSF score is a leading indicator of alliance revenue. 𝟯. 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀. They operate under a Sell With model, not Sell To or Sell Through. The moment an alliance executive starts behaving like a vendor, the partner starts behaving like a customer — and the relationship is finished. Here is what this means in practice. If your alliance portfolio scores 40% against a best-practice benchmark, you don't have an aspirational gap. You have a measurable, quantifiable shortfall in revenue that you could be capturing and aren't. The relationships with the highest growth potential are rarely the ones producing the biggest numbers today. They are the ones with the lowest best-practice scores — because that is where the gap between current performance and achievable performance is widest. That's why best practice is an asset. You can measure it. You can invest in it. And the return on that investment shows up in your pipeline. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 𝗔 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁. To mark the release of this year's benchmark report, Alliance Best Practice Ltd is offering a free alliance best practice assessment against our 5 × 5 Common Success Factor framework. You'll get a clear view of where your strongest relationships sit, where the gaps are, and where the untapped sales potential lives in your portfolio. DM me, or email 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼@𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲.𝗰𝗼𝗺 to arrange yours. The full report is attached below. #StrategicAlliances #AlliancePartners #PartnerEcosystems #AllianceManagement #ChannelSales #B2BSales

👥 Are our customers a name and a logo, or a real person trying to help themselves and their companies win each day? Let’s be honest: CS doesn’t always get this right. I don’t always get this right. When things get tough (aka churn risk, low usage, budget pressure) our instinct is to reach for the metrics. What can we quantify? What can we prove? How do we show we’re “doing our job”? We start building dashboards, framing health scores, chasing outcomes. Not wrong But also not enough. Because often, metrics make us feel better internally. But they don't us understand the people we’re here to serve. This is the tension at the heart of CS. We sit between the customer’s lived reality and the company’s operational pressure. And it’s our job to resolve that tension. Not avoid it. Not outsource it. Own it. So here’s what I’m thinking about today: What can we do to drive a deeper understanding across our orgs of client needs and value? And more importantly: How do we humanize the people at those clients? Here are 5 small moves with outsized impact: 1️⃣ Tell customer stories, not just stats. Share a 30-second anecdote at an All Hands Meeting. Real people. Real outcomes. 2️⃣ Bring a voice into the room. Quote an actual user in a roadmap meeting. Let them shape the build. 3️⃣ Translate feedback into intent. Don’t just say what a client asked for. Explain why it matters. 4️⃣ Invite cross-functional teammates to customer calls. Let them hear the tone, nuance, and urgency directly. 5️⃣ Celebrate wins that start with the customer. When a feature lands or a renewal closes, connect it to the human story behind it. CS isn’t just about adoption or retention. It’s about being the customer people engine inside the business. And that starts with us, every day, choosing to fight for understanding, not just validation. #CustomerSuccess #Leadership #VoiceOfCustomer #CustomerCentricity #CreateTheFuture

Bad selling: • Talking • Forcing • Pitching • Competing • Persuading • Discounting Good selling: • Helping • Listening • Designing • Consulting • Collaborating • Understanding Too many people still think sales is about convincing someone to buy. It’s not. Bad selling is transactional. It’s loud. It’s rushed. It’s focused on the seller’s quota, the product, and “closing the deal.” That’s why it relies on pressure, scripts, and discounts. Good selling is different. Good selling starts with curiosity. It starts with listening more than talking. It starts with understanding the problem before offering the solution. The best salespeople don’t push products — they design solutions with their customers. They ask better questions. They collaborate. They help people make confident decisions. And when you do that, something interesting happens: You don’t have to persuade nearly as much. Because when someone feels understood, the right decision becomes obvious. Sales done right is not about you. It’s about them. Image: Brandon Fluharty #Sales #B2B #Selling #CustomerExperience #ConsultativeSelling #ProblemSolving #BuildingRelationships #BuildingPipeline

The problem isn't the product or the job you’re offering. What’s costing you is a transactional mindset. Yesterday, I caught up with a two-time founder, and it clicked for both of us—the obsession with transactions creates blinders to opportunities. This founder runs a company in an ultra-competitive space, hitting 150% of his annual goals. He’s a former ATP client and someone I continue to advise and collaborate with closely. He’s thriving in business for the same reason he’s on the ATP dream customer list: he’s intentional, not transactional. He doesn’t have all the answers, and he’s okay with that. He prioritizes feedback, relationships, and meaningful experiences with his team, customers, and candidates in the hiring process. This reminded me why I’ve spent 20+ years mastering sales and hiring: the secret to success isn’t in transactions—it’s in real human connections. We agreed—those who chase efficiency in spite of rooted connections miss out on the biggest opportunities. It's true, people crave simplicity. AND They also need reliability, connection, and trust. They want to feel that what they invest in will deliver. I’ve tested countless PLG products, and most I walk away from the same day. Why? Because I’m bombarded with emails and videos that put the burden on me to figure out the use cases and value. They rely on the hope that I'll magically figure it out and convert. Yet, in reality, I'm confused and frustrated. Talk about a risky bet! Over-marketing isn’t the same as understanding and connecting the dots. The only way to do that? Thoughtful, intentional human intervention. One key to my success in sales and hiring has been ditching the pitch and examining how people think about their goals and problems. Not assuming I know because I’ve uncovered the surface-level issue. That’s the gateway to true alignment. It’s how Avenue Talent Partners has maintained a 98% interview-to-hire ratio: focusing on connecting the dots and alignment, not transactions. It looks like this in practice: "What's important to you?" "What do you want to learn about this?" "What won't work for you? There’s plenty of time for “show and tell” later. This is why our customers tell us we’re different—being different isn’t a big shift. It’s about what happens in practice. Whenever I think I understand the situation, there’s always more to learn. Demoing a product or pitching a role is a tiny part of the process. TL;DR: Our process isn’t the priority—their needs are. Being effective and “easy to work with” doesn’t mean throwing a product, opportunity, or candidate at someone and hoping for the best. Dig deeper. It’s the only way to capture the full opportunity. And where real "value" is built. #BuildWithATP #Business #Startups #Founders

Almost 10 years ago, I stepped away from my Head of Marketing role. Not because I didn’t love marketing, I did. A lot in fact. But because I wanted to solve the problem that I, and lots of my marketing peers were being tripped up by ↓ The disconnect between campaign and core. Companies often prioritise the performance customers see, but overlook the experience they feel. Brands craft powerful marketing messages promising simplicity, customer-centricity, or innovation, only for customers to experience the exact opposite once they interact with the business. 👎 A “customer-first” company with an impossible-to-reach support team. 👎 A “seamless” experience riddled with friction. 👎 A personalised campaign that leads to a generic, frustrating journey. And it's why I became a service designer; to bridge the gap between the customer experience and how teams show up, interact and deliver it every day. It’s not enough to talk about customer-centricity, because your customers are gonna see right through that. It has to be seen, actioned and felt in how teams work, make decisions, and design experiences - with your customers need at the core. Because this is the production behind your performance. At The Marketing Meetup last night, I shared my journey of building customer-centric cultures, and the three key steps that make it happen (OK, caveat here, this is a massively over-simplified version): ✅ Understand Customer insight isn’t just a marketing function. Every team should be plugged into real customer conversations. Dive into the data then push it further; spend time in their shoes, immerse yourselves in their worlds and bring those experiences into your daily team interactions. ✅ Embed Align your values and ways of working with your brand promises; map the experience gap by comparing brand messaging with real customer experiences. Train teams to think customer-first, ensuring CX is part of daily decision-making, and recognise and reward employees who bridge the gap, turning customer-centricity into action. ✅ Operate Customer-centricity must be a business-wide way of working, we're talking about moving from slogans to systems; Design cross-functional engagement strategies that span the 5Es: entice, enter, engage, exit and extend and develop customer journey ownership models - set up squads that are clear on who is responsible for each stage, and how teams work together to improve the end-to-end experience. Great brands don’t just tell great stories. They live them, from campaign to core. What companies do you think are doing this well? I would love to crowd-source a list of these examples, let me know in the comments below 👇 #CustomerCentricity #BrandExperience #ServiceDesign 

"Can you believe they completely ignored our feedback?" The prospective client's voice was filled with frustration. "It feels like they've forgotten we exist." This was more than just a complaint— and I knew right then that something had to change. We often talk about customer centricity, but how often do we truly reflect on what it means? My career started in a call center, where the customer was everything. Every call and every interaction was a reminder that the customer wasn't just a part of the business—they were the reason for it. As I've grown in my career, this mindset of "client first" has stayed with me. But hearing this client's dissatisfaction made me pause and ask: Are we really putting the customer first in everything we do? In the rush of targets, processes, and metrics, it's easy to lose sight of the customer. But when we do, the consequences are real—disconnected relationships, unmet expectations, and ultimately, lost trust. So, how can we ensure that customer centricity isn't just a buzzword but a guiding principle in our work? Here's what you can consider: 👉🏻 Listen, Really Listen: Take the time to understand your customers' pain points. What are they unhappy about? What's missing in their current experience? Truly listening can reveal insights that lead to better solutions. 👉🏻 Be Proactive, Not Reactive: Waiting for a problem to escalate is not the way to go. Anticipate your customers' needs and address potential issues before they become real concerns. This proactive approach not only prevents issues but also shows that you're not just meeting expectations—you're exceeding them. 👉🏻 Personalize Your Approach: Customers appreciate when you remember the little things. Whether it's recalling past interactions or tailoring your service to their specific needs, personalization makes a huge difference in how valued they feel. 👉🏻 Collaborate, Don't Dictate: Work with your customers, not just for them. Involve them in the process, seek their input, and make them feel like true partners. This collaboration builds trust and fosters long-term relationships. 👉🏻 Reflect and Improve: After every interaction, take a moment to reflect. What went well? What could be improved? Continuous reflection ensures that you're always aligning your work with your customers' evolving needs. Have you ever had a moment where a customer's feedback made you stop and think? I'd love to hear your experiences and any tips you have for staying customer-centric. #CustomerCentricity #ClientFirst #CustomerExperience

#CustomerExperience leaders need to split their strategies into deliberate bottom-up and top-down approaches. Many get the bottom-up right, but they struggle with the top-down. Bottom-up strategies focus on improving customer-centric employee behaviors at scale. These approaches include #CX or empathy training for front-line workers, using Voice of Customer feedback to set touchpoint expectations based on customer feedback, and building customer-centric KPIs into individual performance appraisals. But where many CX leaders struggle is often with engaging senior leaders to influence their customer-centric behaviors. It's difficult to influence C-suite behavior, but if you're expected to improve customer-centric culture in the organization, then you cannot avoid this. Top-down strategies start with showing senior leaders how customer satisfaction impacts growth, retention, margin, and lifetime value. It also includes improving CX and VoC reporting to provide more recommendations and actions, not just findings and data. Having discussions with leaders about the importance of financial and non-financial rewards for customer-centric behaviors is another tool in the top-down toolkit. And using personas and journey maps is a vital way to convert customer and touchpoint data into a compelling story of necessary change. Don't rely on dashboards and reports to do the job of top-down CX engagement. Don't count on a couple of positive customer-centric comments from leaders as a sign of meaningful, irreversible support. And do not assume that the fact your CX job exists is evidence of senior leaders' commitment to customer experience. Part of the job for a successful CX leader is to constantly prove the value of customer-centric strategies, influence senior leader priorities, and arm decision-makers with the insight they need to make customer-centric decisions. Don't just empower your frontline workers and assume the job is done. If you aren't building a consistent dialog with executives, you're not only missing an opportunity to make the most significant customer impact but also seeding future problems that can lead to declining support, budget, and resources for customer experience initiatives. Take a comment today to identify or define your top-down and bottom-up CX strategies for 2024. If there's an imbalance, solving that now can lead to better outcomes by the end of this year.

This is the most underrated problem I've seen when trying to build or expand partnership GTM: Leadership is initially fully behind a new partnership, excited about its potential, but that enthusiasm never makes its way down to the sales teams who are expected to execute. Without alignment, even the best partnership can stall before it has a chance to succeed. Why does this happen? Sales teams are often focused on their core products, and if a partnership doesn’t clearly benefit them or fit into their day-to-day operations, it becomes an afterthought. To turn things around, you need to make sure your partnership incentives, compensation, and training are in lockstep with the teams that will be selling your product. Here’s how to align incentives and drive results: 1. Ensure your incentives are compelling enough for frontline teams. It’s not enough to excite leadership—sales teams need a clear, tangible reason to sell your product. - Introduce a financial incentive or bonus structure that’s competitive with what reps earn on their core products. This could be a one-time bonus for the first sale, or an ongoing commission that rewards consistent effort. -Tie the incentive to their existing sales goals. If your product helps them hit their targets more easily, they’ll naturally prioritize it. 2. Structure partner compensation to motivate co-selling. If your partner compensation doesn’t align with their core goals, they won’t push your product. - Design a compensation plan that aligns with both the partner’s and your business objectives. For instance, if your partner’s core offering is hardware, incentivize bundling your software as part of the sale to create a win-win situation. - Offer performance-based incentives that reward partners for hitting key milestones—whether that’s a certain number of units sold, a specific revenue target, or even customer engagement metrics. Keep it simple and measurable. 3. Provide consistent training and engagement so your product isn’t just another checkbox. Sales teams won’t advocate for your product if they don’t fully understand its value or how to sell it. - Develop ongoing, bite-sized training sessions that fit into their schedules. Instead of overwhelming them with lengthy sessions, focus on 15-minute, high-impact trainings that teach them how to identify the right opportunities. -Pair training with real-time support. Join sales calls, offer one-pagers, and provide direct assistance during key customer engagements. When they feel supported, they’re more likely to feel confident pushing your product. This kind of alignment can make the difference between a stalled partnership and a thriving one. When sales teams are motivated, equipped, and incentivized to sell your product, the partnership stops being just another checkbox—it becomes a key driver of growth.