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Forecastable's Education Center -- The best advice on building partner programs that produce forecastable revenue.

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A partnerships leader and a RevOps manager weighing co-selling solution options on a whiteboard that maps build versus buy against overlap, coordination, and marketplace layers, deep navy and warm amber palette

Co-Selling Solutions: Build, Buy, or Run In-House

What are co-selling solutions? Short answer: Co-selling solutions are the tools, systems, and operating approaches a company uses to sell alongside partners, spanning everything from a shared spreadsheet and a manual deal-review rhythm to dedicated software that finds account overlap and tracks joint deals. The phrase covers more than software, because a solution is the […]

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Editor's Picks

B2B SaaS Marketing Partner: What It Is and How

What is a b2b saas marketing partner? Short answer: A b2b saas marketing partner is a company you run joint marketing with, co-branded campaigns, joint webinars, shared content, and co-marketing to each other’s audiences, to create demand neither of you would generate alone. It can be a technology partner you integrate with, a channel partner […]

Behavioral Incentives for Partners: A Guide

What are behavioral incentives for partners? Short answer: Behavioral incentives for partners are rewards tied to the specific actions that lead to revenue, such as completing certification, registering deals, or bringing a qualified opportunity, rather than only to a closed sale. They exist because the closed deal is a lagging result, and it pays partners […]

Partner Incentive Program: Design One That Produces

What is a partner incentive program? Short answer: A partner incentive program is the set of rewards, tiers, and payout rules a vendor uses to pay partners for the behaviors that produce revenue. It works when it pays for the specific actions that lead to pipeline, and it fails when it pays for signings, logos, […]

A partnerships leader and a RevOps manager weighing co-selling solution options on a whiteboard that maps build versus buy against overlap, coordination, and marketplace layers, deep navy and warm amber palette

Co-Selling Solutions: Build, Buy, or Run In-House

What are co-selling solutions? Short answer: Co-selling solutions are the tools, systems, and operating approaches a company uses to sell alongside partners, spanning everything from a shared spreadsheet and a manual deal-review rhythm to dedicated software that finds account overlap and tracks joint deals. The phrase covers more than software, because a solution is the […]

Read Article
Two sellers from different companies rehearsing a joint pitch in front of a whiteboard that shows a shared customer problem and a combined solution, deep navy and warm amber palette

Co-Sell Messaging: How to Build a Joint Pitch

What is co-sell messaging? Short answer: Co-sell messaging is the shared story two partnered companies tell a single buyer about why their combined solution solves a problem neither one solves as well alone. It names the customer’s problem, states how the two products work together, and gives both sales teams the same words to use […]

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An account executive and a partner rep from another company running a co-sell deal review at a shared laptop, an overlapping-accounts view and a joint account plan on screen, deep navy and warm amber palette

Co-Selling Platform: What It Is and How to Pick

What is a co-selling platform? Short answer: A co-selling platform is software that helps two companies sell together by finding where their customers and prospects overlap, sharing that account data securely, and coordinating the reps who work the joint deals. It replaces the spreadsheet swap and the guesswork about who knows whom, and its pitch […]

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An ISV partnerships manager and an AWS partner development rep reviewing co-sell opportunities on a laptop, a printed opportunity-sharing pipeline and account list on the table, deep navy and warm amber palette

AWS ACE Program: How Co-Selling With AWS Works

What is the AWS ACE program? Short answer: The AWS ACE program, short for APN Customer Engagements, is the mechanism AWS partners use to share opportunities with AWS and co-sell deals together, submitting deals into AWS through the ACE pipeline so AWS sellers can collaborate on them. It is the connective tissue of the AWS […]

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Two colleagues analyze a project on a large desktop monitor in a modern office.

HubSpot Deal Stages Co-Sell: How to Set Them Up

What is a HubSpot deal stages co-sell setup? Short answer: A HubSpot deal stages co-sell setup is the way you configure your pipeline so a deal worked with a partner is tracked as one, from the stage where the partner enters to the credit captured at close. It uses your existing pipeline plus a few […]

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Three professionals in a meeting room discuss near whiteboards with plans and checklists.

Close Plan vs Mutual Action Plan: The Difference

What is the difference: close plan vs mutual action plan? Short answer: The difference in close plan vs mutual action plan is scope: a mutual action plan maps the whole pursuit from evaluation to a decision, while a close plan maps the final segment of dated steps that get an agreed deal to signature. They […]

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A seller and a buyer filling in a mutual action plan template on a shared screen, a structured grid of milestones, owners, and dates partly completed, a partner rep pointing at an empty row, deep navy and warm amber palette

Mutual Action Plan Template: Structure and Example

What is a mutual action plan template? Short answer: A mutual action plan template is a reusable structure, a set of fields for milestones, owners, dates, and dependencies, that a buyer and seller fill in to produce the joint roadmap for a specific deal, so they are not designing the format from scratch each time. […]

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A vendor seller and a buyer building a mutual action plan on a shared screen, a dated list of joint milestones from evaluation to go-live with owners on both sides, a partner rep adding a step, deep navy and warm amber palette

Mutual Action Plan: What It Is and How to Build One

What is a mutual action plan? Short answer: A mutual action plan is the joint, dated roadmap that a buyer and a seller agree to follow to move a deal from evaluation to a decision and beyond, listing the milestones, the owner on each side, and the dates, across the whole pursuit rather than only […]

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A vendor AE, a partner rep, and a buyer reviewing a mutual close plan around a table, a shared dated list of steps to signature with owners from all three sides marked, a printed timeline visible, deep navy and warm amber palette

Mutual Close Plan: What It Is and How to Run One

What is a mutual close plan? Short answer: A mutual close plan is the dated sequence of steps to signature that the buyer and the seller agree and own together, rather than a plan the seller writes alone, naming each step, its owner on either side, and its due date. The word mutual is the […]

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Two revenue executives reviewing a partner co-sell pipeline report together in a glass-walled office

Why Co-Sell Programs Fail (and How to Fix Yours)

Co-sell programs fail when they are run as relationship work instead of a sales motion. The five patterns I see most, and the one play to fix yours this week.

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