Justin Zimmerman, founder of Partner Playbooks, joined us to talk about how to go from a first partner win to revenue you can repeat. Justin helps companies drive predictable leads through multi-partner marketing, and he’s spent years on this exact problem, starting in the ad hoc, campaign-by-campaign camp. The conversation covered how to land the first win, why repeatability turns into an ops and ownership question, how to measure progress at different price points, and the most common mistake he sees in partner programs.
Key Takeaways
- The first win comes from a partner at your levelLook for a good partner who’s actually willing to work with you. Easy is fast, and fast is simpler.
- Start with a vision and get buy-in internallyThen take that vision to your partners. Don’t start with the partner list.
- Repeatable revenue is a system, not luckEarly wins come from one-off, campaign-by-campaign work. To turn them into a flywheel of partner-sourced revenue, it becomes a partner ops, marketing ops and sales ops conversation, with clear ownership, processes, metrics and accountability.
- Measure what fits your price point.Early on, your first score is leads. But a $100-a-month product and a $50,000-a-year product need different pipeline measures, so don’t copy someone else’s scorecard.
- Avoid chasing the biggest names firstJustin’s number one problem he sees starts with going after the biggest, baddest partners. Start where you can get a real win, which ties back to takeaway 1.
