#02 Allan Adler: Partnering Executives: Out of the Cheap Seats, Into the C-Suite

Partnerships can drive 40% of enterprise revenue.

Yet, so many partnerships fail, leaving significant revenue untapped.

While CEOs and other executives believe in the value of alliances, they often lack the confidence that partnering will provide a true ROI for the business. This leaves partnering executives relegated to the cheap seats — away from the C-Suite — with significant revenue left off the table.

So how do we get back those missing dollars? Enter Allan Adler, managing partner at Digital Bridge Partners.

Allan has 25 years of experience working with leading companies such as Adobe, Boeing, Cisco, and Marketo. He also self-funded WorkingWild, which developed the first profitable WiFi/HotSpot model and later sold to TIO Networks, where he joined the public company’s Board of Directors.

Allan specializes in go-to-market strategies and partnership strategies, and he joined us on a podcast interview to share solutions on proving the value of alliances.

How much money is really missing?

While 40% of enterprise revenue comes from partnerships, Allan said that 50–75% of partnerships fail. While partnerships are driving significant revenue, they’re still underperforming across industries as a whole. So, if they’re contributing 40% — and yet, still not peaking — how much is missing?

Trillions of dollars are left off the table.

In today’s technology-driven enterprise market, solutions are built upon platforms that require partnerships, and it’s easy to illustrate. For example, if your business creates a solution on a Microsoft platform, an alliance isn’t optional — it’s vital.

Why Partnering Executives don’t get a seat at the C-Suite table.

Allan noted an interesting phenomenon in the enterprise world. Around 8 out of 10 CEOs think partnering will be a primary growth engine for their enterprise, yet few seem to take partnering seriously.

While they initially believe in the potential of alliances, they lack confidence to invest in them because they doubt whether they can drive a hard ROI.

Partnering executives then find themselves without a seat at the C-Suite table.

“You’ve got to convince the CEO that partnering is going to do what marketing did,” Allan said.

There’s trillions on the table after all.

Solutions for Partnering Executives: From the cheap seats to the C-Suite.

How do you move from the outer room, to actually claiming a seat at the C-Suite?

“Partnering executive who are in the cheap seats [need] to start looking for tools to allow them to become more credible.” Allan said.

After 25 years of developing and executing alliance strategies for top-tier tech and enterprise companies, Allan and Digital Brand Partners have developed solutions and strategies for success in alliances.

Every partnering executive wanting to convince the executive team of their worth will need tools that provide:

• Automation: Partnering executives need solutions that move them away from the manual usage of Excel spreadsheets into the rigor of automation
• Engagement: Tools that can engage your partners in an exciting and powerful way are a must
• Visibility: You have to provide the CEO and others with real data points that prove the value of Alliances

Give your partnering these three keys, and then prove your value. In Allan’s words:

“You’ve got to show the CEO: ‘we have this critical capability called partnering, called alliances, and we are putting an engine behind it that gives it automation, engagement, and visibility, and now’s the time for you to make the investment, and maybe, you might want me to be that person. But, I’m not going to make too much of a case about that, I’m just going to deliver,’ which is usually how you get the seat.”

Digital Bridge Partners and Allan have developed these strategies from years of experience, and have seen how explosive they can be.

One comment Allan has heard form Partnering Executives is, “What am I going to do after my Excel spreadsheets are gone and much of this is automated?”

Allan’s answer? Innovate.

Automation alone can provide you with an entire extra day in your week for you to focus on innovative new solutions for you, your peers, and your employees. You’ll be free to find solutions that are more exciting — and ultimately drive more revenue — to hopefully capture some of those trillions left off the table.

Check out other Alliance Podcasts here.

To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by:

• Email: chip@workspan.com
• Twitter: @chiprodgers
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers