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If you’re a marketer or commercial leader at a mid-size business, chances are you’ve spent the past few years chasing growth through search ads, content marketing, and digital channels. Maybe it delivered during the scale-at-all-costs years, until CPMs, CPCs, and competition started climbing and those “low-hanging fruit” returns started looking a lot like saving the…
Most vendor relationships operate in the shadows, leaving you guessing if you’re getting the full picture. That lack of transparency breeds doubt and stalls business trust, two things no growth-minded entrepreneur can afford. Clear, honest communication with your vendors builds solid business trust and unlocks stronger strategic partnerships that drive real success. Importance of Transparency…
“People do business with people they know, like, and trust. And they trust who their friends trust.”— Bob Burg, author of The Go-Giver Referrals drive the highest ROI in small business marketing, so why are they so often ignored? When small business owners think about marketing, their minds often go straight to paid ads, social media,…
Recently, Jen Kalant, President and Chief Partnerships Officer of Sanguine Strategic Advisors, joined Chris Lavoie on the Partnership Mastermind Podcast to discuss what it really takes to build partnerships that drive business impact. Their conversation explored why strong partner programs require more than enthusiasm. They depend on real executive buy-in, a clear value proposition for…
For a long time, the playbook for growing a business was incredibly predictable: if you wanted more revenue, you hired more sales reps to make more calls, or you dumped more money into Facebook and Google ads. This is what we call Sales-Led Growth (SLG). For a decade, it worked. But if you’ve tried to run that playbook…
There is a stubborn belief in business that introductions should always be free. The argument usually sounds noble: your network is built on trust, goodwill, and authentic relationships, so monetizing an introduction somehow cheapens it. If you really believe in helping people, the thinking goes, you should open doors simply because it is the right…
B2B partnerships are a powerful growth engine when managed well. For new partner managers, especially those stepping into their first structured referral or ecosystem program, the learning curve can be steep. They’re tasked with handling relationships, incentives, systems, and sales alignment, often without a roadmap. The good news? Most mistakes are common and easily avoidable…
You launched a partner program six months ago. You’ve got a basic portal set up, a few referral agreements signed, and a spreadsheet tracking who sent what. But here’s the reality: most of your partners have gone quiet, leads are slipping through the cracks, and you’re spending more time chasing updates than celebrating closed deals.…
I had a conversation recently with a wellness coach who works with founders. I’m going to keep them anonymous, because the point here is not who they are. The point is what this conversation unlocked. This person is smart, thoughtful, and in the middle of a positioning shift. Less “here’s my workout plan” and more…
Partner programs, such as referrals, affiliates, channel sales, and strategic alliances, are often treated like a switch you flip. Launch a portal, announce a commission, send a few emails, and expect deals to start flowing. When that doesn’t happen in the first 30–90 days, leadership concludes “partners don’t work for us” and moves on. In…
