Do you want to know how to fix your shower in 5 minutes or get the latest gossip on your favorite singer? All you have to do is Google it. 

The only problem is that you'll find 18+ resources per page, with at least 10 pages of information.  

But the worst thing is that you need to find that one source that you can trust. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack. 

Now, imagine having to look in multiple information sources for any type of clue, hint, or insight to help you get one step closer to your buyer, just to find out that information is outdated: 

• Whether your prospect didn’t change his new enterprise name on LinkedIn
• Whether the article you found about your prospect’s company being funded is actually from one year ago
• Or maybe your prospect’s responsibilities changed in the last 2 weeks making your solution irrelevant or in a better case scenario, more relevant. 

This type of information can’t be found anywhere you have ready access to except — I’m guessing you know where I’m going — your partners. 

Read on to learn how companies like Kolleno, Fivetran, Fullstory, Clari, and Gainsight are leveraging ecosystem data to sell, market, and service their customers (and prospects) better. 

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Selling better with ecosystem data

How Kolleno reduced their time to close by 50% with Ecosystem-Led Growth 

Irina Anichshuk, now COO and Head of Partnerships at Kolleno, leveraged ecosystem data to accelerate a deal with “Company A” by tapping into insights from her ecosystem.

After discovering Company A’s tech stack included one of Kolleno’s partners, she gathered crucial information from those partners, asking detailed questions about Company A: 

• How is Company A leveraging your platform?
• What is their objective?
• What’s their opinion of your platform?
• How long have they been your customers?

This intel allowed Irina to position Kolleno as a perfect fit in their tech stack, enabling her to address pain points directly during the discovery call. With partner recommendations and insights, the deal closed in 30 days, cutting the sales cycle in half.

“Partner signals and intel can save you up to three hours of work,” says Irina. “With Ecosystem data you don’t have to prepare that much to understand what company you are talking to, or even work that account from the marketing or outbound perspective to get that discovery call.”

Read more about Kolleno’s ecosystem data strategy here. 

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How Fivetran powers its Ecosystem-Led Sales with data

George Fraser, CEO and Michael Bull, Director of Technology Alliances at Fivetran leveraged ecosystem data to equip their sales teams with powerful ecosystem insights directly in their CRM. 

“We really are a true full stack consumer of ELG strategies,” says Bull. “We do it all, from Sales to CS and everywhere in between. But nothing happens if we don’t get the data into the hands of our customer-facing teams.”

By integrating ecosystem data from Crossbeam into Salesforce via widgets and data models, they allowed reps to easily access intel about partner overlaps, upstream integrations, and client needs. 

The main ecosystem data points their sales team is usually asking for are detailed rundowns of how accounts at various stages in their pipeline overlap with the customers and pipelines of their key partners:

• My Accounts vs Modern Data Stack Partner Customers
• My Accounts vs Modern Data Stack Partner Opportunities
• My Opportunities vs Modern Data Stack Partner Customers
• My Opportunities vs Modern Data Stack Partner Opportunities
• My Opportunities vs System Integrator Partner Opportunities
• My Opportunities vs System Integrator Partner Customers

This intel helped sales teams tailor pitches, remove blockers, and accelerate deals without stepping out of their workflow. 

Ecosystem data also enabled managers to diagnose deal risks and guide opportunities using partner relationships, resulting in a more efficient and data-driven sales process.

Learn how Fivetran arms their sales team with deal-winning data here. 

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Marketing better with ecosystem data

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How Fullstory builds a "better together” campaign

Jon Mead, former Director of Technology Partnerships and Jaclyn Garthwaite, Global Partner Marketing Lead at FullStory effectively leveraged ecosystem datathrough Crossbeam to power their “better together” campaigns.

“The Crossbeam data allows us to zero in on the clients and prospects who would find our joint value proposition and integrations valuable and relevant for their use cases,” says Jaclyn Garthwaite, Global Partner Marketing Lead at FullStory.

By using Crossbeam to identify mutual customers and prospects with tech partners, they could target the right audience for integration announcements and joint marketing efforts. Some of the ecosystem data they leverage is: 

• Customer or prospect overlap in Crossbeam 
• Joint active customers — related to their integration
• Customer and prospect’s current tech stack

Mead's team worked closely with partner marketing and sales to ensure alignment, while Garthwaite used Crossbeam data to build reports and craft ABM strategies. This approach allowed FullStory to create high-impact campaigns which usually consists of one or many of the following: emails, display ads, landing pages, webinars, blogs, social posts, etc. 

The messaging contains integration or joint value proposition benefits that make it easy for the customer or prospect to understand what’s in it for them, so their chances of converting from your campaign are higher.

Learn Fullstory’s three-step process for launching Ecosystem-Led Marketing campaigns using Crossbeam and Marketo here. 

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How Clari leverages ecosystem data to expand into new markets

R.J. Filipski, Global VP, Business Development and Ecosystem at Clari, considers that one of the main uses of ecosystem data is to open new market doors. 

And one way to get that ecosystem data(or at least the way R.J. does it) is by leveraging your Ecosystem-Led Growth platform and starting account mapping. Filter according to the country or “new market” you want to break into. To quickly identify your partners in those markets filter also by account type and choose “partners”.

Once you have the right partner, you will be able to get the right intel, and you will be able to deliver the right message to the right people to boost partner revenue. Now you can ask questions like: 

• What other tech are they and their market using?
• Who are the people inside those organizations who can help you understand the strategies they used to enter this market? 
• Who are the system integrators they have already worked with?
• Who are the local “influencers” or market leaders?
• What is the tech stack that their prospects buy before buying Clari?
• What are their prospects’ and joint customers’ pain points (in a detailed version)?
• What is their prospects’ and joint customers’ buying process? 

“With this intel we can identify how Clari can be the connective tissue between their customers’ needs, their current tech stack, etc, and build a personalized value proposition involving partners that his new audience already trusts,” said R.J.

Learn how Clari expands into a new market by leveraging ecosystem data here. 

Serving better with ecosystem data

How Gainsight leverages partner ecosystems to supercharge customer success

Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, leveraged ecosystem data to enhance renewals and upsell opportunities. He emphasized the importance of collaborating with partners to share insights about shared customers' strategies, goals, and procurement processes. 

By exchanging information with non-competing vendors in the ecosystem, Customer Success Managers (CSMs) can identify churn signals, address pain points, and create joint value propositions. 

There’s intel that you won’t find in your CRM, or your customer success platforms — you’ll only find it in your ecosystem, and this intel can dictate whether you renew or not. 

“ELG provides ways to jointly help your customer and improve your net retention at the same time,” said Nick. “In the end your product is not that different from your competitors — yes, you have a database, workflows, a UI, but what makes your product unique and valuable are your expertise meaning customer success, and how good your product fits with everything else they have, and how well does it integrate into their ecosystem.”

Discover how Gainsight leverages partner ecosystems to boost customer success, increase retention, and drive growth through ecosystem intel here. 

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Bonus: How Fullstory builds their tech partnerships program with partner intel’s help to increase their renewal rate by 14%

FullStory's Director of Technology Partnerships, effectively leveraged ecosystem data to enhance their integration strategy. 

“When it comes to using our Ecosystem-Led Growth platform, it’s a great data source to help build the story and the business case around building the integration.”—Nigel Liaw

Nigel utilizes his Ecosystem-Led Growth platform and ecosystem data to identify:

• Customer’s pain points
• Customers insights
• The number of mutual customers and a couple of examples
• The TAM of the integration 
• The tech partner that closes their product gap and the specific joint use cases
• Identify candidates for beta-testing and new product integrations

This intel helps him build a compelling business case for integrations. By prioritizing partners based on this data, he ensures that integrations align with customer needs and strategic goals, ultimately driving product enhancement and customer satisfaction.

Learn how Fullstory boosts customer success through seamless integrations, partner intel, and a customer-first mindset here. 

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Get the answers to the test

Chris Voss explains that negotiation is information gathering because information gives you leverage. Here are a few examples of how information gives you a leg-up in B2B SaaS.

It helps you:

• Identify key decision-makers
• Prep stronger outreach
• Build stronger rapport
• Address relevant, frustrating problems
• Propose personalized solutions

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The internet gives everyone information, but here’s the secret: at least one of your partners has key information LinkedIn and Google don’t have.

The intel provided by a partner has an expiration date — it opens doors — and if you don’t act soon enough that door can close. 

So, if you need any help to action this or any other partner intel, our team is here to help. Book an ELG Strategy call and we’ll guide you through it all.