Partnerships Don’t Create Value - Revenue Does!

One of the core themes we discuss in The Essential Guide to Strategic Growth is value creation - and nowhere is this more misunderstood than in partnerships.

“The reason I am highlighting this is because I talk about the concept of generating value, and when an initiative such as this falls completely flat on its face, all of that work and all of that negotiation falls by the wayside. It is critical to ensure you have those lighthouse wins—even if you can just do simple referral-based business in the beginning— to see if you can establish a proof of concept to then drum up some interest in developing a more strategic partnership. It can obviously be dangerously costly if you have not transacted to establish a benchmark in the field but are structuring a large partnership. A crawl–walk–run approach can ensure alignment in the value proposition on both sides before heading down a path of no return.” - Essential Guide to Strategy Growth

In many organizations, partnership teams are busy. They’re onboarding new partners, launching integrations, running webinars, and announcing alliances.

Yet when you step back and ask a simple question - “What value is this actually generating?” - the answer is often unclear.

That disconnect isn’t accidental. It usually comes from misaligned incentives, and we discussed a lot about this in one of our best videos.

The KPI Trap in Partnership Teams

In a lot of companies, partnership success is measured by activity:

• The number of partners signed

• Number of integrations launched

• Number of joint webinars or announcements

These are inputs, not outcomes!

The uncomfortable truth is this: partnerships only matter if they help the business grow.

That growth can take different forms - new ARR, competitive displacement, increased scale, higher win rates - but it must show up in revenue-related outcomes. Otherwise, partnerships become a cost center disguised as strategy.

Managing Partners vs. Generating Value

There’s a big difference between managing partners and generating value with partners.

Many partnership teams spend most of their time:

• Maintaining existing relationships

• Supporting integrations

• Coordinating marketing motions

All of that can be useful - but none of it is successful by itself.

A true partnership playbook should answer one question clearly: How does this help sales win more deals?

If that answer isn’t explicit, the partnership is likely misaligned from day one.

Influence Is Not the Same as Impact

Another area where teams get tripped up is the idea of influence. Yes, partners can influence deals. Yes, influence can matter. But influence without accountability creates bad behavior.

Deals get tagged with partners who added little real value. Attribution becomes murky. Trust between sales and partnerships erodes. And eventually, leadership stops believing the numbers.

The healthier question to ask is:

• Are partners sourcing new opportunities?

• Are they bringing net-new customers?

• Are they driving incremental bookings or ARR?

Influence can be part of the story - but it can’t be the whole story.

Revenue Is the Only Metric That Matters

At the end of the day, growth comes from new business.

That can be:

• New customers

• New bookings

• Upsells into an existing customer base via integrations

All of those are valid. But they must be measurable, repeatable, and aligned with how the sales team is measured.

When partnerships and sales share the same scoreboard, behavior changes:

• priorities become clearer

• execution tightens

• and value creation accelerates

That’s when partnerships stop being “nice to have” and start becoming strategic.

“It is critical to take a step back and evaluate the varying needs that will drive the ultimate goal. Sometimes, this process alone can take two or more quarters for the organization to achieve success. In my initial case, upon leading the business development team at a large Contact Center provider, this was achieved in a multi-day whiteboard session, and the next few years would be the execution roadmap to getting as close as possible to realizing the strategic initiative. Developing an effective strategy map requires a set of facilitated discussions with product and sales, better still, the entire leadership team.” - The Essential Guide to Strategic Growth

The Real Job of a Partnership Team

The real job of a partnership team isn’t to operate on the sidelines of the business.

The most effective partnership organizations are deeply embedded in how revenue is created. They understand how the sales team is measured, where deals stall, where competitors show up, and where partnerships can materially change an outcome.

That means designing partner motions that actively support live opportunities, unlock competitive advantages in the field, and create leverage for sales - not just awareness.

Everything else - integrations, marketplace listings, logos, announcements - is necessary, but secondary. Those are infrastructure. The outcome that matters is revenue impact.

So the most effective partnership teams don’t operate in isolation. They:

• Understand sales KPIs and targets

• Design partner motions that support active deals

• Help sales beat competitors

• And ultimately help the business hit its number

That’s value!

Final Thought

Partnerships don’t create value by default. They create value when they are designed to drive revenue.

If partnerships aren’t helping sales win, scale, or grow faster - they’re not strategic. They’re just busy.

That distinction is at the heart of strategic growth - and it’s one many organizations learn far later than they should.

If you’re responsible for partnerships or GTM and this mirrors what you’re seeing, we offer a free marketecture strategy session to support. Click here and learn more.