Eric Griego’s Post

Founders know it all! No really... They've seen it all: Selling to new clients Selling to existing clients Marketing the agency Project managing Managing difficult client conversations Managing the agency finances Dealing with team members at all levels Onboarding new team members Onboarding new clients Letting people go Letting clients go Designing/Developing/Media Planning/... Developing processes for all departments And even cleaning the toilets... It gives them a birds eye view on every problem. Which makes it easy for them to come up with good macro solutions. The problem is they expect their senior managers to have the same pair of goggles. But, if you've only ever worked as an account manager who's been promoted to Client Services Director, most of your decisions will be made with a client services goggle on. And that's not always the right perspective for the whole business. 2 years ago at Polymensa we decided: To ditch exclusive departmental events (e.g. only for client services people, only for people ops,...) To ditch founder only events Now all our sessions mix senior managers of all departments together WITH the founders. It scared the s*** out of the founders at first! But now they get it. It's been great seeing our senior managers' brains literally expand! Trust me, it's one of the best ways to help founders step back and focus on what they want to do. Don't continue to feed the echo chamber. Create senior managers who can think like a founder. #learninganddevelopment #business #training #agencies #agencygrowth #seniormanagertraining

Everyone has a different ethos within partnerships and what makes it so exhilarating is the potential impact you can have within your organization when executed effectively.  Here are a few concepts that I’ve personally taken that have been effective in my career: Having a long-term mind-set with actionable short-term impact points: Before joining an organization (whether it’s as the first in partnership or as part of the partnership team), it’s important to have leadership buy-in, so that you’re focused on building your partnership strategy effectively.  Balancing short-term objectives with a long-term mindset (as to be successful you will be reliant on many internal departments). It's important to show the expected wins (and what the relevant benchmarks should be) going towards the larger goal & mandate of your partnership strategy).    Be an exceptional listener:  In order to influence and impact a prospective partner you first must understand your partner’s north star and whether you can make a meaningful impact.  Can your product help support closing more deals?  Can you help your partner with lead generation?    Honing in on this early, is key. HINT:  The best partner leaders I've worked with have a Jedi Mindset. Especially for those potential partners you know you’ll want to work with years in advance but they may not be ready for - having intro conversations to understanding their objectives can put you in a really good spot in the future.  Be surprising and go beyond:  Send an unexpected slack.  Mark down the birthday of your partnership manager (or send a small unexpected gift out of the blue eg. Canadian ketchup chips Beverly Lang).    Especially when you’re a start-up / scale-up, the devil is in the details and these small niceties can add up over time to building trust.  Using some of these concepts, and being committed for the long-term, has been my journey working with and now working for Katana.   It's all about the relationships + trust!! Great post by Greg Portnoy around this worth checking out too. To all of our great partners and future partners ahead - can’t wait to see where we go next.  Rob Brown, Jill Thayer Liliedahl, Nate Fullmer, Nate Flake, Rita Jenkins, William Wynn, Baltazar Marques, Matt Sullivan, Sarah Znideric, Christopher Jacobs, Cameron Vernest, Alex Weston, Alec Berkley, Ci'ara Ray, George Wojciechowski, Ronald B Kirkemo III, Dominic Sutton, Cindy Chan, James Boe, Karin Repp, Gregg Greenberg, Peter van der Westhuizen, Jessica Nash, SangHa Park, Mark Mikkelson, Michael Astreiko, Nav Sandhu and many more on this lists.... And with that... a very happy official birthday Katana Cloud Inventory - Kristjan Vilosius, Priit Kaasik, Hannes Kert.  Making the annual tradition a bit more public from my family to yours!

As a founder, entrepreneur, CEO, or leadership figure, how important for you is it that "the entire company" is active and engaged in company all-hands meetings? How important is it to have a forum where people are sharing their questions? And what tricks do you have to source questions that people care about? 🤔 I often feel that the bigger company forums in large companies (500+ employees) tend to be either completely quiet/anonymous, or engage a hyper-passionate core of "business-minded" or "company super fans", but that the majority of engagement happens in smaller forums where the attendees are specialists and experts. It makes sense after all, doesn't it? Who dares to get out on a limb and ask questions and give input in a big enterprise-level topic without having substantial experience of it before? Beetroot has more company-wide communication than anywhere I've been before, but I feel that we're somehow missing the mark and/or could get much better. Especially at the engagement portion. ⭐ We send regular internal newsletters/business digest emails with Mailchimp that summarize recent internal events, impact & sustainability projects we've been running, and touch upon commercial strategy topics. ⭐ Big team calls on Google Meet where everyone is invited, where different parts of the company (represented by C-levels) give info live, and we can take questions, we go through our finances and results, and talk about the priorities and way forward. We can be anywhere from fifty to hundreds of people in these calls. ⭐ (obviously department and team meetings/reviews that go through previous performance - e.g. we run a Monthly Growth Review where we look back 1 month and analyze results in-depth, and look forward at Marketing and Business Development plans) What have you learned that really works well? I would love to understand how you work with information distribution and input in very large groups. Let's see if we can get some wisdom together!

To all the amazing partnership managers, i'm currently working with and about to in the future. We are in this together! My Journey as a Strategic Partnerships Manager in the Tech World: Embracing the Highs and Navigating the Lows When I embarked on this exhilarating role as a Strategic Partnerships Manager at Deel, little did I know that the path would be filled with both soaring highs and humbling lows. 🌄⛅ 🌈 The Highs: Collaborating with Visionaries Working in the tech industry, I've had the privilege of forging partnerships with some of the most innovative and forward-thinking companies. Witnessing the synergy when brilliant minds come together to create a joint solution for customers is nothing short of awe-inspiring. It's a constant reminder that together, we can achieve the extraordinary. 🌟 The Highs: Impactful Collaborations Seeing the impact of our partnerships on our customers' lives has been the ultimate reward. Every time our joint efforts lead to a solution that simplifies processes, enhances user experiences, or opens new avenues. This is the heart of what we do - making a tangible difference. 🚀🌎 💼 The Lows: Navigating Challenges Of course, no journey is without its challenges. From complex negotiations to unforeseen roadblocks, the role of a Partnerships Manager often involves facing obstacles head-on. Yet, it's in these moments of adversity that our grit and resilience truly shine. Each challenge becomes an opportunity for growth and learning. 💪🔍 🤝 The Lows: Balancing Expectations In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, there's an ever-present pressure to deliver results. Balancing the expectations of stakeholders, partners, and our internal team can be a delicate dance. However, this challenge has taught me the importance of effective communication, setting realistic expectations, and fostering a culture of collaboration. 🗣️📈 Through the highs and lows, what remains constant is my unwavering passion for cultivating meaningful partnerships. As I continue this remarkable journey, I'm reminded that it's not just about the destination, but the connections and friendships I make along the way. Here's to embracing every twist and turn with enthusiasm, and to the exciting possibilities that lie ahead! 🚀🌠 #Partnershipsforever

Today, my INCREDIBLE team is running a Legacy Builders event, without me, for the first time! This team of brilliant leaders is working with our clients on: 🔥Creating a strong business backbone for multimillion dollar growth 🔥Building a winning sales team 🔥Creating the foundation for longevity and scale 🔥Building out systems that help companies run like a well oiled machine 🔥Building out a hiring system that produces A-players I kicked us off yesterday... and the team is taking over TODAY! How did I get here? It took SEVERAL long, windy turns. I made a lot of mistakes. But, a few things that helped… I didn’t let the wrong turns or mistakes taint the way I viewed the next hire. Just because one person didn’t work out, doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there. I learned to listen to my gut (even when it doesn’t make sense) when hiring. I’ve given my team the freedom to lead and make mistakes. Today, in all of my companies, I have leaders that TRULY make up a DREAM TEAM. My clients get to learn from: 🚀Krystel, President of the Business Advisory: built and sold her own company before joining another organization then scaled that company and exited for a second time 🚀Deepak, VP of Coaching Operations : A Black Belt Six Sigma also both build his own company and help drive the operations of an 800 million dollar company before joining another company to help grow and ultimately facilitate the exit successfully 🚀Ty, VP of Client Satisfaction: Who has also built two 6-figure, and one 7-figure company with two exits 🚀Heidi, Lead Business Strategist: Who has helped our clients grow their companies by hundreds of thousands of dollars 🚀Krista, Content Marketing Director: Who has helped generate thousands of leads for our company that have led to millions in sales My clients are learning from leaders who HAVE BEEN there. They know what it’s like in the trenches AND what’s it’s like on the other side! It took me a long time to get here… But I am SO THANKFUL to have done that work, and to this incredible team who gets the job done… exceptionally! 

It ain't always a fit. Not every collaboration is destined for success. Even though we believe that LeadSpot can solve all of our clients' demand generation challenges...it's not always the case. Many, many times we swing and miss. 🤦♂️ Sometimes, even when two innovative and forward-thinking companies come together, the synergy doesn't materialize as expected. As we were POSITIVE that it would. When a seemingly great fit falls apart, I have to remind myself that it's not always a failure on someone's behalf - but rather a reflection of the intricate nature of partnerships and the unpredictable dynamics that shape them. Through my MANY personal & and professional failures, I've learned that these lost opportunities can be a chance to grow, learn, and fine-tune our strategies. In fact, these experiences have provided the lessons that have paved the way for other successful partnerships. From them, I can learn what works, what doesn't, and how we can refine our strategies and approaches moving forward. These situations have also shown me that we're resilient and can adapt. For me, it's not about pointing fingers or dwelling on what I could have done differently. It's about leveraging these experiences to learn how to win the next one. #closedlost #adaptability #keepitmoving

The most successful partnerships are built on nurtured relationships. And to do that, you need to build momentum. Here’s how not to do it: ❌ Failing to deliver after the initial excitement in the onboarding ❌ Not addressing challenges as soon as they arise ❌ Allowing silence to overtake communication ❌ Accepting a nosedive in engagement When things drag on, lose that spark, and value takes forever to prove itself, partnerships go stale. So how can you break that cycle? ✅ Ensuring regular check-ins and open dialogues ✅ Adapting to the evolving partnership ecosystem ✅ Regularly demonstrate the value of the partnership ✅ Consistent communication to keep the enthusiasm alive ✅ Sharing a mutual commitment to the success of the partnership The success of your partnerships will be seen when you answer these questions: 1. How can the initial excitement be sustained? 2. What can be done to prevent a decline in engagement? 3. How can we adapt to changes in the partnership ecosystem? Don't let time create missed opportunities. Keep a strong focus on injecting new life into partnerships.

When I started in Partnerships, I had the fortune to tap into some great mentors for help on strategy and planning but one thing that I always wished I’d had, was a set of templates to start from. Well, my friends, Nelson Wang is giving the partner people what they want. I’ve utilized some of these as Nelson has rolled them out and they’ve been so helpful. Even if it doesn’t fit the structure of what you’re currently doing, templates can be a great way to jump start or help you iterate on your own systems. Check it out and comment on his post for access! #ecosystem #standardizepartnerships #training

Starting my week with unwavering determination to onboard new partners for an exciting project! January was so full of activities, and it was like I put myself on turbo speed in building new connections. While it could have easily become distracting, I'm consolidating on all these new connections for partnership and focusing on onboarding this week. 🚀 Here are my top 3 tips to sign up a new partner in just one week: 1. Personalized Approach: Craft your pitch to showcase how this partnership uniquely benefits them. Make it irresistible. 2. Rapid Response Time: Time is critical. Ensure prompt responses to inquiries and swiftly address any concerns. 3. Engagement Through Innovation: Highlight how your project embraces innovation. Executives love forward-thinking collaborations. Let's make this week a triumph of strategic pursuits and successful partnerships! 💼💡 #StrategicFocus #NewPartnerships #ExecutiveExcellence #20daylinkedinchallengewithhaoma #growth #mondaymotivation

Delighted to contribute this piece to Grit Daily News, delving into the advantages of forging strategic partnerships and alliances with fellow businesses or organizations. These alliances offer a pathway to mutual growth opportunities, bolster organizational capabilities, and open doors to untapped markets. The age-old adage, "It’s not what you know, it’s who you know," may underscore the significance of relationships over mere knowledge. However, it underscores the crucial role of strategic alliances across industries. Thoughtfully curated partnerships can catalyze growth, empower companies with enhanced capabilities, and pave the way for expansion into new market territories. Discover more insights and actionable guidance in this article for businesses keen on harnessing the power of strategic partnerships and alliances to fuel their growth trajectory. https://lnkd.in/eT6eCeBF . . . #StrategicPartnerships #Alliances #BusinessGrowth #Collaboration #PartnershipGoals #GrowthOpportunities #MarketExpansion #CapabilityEnhancement #BusinessAlliances #MutualGrowth #IndustryInsights #CorporatePartnerships #MarketAccess #BusinessStrategy #PartnershipSuccess #StrategicAlliances