9 Mar, 2022

"Subscribed: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company's Future - and What to Do About It" by Tien Tzuo

Book recommended by

Books of the Channel

Why should you read it?

David Bowie once said in 2002 (!!!) that “music itself is going to become like running water or electricity”. Any doubts we are paying the Spotify bill on our credit card today in the same way we pay any of our Utilities bills? This book, written by the founder of Zuora (a subscription lifecycle SaaS company) is an essential piece to understanding the subscription economy. Some of the examples may seem old with the super fast expansion of this model, but are still so relevant to rethink some of the aspects of our businesses which are still going through this transformation.

In the decade of ecosystems (as many analysts call it today), partners are key to drive the perpetual innovation model focused on the customer and this book offers great practical lessons on how you may launch a subscription model in any aspect of your company. While almost every technology vendor has moved or at least launched a part of their business under this model… have partners also reinvented their own businesses for the same?

What is the book about?

This book, written in 2017, is focused on the major business transformation of going from a products to a services centric mindset, featuring examples from SaaS vendors (Adobe), media (NY Times) to car manufacturers (Volvo) or entertainment providers (Netflix).

There are two key sections, one focused on what is called the “New Subscription Economy” and another focused on “How to Succeed in the Subscription Economy”. In this new era, companies are able to further personalize and allow continuous improvement while also making certain offerings more affordable to everyone. The book covers the basic steps to consider launching a subscription model and break down the old siloed production framework towards a focus on customers (and the data generated by their behavior) for perpetual innovation.

Best takeaway

I love the very simple yet powerful comparison the author provides between the Amazon and Walmart model. While Amazon has been collecting all the data and information about every click you’ve made, every product you browsed, any item you added to a cart and of course every purchase you’ve made… for Walmart you have traditionally existed only as a customer who bought a product. Amazon created the model to show you “other products usually bought together” or “what other users who liked this item also bought”, this allows them to make your shopping experience a personalized, high-touch and high-value journey. In Walmart, you are just simply paying your items to a cashier, the value-add is very little to none based on your previous history or interests.

How does the above situation relate to your life as a channel professional? How much business intelligence are you applying to your decisions about your partners? Are you tracking their interests, desires and plans? Are you offering recurring value? Are your partners doing this for your joint customers? How many of your partners actually launched a recurring services subscription model?

9 Mar, 2022

7 Mar, 2022

"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell - Recommended by Jay McBain (Channels, Partnerships & Ecosystems Chief Analyst at Canalys)

Book recommended by

Jay McBain

Channels, Partnerships & Ecosystems Chief Analyst at Canalys

2021 Channel Influencer of the Year by Channel Partners Magazine

Why should you read it?

Most of what I understand about influence and channels comes from chapter 2 about the story of Paul Revere.

What is the book about?

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. As it relates to the channel and channel marketing, it is required reading as 90% of companies I work with get it wrong – from the very largest to the smallest.

Best takeaway

In the ‘Law of the Few’, Gladwell explains that a very select group of people are responsible for the “tipping” of almost all social epidemics (read as partnerships). These superconnectors, mavens, and salespeople are special for their incredible abilities to communicate, teach, and persuade.

7 Mar, 2022

16 Feb, 2022

"How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone" by Brian McCullough - Recommended by Francisco Santolo (CEO & Founder at Scalabl)

Book recommended by

Francisco Santolo

CEO & Founder at Scalabl®

Why should you read it?

This book shares powerful stories from Internet evolution, many of them contradicting common notions of entrepreneurship. It’s amazing to go back and understanding what we’ve lived through, and the implications it has for our future!

What is the book about?

The evolution of the Internet since its origins to our time and beyond.

Best takeaway

I loved how Facebook decided as a last attempt not to get acquired, to go out of their universities main segment, and open to everyone, with a huge success as an unexpected result. It’s a pattern I see once and again when looking for a repeatable sales funnel for a Startup, even though when successful founders tell their story they never tell these events this way.

16 Feb, 2022

14 Jan, 2022

"Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard" by Chip and Dan Heath - Recommended by Carlos Blanco (VP Channels and Alliances at jamf)

Book recommended by

Carlos Blanco

Vice President Channels and Alliances at jamf

(former executive at Dynatrace, Citrix and The Channel Company)

Why should you read it?

The book is about driving change at any level. Helps you to understand that change is complicated is is impacted by obstacles, people and emotion. Knowing which of the three levers are in play and how to work with them is key to getting humans to change. The books offers a ton of real-life examples about driving change across a plethora of industries.

What is the book about?

This book is about something as simple and as complex as making change happen!

Best takeaway

You can’t assume anything and especially that people want to change when the change is obvious.

14 Jan, 2022

9 Dec, 2021

"Growth IQ" by Tiffani Bova - Recommended by Kimberly Lasseter (Global Program Design & Strategy Director at Google Cloud)

Book recommended by

Kimberly Lasseter

Global Director, Partner Advantage Program Design & Strategy

Google Cloud

Why should you read it?

This book is written by someone that has lived and breathed the high tech channel for 20+ years. In Growth IQ, the author maps out ten paths to growth with business cases studies demonstrating how the right combination and sequence of these paths will help business’ keep growing in crazy fast changing market conditions. It should be required reading for MBA programs across the world.

What is the book about?

The author “cuts through the clutter and confusion that surround growth, and draws on her decades of experience and more than thirty fascinating, in-depth business stories to demonstrate the opportunities–and pitfalls–of each of the ten growth paths, how they work together, and how they apply to business today.”

Best takeaway

Learning why it can be a mistake to imitate strategies that worked for some competitors, or rely on strategies that worked in the past. It is very relevant in the business world today.

9 Dec, 2021

15 Nov, 2021

"Humanizing B2B" by Paul Cash and James Trezona

Book recommended by

Books of the Channel

Why should you read it?

This book is an oasis in the desert. As a B2B professional with years working in the technology area, I am sure you have rarely heard that your corporate buyer follows his emotions and gut to make a purchase of a one-million-dollar technology solution in a similar way hey may do it to buy a laptop for his 8-year-old child. Surprisingly, B2B is not so different than consumer business and requires a new look as a marketing and sales professional. Customers don’t (ONLY) make decisions based on logical ROI stats and analysis, they are as eager to be recognized socially, listen to stories, feel emotions and avoid pitfalls as anyone else. Especially after COVID hit, companies have realized that need to be more human than ever before and this has a significant impact in the way brands are created and maintained. As Simon Sinek once said, people don’t buy from you because of what you do (a product), they buy INTO you and because of WHY you do it. Can you assure your company, channel program or community of partners are seeing this inspiration and message from you?

What is the book about?

Paul and James bring years of experience in working at their marketing agency to support brands of all types, including many IT companies, and share their principles to grow in B2B. Following the trend of “conscious capitalism” and “purpose” to lead with WHY, they outline how we as marketers can help decision makers feel more confident through 1)emotions 2)recognition 3)appreciation 4)value and 5)engagement. “Human brands” lead in the new economy thanks to their honest understanding of a key fact… it’s about people and not products! With specific examples and tips, this book is a great start to help you re-think the way you engage with your channel partners.

Best takeaway

“In B2B we suffer from a delusion, and it’s this: that buyers always act in a rational, logical and economic way. They don’t and they never have.” Isn’t this quote a simple statement but a slam into your face and the way you go to market today?

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15 Nov, 2021

17 Oct, 2021

"Made to Stick. Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Book recommended by

Books of the Channel

Why should you read it?

Although it is not directly related to how to build a channel ecosystem, this book is a great source of inspiration for leaders or partner managers who are designing a message to communicate with their partner audience. The key purpose of this book is about undercovering the tactics to make an idea stick. As we all need to communicate effectively to drive awareness and behavior, this becomes an essential aspect of a leader’s skillset. The difference between a cool idea and a sticky idea is what can turn good into great. This book helps you plan for the stickiness of your idea and the most important, make sure it truly resonates with your audience.

What is the book about?

The authors present 6 principles which can help an idea stick, which can be summarized with the acronym SUCCESs (Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credentialed, Emotional and Story). The book offers practical guidance to help you tailor an idea to be creative and more effective with the audience and spread it with other people.

Best takeaway

Quoting principle #3 (concreteness) to make ideas stick, authors refer to the fact “we must explain our ideas in terms of human actions, in terms of sensory information. And this is where so much business communication goes awry”. Love this quote since it helps you craft your next message with a simple concept… Can you represent your big idea and action for the (partner) audience with a single picture? Can you now add sensory or emotional flavor to it? Sticky ideas can be represented with very concrete images, that is the only way to ensure it remains clear and consistent to anyone in the audience. Is your topic for the speech about growth? Then show it with visuals or a theme. Is it about customer satisfaction? Then show happy customers. And so on… Then think… can you also add emotions to the same concept? Can you tell a story which brings back your idea of growth or customer satisfaction into a real and concrete situation?

As a business manager, you may often think that going through a PowerPoint presentation will successfully help communicate your idea. But often this just means sharing data. If you are good, maybe you create a sense of “motivation”, but how can you make sure what you present generates true impact? This requires your audience to pay attention, understand and remember, agree or believe, care and the most important… be able to act on it.

Help us keep the site running, if you liked this book and are US-based please buy it on link below (paid link)

17 Oct, 2021

25 Sep, 2021

"Building Successful Partner Channels" by Hans Peter Bech

Book recommended by

Books of the Channel

Why should you read it?

It is one of the very few books which are really specific to developing indirect channels in the software industry. Provides a good methodology to help you plan a potential channel strategy including how to develop a program and plan for partner recuitment and management. If you are a beginner or if you are just trying to rethink your channel go-to-market strategy, it’s a great tool and inspiration!

What is the book about?

The book talks about the end to end steps to plan a channel strategy, from thinking about the business model, to developing the program, go-to-market strategy, recruitment, management, distribution, channel conflict, definitions of partner types and more!

Best takeaway

Going indirect is not always a simple choice. You need to think carefully when and where, and the most important, how it relates to your direct sales strategy. He shows a simple graphic which is a great reminder: sell direct via web when you can for smaller deals, then use indirect channels to grow the business, but sell direct into the large accounts who are already your customers.

Help us keep the site running, if you liked this book and are US-based please buy it on link below (paid link)

25 Sep, 2021