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Chapter 4

How to Tap on Local Partnerships to Expand in the Region

Sales in Asia: A Framework
4

How to Tap on Local Partnerships to Expand in the Region

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Local Partnerships in Asia

Each country in Asia comes with its own cultural nuances and distinct expectations and preferences in the way they conduct business. Local partners are key to growing your business in Asia since they deeply understand each region, have built-in brand trust, and own the customer relationships on the ground. 

Andrew Baisley, Head of Southeast Asia & APJ Channel Partnerships at Asana, knows the true value of building successful channel partner programs when expanding into new markets from his own experiences building in new regions.

Here’s some of what we learned from the episode: Ready for Expansion? Andrew Baisley of Asana Shows us How to Build an Effective Channel Sales Program in Asia:

How to Build a Channel Partner Program

  • Establish predictability and reliability in your sales process. In your new market, the sales process, customer onboarding, and product-market fit need to be completely ironed out before bringing on a channel partner. 
  • Have your demand generation efforts in order. Ensure you have an Asia marketing engine that’s reliably driving product-led growth, or that you’re able to show marketing-led growth that partners can tap into to help bring in customers.
  • Look for complementary products on the ground. Find other companies and products where your own services would be a value-add. Who are your peers and allies? “Look for complementary products, like HubSpot with Asana, where you can value-add,” Andrew Baisley shared. The Asana integration with HubSpot makes both tools even more powerful and aligns teams to make it easier for them to collaborate internally, and with local partners. 
  • Set expectations and commit to your investment in one another. Any partnership can only succeed if the parameters for success are clearly outlined. What does each party look to get from the other? Leads? Deals? Contacts? How often, how many?
  • Have patience. Know that it takes time for partners to start bringing in deals, especially as they ramp and get to know your product suite.
  • Tell the “better together” story. Train GTM teams to prioritise selling your products, but to weave in information about your primary partners where they can genuinely help a prospect scale more efficiently. 
  • Check in often. Ensure you can clearly track the value your partners are bringing in, and set regular check-ins with partners where you can share wins and challenges with one another. 
  • Tap into your partners’ partner network. Once your core partnerships have been well-established, start going wider: ask partners which of their partners are most valuable, and start connecting with them as well.
  • Never ask your partners for something you wouldn’t ask of your own team.
Andrew - Asia Sales Guide - Quotehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/baisley/ 
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