White label partnerships success w/ Lead Forensics

Transcript

[00:05:26] Alex: [00:05:26] I'm excited to have met you guys. I don't even remember how this conversation came about, honestly, but I'm really glad it did because you guys are doing something that not a lot of agencies can achieve with success that is white.

[00:05:41] Labeling a solution to build a full service. Out of many agencies will attempt to go the white label, but then they get cold feet in a sense, or they run into a couple issues and they don't have the infrastructure to power it. So they back off and they become a referral partner with there's no harm in that, but I'm really interested when I hear the term white label and I hear.

[00:06:04] What you guys are planning to sell on top of lead forensics as a solution, because there's a lot of components on the partnership level. There's a lot of things that need to be in place. There's a lot of support, all the things that we lean on partnerships for. Um, so building this new business more or less requires that partnership to be in place.

[00:06:21] And Michael, you are leading the partnerships team at lead forensic. Let's talk a little bit about the team itself. The status of your partner program, what types of partners you have give us that sort of a Wikipedia description of the partner program, if you could. Yeah, sure. 

[00:06:37] Michael: [00:06:37] So, um, we've got foreheads, uh, partner managers in the UK, um, three over in the U S as well, in terms of the profile of the agencies that we work with is a real mixed bag, smaller agencies up to elements of the, kind of the big four advertising, different partner managers with different skill sets as well.

[00:06:55] Uh, different strengths. Uh, I guess for us, um, an ideal partner fit is a performance focus. The digital focused marketing agency 

[00:07:05] Alex: [00:07:05] nomenclature is an issue for a lot of our listeners because they're on both sides of the partnership equation. We have top agencies that listen to this podcast and we have top tech teams.

[00:07:15] So let's go through the nomenclature a little bit. So we talked about white labeling. We sometimes refer to that as reselling, sometimes it's reselling without ever, obviously you don't see lead forensics brand, but you see, what do you see? Kind of talk me through kind of what it is for lead forensics to say you're a reseller, you're a white label partner.

[00:07:37] What do you guys say internally? What are some of the definitions there? I guess the, 

[00:07:40] Michael: [00:07:40] the, the distinction is just removing that brand. Right? We're moving the lead forensics element, uh, making it a white label solution. Um, I guess also in terms of who does that, it's like you mentioned it's few and far between really it's those that are really prepared and, you know, see the opportunity and, and willing to commit the resource behind it.

[00:08:01] So, yeah, it's, it's an area that if I'm honest, we do less of, um, and we're probably still learning a lot and I guess we're going to. We're going to be landing a lot free the air partnership. It's like secret as well. Yeah, 

[00:08:11] Alex: [00:08:11] exactly. It's it's, uh, relatively under, they're utilized for you guys. It's not an area that many agencies go down, but Tom, let's talk about what the agenda is and then we'll back into how the support is going to work.

[00:08:26] Um, what the real goals are, some of the milestones maybe you have in mind and what would be successful out of this relationship, but let's back up and talk a little bit about. What your plan is, what is the service that you're going to set up and sell? And how did lead forensics become that solution partner or sorry that a product partner.

[00:08:45] Yeah, 

[00:08:45] Thomas: [00:08:45] so we were really intrigued by what lead forensics could, could do for us, because it would help us fill that funnel and fill that pipeline with semi warm, warm, even hot leads into the mix, which. Gave the email side of the equation, much more per purpose. And I think that's what got us so excited about it.

[00:09:08] And what it's, what's exciting are our clients now, because it's not, it doesn't have to leave the email marketing or lead nurturing side. It doesn't have to leave that to be something stale. It allows it to be much more active and that gets sales excited, and that gets sales. Able to be much more aggressive with their 

[00:09:28] Alex: [00:09:28] outreach efforts.

[00:09:30] Got it. Got it. Now, let me ask you one follow-up question there, Tom. So you can just refer lead forensics. You can white label it, obviously what you've decided to do, uh, but what. Was the mental process. What w what were the internal conversations around how you're going to get your clients to utilize the product itself, and then talk about some of the things that you think have to be in place to make sure that that relationship is, uh, beneficial to everybody is, uh, creates happy clients.

[00:10:02] Yeah. This partnership has been 

[00:10:03] Thomas: [00:10:03] in the works for, um, Uh, a few months at this point. So there's been conversations that have already begun with current clients, uh, around this technology and around this tool and what it could do for them. So for a lot of those, a lot of those clients were being transparent on the name or.

[00:10:19] Outright. This is lead forensics. This is what it can do. This is what we'd like to deploy and how it could support our current marketing efforts with you. And then for future prospects and future marketing efforts, we are white labeling it under our own product name of site insights, and that's obviously going to be fully powered by lead forensics.

[00:10:39] And the reason for that is we are going to be complementing the solution with other. Marketing support efforts as it relates to lead nurturing, as it relates to reporting and analysis, as it relates to, um, pay-per-click advertising all the normal services that we've been offering as an agency for almost 20 years.

[00:10:58] And obviously some, you know, both really well with them. Lead forensic more so than other services. And that's how we're trying to package these up and package them together, which is why the white labeling offering 

[00:11:08] Alex: [00:11:08] makes a lot of sense, important things to consider before you have a white label relationship, of course, can the tool even be white labeled certain solutions?

[00:11:17] The, uh, the client has to live inside that dashboard. They have to be a part of it. You can't white label everything. Uh, lead forensics has that. Ability a lot of data can come through to your dashboard and then be repackaged up and put into play. There are certain things that don't have to be there, which you could decide later to add that aren't white label, a bubble.

[00:11:38] I'm thinking about some of the IP analysis stuff. So let's just talk about the product and the position itself and why you can. Have a white label relationship or white label service on top of lead forensics. And then I want to talk about from the partnership standpoint and then the internal conversations that you guys have had Mike on the pros and cons of allowing agencies to do this.

[00:12:00] Is this something that you guys are going to try to find more agencies to do? Let's talk to the teams out there that haven't considered. Supporting white label relationships with agencies and let's give them some food for thought, just, you know, devil's advocate, what are the pros and cons? What should other companies know?

[00:12:18] And what have you guys been talking 

[00:12:19] Michael: [00:12:19] about? Yeah, sure. And it's, um, you're, you're spot on the money there really, because, you know, in the 10 years that we've been running this partner program, that there was, you know, there's, there's been a lot of requests for it on the occasion and there's been a lot of nos.

[00:12:30] And there's probably been a lot of failures in, in that respect as well. So one thing that comes to mind straight off the bat is would we have allowed a white label relationship from the off? Um, probably not because there's not the education in place for the partner. They, you know, they, they don't know enough about the product, the sales process, the customer success, the implementation.

[00:12:52] So I think a key driver to this. Uh, to the relationship and how it's developed as the initial success that we were able to deliver on that existing customer use case that Todd mentioned. So, yeah, so initial successes is obviously a big one, right? That's what we're all aiming for in that, in that partner realm.

[00:13:08] Alex: [00:13:08] Yeah. So initial success has to be in place. You guys have to check some boxes, you looked at site seeker and you checked some boxes. Can you talk about what you made sure was in place at site seeker before you said, you know what? These guys could probably make this 

[00:13:23] Michael: [00:13:23] successful? Yeah, pretty good for our agency, for us, um, you know, performance and digital focused agencies.

[00:13:30] Ultimately, they need to, you know, they need to substantiate that marketing. They need to be able to deliver the leads and the ROI off the back of it. So a good fit agency for us in terms of size of business, client profile, the type of business, you know, the type of agency that they specifically are. Um, we had that initial success period that came through.

[00:13:50] Um, Tom referred to it recently as a honeymoon period, which is, is a really important, really, really struck a chord in me. And, uh, I think we're just coming out with the back end of that honeymoon period now. Right. So looking into that sort of 12 month plan on ongoing, how do we support what marketing enablement needs to be in place?

[00:14:10] What products enable sales train and so on? Um, so yeah, there's a lot of work to be done. Yeah. 

[00:14:15] Alex: [00:14:15] I definitely want to dig into that because Mike, you did. Showcase, uh, your partner enablement communication flow. I believe it was. You listed out some of the things that you guys do that I really liked inside of our collective dot partner programs.io, uh, for the other partner teams to look at, which was really cool.

[00:14:32] So I want to learn a little bit more about that, but let's go back to Tom to talk about what has happened since you guys have been in play. And some of the things that you've really enjoyed. Out of working with lead forensics and that could be assets that could be the type of communication channels. Um, the support could be passed through discounts, free stuff to get that first client on board.

[00:14:56] Anything at all. Tom, what have you really enjoyed about working with the lead forensics team? Yep. First off, this, this 

[00:15:02] Thomas: [00:15:02] partnership makes a lot of sense because of the type of clients that we work with, which are very, data-driven very revenue driven and really, really hungry for leads. We really fell in love with.

[00:15:13] Their support and how they're willing to go out of their way to educate us about this technology and help coach us on what the conversation should look like to woo these clients and win them over and help them fall in love with the, with the solution itself, they took multiple meetings with us. They trained our full staff, uh, during the onboarding period of.

[00:15:35] Of what the backend look like, what we would need to know. And I'm in kind of a hybrid role. I do account management. I do some operations and implementation, but I'm also in a sales role. So that was really eye-opening for me to be able to, you know, dig in, get my hands dirty with the tool itself. So when I'm having sales conversations, I can speak to at a much higher level of, at a much deeper level.

[00:15:58] Of what the tool is, what it can do, and to be able to see the real data and how we can turn those, those leads into real business. You know, the conversations that we've had throughout with the lead forensics team have been really wonderful and their support throughout it has also been 

[00:16:13] Alex: [00:16:13] really great. So awesome.

[00:16:14] Yeah. I want to find out what that looks like on the support side of things and what they're doing to really enable you. You know, cause product, you mentioned a lot about the product it's, it's important has to be there. I think it's bare minimum, but then above that, because you're entering this new business scenario, you're creating a business in itself, out of this white label relationship there be that ongoing enablement and support.

[00:16:37] And Mike has to obviously make sure it's ROI positive, you know, has to be a revenue figure at the end of the day. So he's got to give you a bunch of stuff to make sure you can. Have success selling this. And then of course the sales have to make the relationship and ROI positive relationships. So Mike, let's talk about some of the things that you know, you have to do to make sure Tom is successful in this.

[00:17:01] Some of the strategies that you deploy. That's some of the, you know, onboarding, um, steps that you make sure are in place. And then let's talk a little bit about the goals and objectives and how you're making sure it's an ROI positive part. 

[00:17:15] Michael: [00:17:15] Sure know, I guess for me, you know, that initial 90 day period, that that honeymoon period is, you know, massively important to create kind of velocity and impacts and set it on the right path.

[00:17:28] Ultimately, I think that the site seeker crew, you know, they're very performance focused and revenue focused with their clients. So it's perhaps an easier sell in terms of the concept side, but that's really, you know, step number one for us is talking. To an agency about the challenges of a modern day agency, which is often substantiating the marketing work that they're doing and, you know, delivering ROI from it, which we, we compliment really nicely from there.

[00:17:54] You know, we've, we've got that. Buy-in, we've got the, yet, you know, this is, this is going to be a good thing for our business, whether it be, you know, just a referral or we can really, we can really upsell this thing. Um, onboarding kind of confirmation of the, why that the value proposition that we're bringing to that agency.

[00:18:11] Understanding the agency, the hierarchy, their, you know, their business goals, three to five year plan, whatever it might be, existing MarTech stack, these other things that are around us that we shouldn't be so kind of arrogant as to think we should. We shouldn't be paying nicely. Like yeah, they need to integrate, they need to compliment each other.

[00:18:29] It needs to be autonomous and easy customer profile, understanding that and giving case studies and enablement for those, for those cases. The key stakeholders and they're focused on an individual level. So whether it be head of digital, head of account management, head of sales, all with different challenges or with different pain points within the agency.

[00:18:51] And then I guess finally you kind of get to in the onboarding phase, at least I don't want to drive it on for too long. I've got plenty more to come, but value exchange that that client mapping that overlap. And once we have a solid, successful and knowledgeable partner, Now we can start to open up the opportunity, our side, if, if the base that we have of customers who, you know, also have that requirement for.

[00:19:13] Agency skill sets to utilize the data and consume it, commercialize it and make it ROI positive like we were talking about for everyone concerned. 

[00:19:23] Alex: [00:19:23] Yeah. And I want to go a little bit deeper into the enablement side of things, because I know you're doing a lot more and would love to hear kind of what your favorite thing to do with enabling new agencies or even activating.

[00:19:34] We can back up and talk about activating new agencies. So if I was an agency that filled out a form on your partner page, uh, you did your diligence found out I was. Quality agency that's selling to the right audience. Uh, what, what do I expect out of the program? I mean, what are some of the things I see and what are some of the things that you make sure to include me in anything at all?

[00:19:55] Yeah. 

[00:19:55] Michael: [00:19:55] So, you know, product training is obviously paramount now, knowing that product inside out and being the expert that, you know, the marketing agency or for their client, Integration training as well as a big element for us on that, how, you know, how we take this data and we plug it into what a process, the educational assets, the, the case studies, um, the different use cases that are applicable, the product documents, access to the, to the data itself, whether it be, you know, a live account or like a dummy account website, audit's giving, giving something away for free, um, adding some value, understanding, you know, the opportunity within.

[00:20:31] Just a PR a potential opportunity, right? Not even, not even an opportunity, but that real early phase business development work too, I guess, ultimately, per partner in a position where it's really easy to do this makes sense. This adds value. I've got all the materials I need in front of me. Yeah, let's 

[00:20:47] Alex: [00:20:47] do it.

[00:20:48] Education, making sure product knowledge is, is there some of the things that work and some of the things that Tom let's go back to you, some of the things that your agency have absorbed gravitated towards really taken and run with, I guess, more or less, uh, I'd like to hear a little bit about what's really working for you because every partner program.

[00:21:09] Is different everybody onboards agencies in a different way. Everybody communicates with their agencies through different channels. What are some of the things that you like about your best partnerships? It doesn't have to be lead forensics in this case. But talk to me about in general, what are some of the things that you like about.

[00:21:26] Partnerships and maybe some of the things you don't like, I'll usually it 

[00:21:30] Thomas: [00:21:30] forensics as the example, since it's the newest and shiniest object in front of me right now, I think the beyond the onboarding, the initial training of the tool itself, what's been really helpful is the client audits of sending over a website of a current client and them taking a look at it.

[00:21:45] Um, us providing some of those details on what the traffic looks like, the type of visitors that come into their website and having lead forensics, let us know if it's a good fit for them. And they'll support us on that. That's been really helpful. And also the, the assets that they've provided since we are white labeling in, in most cases, the educational assets.

[00:22:04] Provided to us case studies, videos, different bits of information that would obviously help us in our outreach and our go to market plan and just the different conversations that we're having have been helpful. We leaned on those assets as we built our, our ICP or ideal customer profile. We leaned on those assets when we drew up the script for our own animated video or explainer video.

[00:22:28] Uh, as we wrote our landing page, as we wrote copy for our email outreach or LinkedIn messages, really everything that we have in place to go to market with this, we started with looking at the assets that they provided to us. And that was, that was the starting point. That was really helpful to us. 

[00:22:43] Alex: [00:22:43] That's great to hear.

[00:22:44] Yeah, it was very specific. So very important things on the account side, when you're going to, to sell a new product that you're still learning how to sell, it's important for you to be able to easily get your client, that first client or two onto the products. So Mike supporting you in offering. Some level of freedom there.

[00:23:02] If it's not a free trial, maybe there's a free account that they can play around with a demo account at the very least, but just something. So you can get your clients to quickly add and absorb the feature benefits of that product. Then making sure the assets are flowing. You guys have all the assets you need to sell.

[00:23:18] You've got to have the decks. You've got to have the one sheeters, the comparisons, all of that kind of stuff to make sure you can sell the tool itself, or at least the feature benefits of the solution. Let's talk about that a little bit. Mike, if you can, your recommendations for how much do you really do for these new agencies?

[00:23:36] Around creation of assets and whether those are white labeled, now that you have this white label relationship or not, I think it's important for teams to understand the perception because some will try to kind of not be on the hook for all of that. I talked to teams on both sides of this equation, but where's you, what is your stance on creating those assets for your agency partners?

[00:23:57] What do you guys do? Where do you kind of draw the 

[00:23:59] Michael: [00:23:59] line? We've got one of our standards. Stuff, you know, all of the kind of core marketing material, which is easy and, you know, is applicable for kind of referral partners. We templated out the dual branded side of things as well, which is again, misery it's quite a quick and easy fix, you know, at a, at a small box on the left of this document here where the partner can insert their logo.

[00:24:18] So try and make that as easy as possible as well. And then I guess in terms of the more bespoke marketing content, we've got two options. We can grab what we've got and repath us. Um, or, you know, quite often we'll give like the, I can't remember what it's called, but like the hard copy of a video with no branding and so forth on there.

[00:24:35] Uh, so I guess the core marketing assets. Awesome. 

[00:24:38] Alex: [00:24:38] And you, do you hand those over, via a notion account or a Google drive account? Or do you just send them off? 

[00:24:45] Michael: [00:24:45] Yeah. Google drive, Google drive at the moment is where the majority of it is, um, hosted. Um, and I guess for me, you know, again as always really in the kind of partner program realm, you've got a lesson and.

[00:24:57] One thing that's really important is not overwhelming with material. You know, here's a link crack on, it's probably going to fall on deaf ears. Right. So you've got to ask some questions. You've got to understand where these documents are going to fit into the process. Yeah, I guess it's, there's a lot of, you know, how would I go about this and what would my recommendations be to you guys on that 

[00:25:15] Alex: [00:25:15] basis?

[00:25:16] There's no one right answer. Everybody's doing it differently, which is why these conversations are so important for people to listen to. You know, it's, you've got multiple departments that are being asked for different things from the partnership team. You've got multiple types of relationships and everybody wants different things and needs different things.

[00:25:34] And you have to really, you have to be that balancing board to make sure yes, agency is taken care of, but. Obviously, you're not pulling too much from your design team and too much from your marketing team and just making sure, you know, things happen and things are getting done, but they're getting done with revenue and budget and all of those important things that you have to keep in mind.

[00:25:53] So with this white label relationship, it's not something you guys are doing a lot, which means there's probably not a lot of structure yet. You guys are still sort of defining the structure of this white label relationship. Well, let's talk about some success metrics and some of the things that. Mike first, you need out of this relationship to say.

[00:26:13] You know what we're going to go find more people like Tom and site seeker. And do this again. And again, is there, is there an agenda already in place or is this something where you're kind of still testing the waters? 

[00:26:24] Michael: [00:26:24] Yeah. Mo more testing the waters at this stage, I think, um, comes back to that sort of determined success elements.

[00:26:31] So we've definitely had that in, you know, the honeymoon period where we've just stepped into this, this, you know, the next phase of the partnership. And I think. Again, but, you know, we need to deliver value and success on, on that stage to then consider going wider. I guess the thing to me throughout it is, um, I was always taught that you've got, you know, two ears and one mouth.

[00:26:52] So just constantly kind of checking in, how's it. How are things, what challenges have we got? What are the positives, but actively listening, actively learning. Yeah. 

[00:27:02] Alex: [00:27:02] And what is success? I mean, for you, Mike, I mean, what would, what would success look like from the relationship with Tom and this white label scenario?

[00:27:09] I guess 

[00:27:10] Michael: [00:27:10] we're all revenue focused at the end of the day. So clients ultimately is a, is a simple, easy answer, but more so, um, what does success look like for the agency again? Right? What do they want to achieve from this? What, what, you know, what margin needs to be there? What ROI needs to be there? How many customer, how many logos is it?

[00:27:28] New markets that they're new, new businesses that they're looking to acquire for you? This, which actually I think is quite, uh, quite an important element of this, um, for the guys that site seeker. 

[00:27:38] Alex: [00:27:38] Um, yeah, I mean, this is the conversation. It's like, if this is really one of the first that you're enabling a white label relationship where they're going to brand it something else, and you guys are going to support it and give them what they need.

[00:27:50] Sometimes a beachhead is success. Sometimes having this really key example that you and the partnership team can then market to other agencies. Like Tom's is success, right? They're the beachhead, they're the shiny example of what you could do with this type of relationship. 

[00:28:08] Michael: [00:28:08] I said my head goes teeth.

[00:28:09] Yeah. That's exactly where my head goes. 

[00:28:11] Alex: [00:28:11] Yeah. That's why these types of conversations are interesting to have. So, Tom, I, I, you know, I'd like to hear from you a little bit about what your goals are around the new white label sales, I guess what, what the sales goals are, anything that you guys have in place to say, Hey, we're going to do it like this.

[00:28:25] And if this happens, we're going to continue. Or if we don't hit these, we're going to regroup and rethink it. Any, any sort of objectives. Okay. Ours, you know, all that fun stuff, Tom. We're definitely 

[00:28:36] Thomas: [00:28:36] okay. Being in the Guinea pig mic. Uh, we're not afraid to try new things and to test out the waters and try to find ways to help our clients and help our ourselves generate more, more revenues at the end of the day.

[00:28:48] So, um, we're okay with it being a little bit loosen and have it be. Improved as we go. Um, we're totally comfortable with that. So the way that we negotiated pricing with Lincoln is based on a certain number of accounts that we're trying to essentially resell to. Um, that's how it's a, win-win win for lead forensics for us and for the client as well.

[00:29:12] So we have a certain number of accounts that we're trying to bring on. Uh, as it relates to lead forensics over the course of the next 12 months, and obviously the hope is to knock that out of the park or we're, we're negotiating another round of both, uh, accounts and those licenses for, for lead forensics.

[00:29:26] So that's what we're trying to do in on top of that. It's such a good fit for so many clients that we currently have. Obviously it's not a secret. Most agencies want to continue to build the relationship with current clients as a primary goal. So because it's such a good fit that's. Really, what we're trying to emphasize right now is this is a needed service and Nita solutions for a quarter, maybe even a half of the current clients that we currently have on our roster.

[00:29:54] And that's what we're going to start. And that's where a lot of these conversations have begun because it really makes a lot of sense to add that lead generation element into the lead nurturing services that we already have from there. Obviously we haven't go to market strategy in place, and we're going to be trying to leverage this to bring on new accounts.

[00:30:10] But I think the primary. Goal this year is to really try and enlarge the scopes of work that we currently have with current clients, because it, it makes total 

[00:30:20] Alex: [00:30:20] sense. It could be just it, you know, making those current relationships a little bit more ROI, positive, a little bit more margin, maybe a little, little stickier, even, you know, being ahead of the game, showing your clients that you are doing.

[00:30:33] The new, you know, you're doing that exciting new stuff that clients are going to hear about, and they're going to want to make sure that they have in place. So they're going to ask you about this stuff later anyways. So you guys are jumping ahead and packaging it up, productizing it, putting it into the retainers that you're currently selling, and then the next steps.

[00:30:51] So let's talk about three months down the road, or maybe closer to that to two or three months down the road. When you guys have a successful case study. From this new white label relationship, let's talk about some of the things that could happen or maybe are planned to happen, uh, around co-selling and co-marketing and case studies.

[00:31:12] Some of the things that you would like to have out of this. Um, if nothing else, if you can take referrals off of the table, Mike, and think about what could this relationship also generate for lead forensics and for the partner program, let's talk about some of the things that you would like to have, or already have.

[00:31:27] Plant Mike around co-marketing co-selling and case study. 

[00:31:31] Michael: [00:31:31] I think you touched on Alex right first. Firstly is, you know, if this is something that we can prove a benefit in and deliver successfully, then you know, we've got, uh, a prime case study here, you know, sight seeker, how they'd manage the monetize around the products.

[00:31:45] Um, and, you know, we've, we've, we've got quite a large reach as a business, so I'm sure the team we'd obviously consult them, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind us, you know, talking about them to the high Hills and promoting that relationship, I guess, in, in terms of the co-selling piece. I think we're very strong on that.

[00:32:02] Um, in terms of our product, you know, helps marketing get closer to sales. Um, and, and so. Bye on that point. You know, we typically, we would, we don't only sell to marketing or sales. We normally would speak to both in that process. And so for agencies in that position where, you know, this allows them to have that conversation, like get closer to sales, have that conversation with sales, which we're quite well versed in doing.

[00:32:28] And we know, you know, What they want and all the rest of it, I guess. Yeah. That's kind of where my head say is if we can get marketing agencies closer to revenue and sales and we can, you know, co-sale with them into those opportunities when, when needed, which we're more than happy to do. The United for a valuable partner, like 

[00:32:46] Alex: [00:32:46] site seeker.

[00:32:47] That's again, that beachhead mentality where you need a quality agency with a great brand to do great stuff with your partner program. And then ideally, as long as Thomas and the team are. Okay with it getting involved in co-marketing and co-selling relationships. Um, and then Mike, one last thing on the co-selling side, because everyone asks, are you doing co-selling and if so, how do you like to Cosell with agencies?

[00:33:11] Yeah, 

[00:33:11] Michael: [00:33:11] absolutely. And, and, and that's where the first sort of success story came from really open communication, you know, preparation of the meet, the end user client. This is what we're looking to achieve from this. This is how the structure would typically look. Yeah. Are you guys okay with that? Anything you want to add?

[00:33:28] Anything you want us to sort 

[00:33:29] Alex: [00:33:29] of rich? Yeah. I'm curious if, uh, if you're using any account mapping routines. 

[00:33:34] Michael: [00:33:34] Yeah. And, um, that's probably one of the big things for us in the partner program is, you know, getting that receptiveness or willingness to share that kind of data. Because once we have that, that's, that's where the work of a partner manager from a business development sense really kicks in.

[00:33:49] I think like you've got the, you know, the. The engaging and rapport and the challenging for an idea or whatever it might be. But that's when, you know, I feel like I can truly get to work on a partner is right. I know I've got the map may have the land with the partner. I've got the lay of the land, the client base, um, what business development efforts, what business cases can I provide to make this as easy as possible for them.

[00:34:15] Um, and then back to that point that we touched on earlier around, you know, Would it be comfortable to let an agency no matter who it was, you know, just go straight at it and go for it. Probably not. No, because, um, I've seen it happen and I've seen it fail. So as long as there's that two way communication and open lines of communication throughout, you know, things should work.

[00:34:37] Alex: [00:34:37] Uh, ideally. Yes. And, uh, Tom I'll catch you up real quick in case you're not familiar with what I'm referring to, but, um, the, the process assess that we recommend all partners that reach that status, that trusted partner status, where they know that you can sell lead forensics and they know that you are a great implementation partner.

[00:34:56] The next step would be to have a go to market strategy that includes setting the attribution first. And to do that, you. Map accounts to use a tool like our sponsor share work.co to allow you to see sort of the Venn diagram of who's in Mike's database lead forensics database. That is also in my database at some level in the pipeline, some stage in the pipeline, but also what's on either side.

[00:35:20] How much opportunity do I have in my database? That's not currently. Looking at lead forensics, not in their pipeline, same thing, vice versa. And you set that attribution from the start. Then when you guys start co-marketing together, you publish a case study, you do a webinar together, you do a white paper together.

[00:35:35] You can start to look back at that account mapping, uh, drill that, that dashboard where you see. Your map to counts and you can actively see people going from one side to the other. And that can be your source of attribution to measure the success of the partnership in itself, because people will see you talk about lead forensics on LinkedIn.

[00:35:55] They may not go through your service, get onto your service, but they may go over to lead forensics and join lead friends, but they came out of your pipeline at some stage. Right? So. It's a, it's very interesting to map accounts. We suggest everybody do that before they do a big co-marketing endeavor. Of course.

[00:36:11] Um, so if you want to talk more about that, we can talk offline, but Tom, what is your go to market plan with lead forensics? What would you like to have back from lead forensics to make sure that you are successful with this partnership? Anything at all that you're hoping to lean on lead forensics for?

[00:36:27] Thomas: [00:36:27] Sure. So there's four sales folks at our agency. And one that is the point person on marketing. So we kind of got five people that are taking these meetings and building this program. Um, I'm one of those salespeople. So currently we're, we're, we're retired out to our current clients and we're really beginning these conversations in beginning of this pitches.

[00:36:48] And from these conversations, we're building an FAQ doco really want. What question is, what are the things that they're concerned about? What are the things that they get excited about? And we're building that internally. We're obviously tapping into the lead forensics team to help us clarify answers on those questions that we need, need support and help with that long running FAQ document is going to be obviously, obviously shared amongst the sales and marketing team here at site seekers.

[00:37:11] So when we go into that next conversation, we're, we're better equipped to answer those questions. So there's obviously internal learning that's going on with every conversation that we're having. I think there's a lot of value in fighting. The lead forensics team into these sales conversations. I've had several at this point.

[00:37:26] Uh, the very first conversation I'm taking on my own, introducing it. I obviously have a, a sales deck that we've put together. Um, leaning on the assets that lead forensics has passed over to us. Those first conversations are. Are going really, really well. And once the trial is opened up, lead forensics opens up the account.

[00:37:45] We're beginning to track all the leads coming onto these websites. I have. My plan is to invite lead forensics in that meeting number two, or meeting number three. So they can be a resource for us ask really any technical, um, answering technical questions that come up and really just be a supporting team member, an extension of our team.

[00:38:03] And I love that about this relationship and I feel much more comfortable having them in on those conversations. Um, obviously we'll, we'll need to be delicate since it's white label on, on the introductions and how we're going to be playing that, but still new. We're still feeling our way through it, but I liked it that that resource is available to us.

[00:38:20] Uh, as far as go to market we're, we're building all of those assets, building landing page, building emails. We have our strategy in place of how we want to be messaging this, how we want to be selling this, what those initial conversations look like. And we're, we're currently working on buttoning, all of that up.

[00:38:35] Um, and it's, we're, we're feeling really good about it. And now that trade shows are beginning to open how we do some webinars and local and regional speaking events, as well as, um, a couple of national ones and, and two weeks, uh, Colleen and myself were speaking at an event. In Las Vegas, and this is going to be our big hook that we're, we're trying to push as part of 

[00:38:56] Alex: [00:38:56] our speech.

[00:38:58] That's fantastic to hear. So you guys have it all laid out. There's going to be a whole lot going on from your side. And then Mike, um, anything in that that you guys are planning to get involved in? Are there any, um, discussions on, on the team side of how you guys plan to talk about. This white label relationship to users of lead forensics.

[00:39:18] This is important too. If, if someone mentions it, they're coming through your funnel. I mean, there's, there's different ways to kind of talk about it, but what, what have you guys decided internally and what you're going to get 

[00:39:29] Michael: [00:39:29] involved in? I think the attribution modeling, Oh, that is really important. Um, and so, you know, we're very hot on that side of things.

[00:39:37] I guess the thing that comes to mind in terms of, um, promoting this opportunity and promoting the expertise of, you know, site seeker and what they're doing with lead forensics, how they're wrapping their services around it. Um, I think at that point, you know, we obviously revert back to the non white label message, really.

[00:39:53] It would be, you know, the lead forensics audience. Um, but like we did one yesterday. We had a ton of marketing partner on. You've seen a huge uplifting conversions versus their sort of standard data. I think we had 2000 people on that, uh, webinar, um, gated for our customer audience. So, you know, for us, anybody who's utilizing the data in the right way and turning it into bottom line revenue.

[00:40:19] Great. Yes. Talk about it and shout 

[00:40:22] Alex: [00:40:22] from the rooftops. Exactly. I mean, this is the thing it's, it comes from both sides and you guys have a lot to offer on the co-marketing side of things. You guys have much bigger company, more salespeople, more of a presence, obviously a bigger newsletter, um, more traffic to the blog.

[00:40:37] You guys have a whole lot to offer on the lead forensic side of things, but it is a white label relationship. So there's a little bit of let's figure out if this is going to work before we start really talking about it. Uh, because I'm sure the marketing team, the branding team are a little bit concerned.

[00:40:53] They usually are when a white label relationship kicks off. Um, there's a little bit of branding concern, which is totally, you know, it makes sense, you know, it's logical. So I that's what I like to hear from the partnerships team. And what have you, and maybe the marketing team talked about with white labeling, maybe even up the ladder.

[00:41:10] Um, what have you guys talked about internally? 

[00:41:12] Michael: [00:41:12] Yeah. Brand guidelines is important, right? I think with the, with the marketing team, you've just got a. Have an agreement set those brand guidelines out in the, you know, we stay within a certain track and we're all good. And then, I mean, another, I have a good example of one is, um, uh, another agency over in the UK, uh, basically consuming our data, pumping into, you know, same sort of process that site seeker are going to be doing.

[00:41:37] So there's the internal communication element of it as well. Right? Not necessarily always the coat market. External to the big wide world, but you touched on it, you know, in terms of our business, we've probably got, uh, somewhere in the region of sort of 200, 300 customer facing people. So you know, them having a deck, which with the site site seeker brand on it, and it's all well and good having this awesome data here, but how do you consume it?

[00:42:02] What do you do with it? How'd you put it into a process? Naturally those, those referrals and that, I guess that expertise from the agency side is demonstrated in that deck. And it gives the customer facing guys confidence to, you know, put this in front of their customers, that this is how it's done. This is a great practice.

[00:42:19] Um, and inevitably. They and find in the site seekers 

[00:42:23] Alex: [00:42:23] as well. Awesome. Yeah. So it sounds like everybody's pretty aligned. Um, there's definitely that level of caution and protection. Of course there has to be, but it's working it's it's, it's kicked off. You are activated. Of course. You've got a. Sounds like a few sites, Tom, with the, um, JavaScript in place and you've got it kind of working.

[00:42:42] Uh, and now there's go to market training, the sales team, making sure assets and everything are in place. Having more conversations, creating a sales engine around it. And I think from what I hear, it sounds like this is going to be super successful. You guys will create a case study. There'll be a lot of co-marketing afterwards, and maybe there will be a lot more of these types of relationships for lead forensics in the future.

[00:43:04] But they're going to make sure that you guys have everything you need in the, in the meantime, and are. Given that sort of level of appreciation for everything that you guys are doing to spearhead this as well. If it is successful, I think this could turn out to be a really awesome partnership. Any final thoughts, Tom, from you on the relationship?

[00:43:21] Anything else, partner, enablement, uh, anything at all? I want to emphasize the 

[00:43:25] Thomas: [00:43:25] mutually beneficial relationship that we're trying to get out of this. They're serving a purpose, something that they're experts in a solution that we can't provide without them. And, and obviously there's. Resources that we're bringing into the mix supporting marketing services that we're adding into the mix that's going to make.

[00:43:43] The lead forensics tool, much more successful on, on, as it relates to the clients and their efforts. Right. I spoke to a girl that I'm friends with the other day, I was poking around on, you know, what, what tools her company's using. And I brought up lead insights and describing what it looks like. And she said, are you talking about lead forensics?

[00:44:01] We have that on our site a couple of years ago. And I was like, okay, interesting. Let me learn more about why you're no longer working with them. Right. Was it, did you not have anybody that was actually signing in it using it and how come there wasn't value. In that tool three years ago, and that's one I'm going to step in.

[00:44:17] And hopefully, you know, it turns into a good conversation. I mean, able to invite the sales forensics team into the mix here, and we can learn why it didn't work out three years ago and what we can do this time around to provide them with the support to get more value out of the tool, because I know the tool itself provides value.

[00:44:34] So that leads me to believe it. Yeah immediately that there must not have been enough support at that time to really get true value out of it. And to do something with those leads that the tool is picking up on. Did they not have anybody that was even signing into it? Did they, were they not doing anything on the email side?

[00:44:50] Were they not reporting and analyzing if the, you know, the quality of those leads with sales totally out of the mix. I don't know what those answers are, but when I get those answers, I wouldn't be able to build a much better case around why it's going 

[00:45:01] Alex: [00:45:01] to work this time around. I mean, I think Michael is a very happy to have you, Tom.

[00:45:06] I mean, you're way ahead of most agencies out there with structurally creating this partnership engine that you are, um, you're you're way, way, way ahead. So, um, that's awesome. Um, Mike, uh, any, any final thoughts on white labeling? Any words of wisdom for the listeners on creating and enabling these types of co-branded or white label relationships with partners?

[00:45:30] Michael: [00:45:30] I, I guess, um, enablement. Enablement enablement, enablement, mutual confidence, and that process paramount before we do anything. And I just wanted to touch on the point that Tom raised there. I think it's a great point. You know, there's, there's a lot of MarTech solutions out there that have been underutilized or, you know, they, for whatever reason, they haven't, like Tom said, right.

[00:45:50] There's value in the product. So what was wrong with the process? So I think there's a huge amount of value for agencies out there and just, you know, what they do best. Taking taking something and making it 

[00:46:01] Alex: [00:46:01] work. Yeah. That's the name of the game here? So you guys are doing a great job enabling Tom and the agency.

[00:46:08] They're doing a great job doing, I think a above and beyond with regards to setting up that sales system, it sounds like it's going to be successful from what I hear. Uh, and then, yeah. Eh, anybody listening, if you guys need to, um, hear more, learn more about this? Uh, the suggestion is always to post. A comment in collective dot partner programs.io.

[00:46:31] Mike is in there. He can probably answer a question or two if he has the time, but I'll always answer questions in there. And then Tom, you and the agency are invited to the other side of the community, which is community dot partner programs.io, which is where we train and enable agencies on how to grow on the backs of tech partnerships.

[00:46:49] So both of you have your own communities. Tom we're a resource if you ever need it, but sounds like you guys are on a roll and this is going to be super successful. So I thank you both for joining. Thanks guys. Both of you take care.