The pilot fish partner strategy for B2B SaaS
Maybe you know this, maybe you don’t. I learned this in a book someone gave to our four-year-old. Either way, here’s some trivia. Some fish become friends with sharks. They drop out of their schools like bonafide teen rebels and live on the mean streets of the reef, swimming alongside a shark. The shark doesn’t eat them. These are called pilot fish. In return for protection (and, let’s be honest, being cool by association), the pilot fish feeds on parasites that the shark doesn’t want and probably has good banter to make long journies more exciting.
This is a useful analogy when considering partnerships with big platforms. Basically, it’s a SaaS version of the pilot fish strategy. You sort out the customers the big platform can’t service meaningfully, and everyone wins.
I’m possibly biased by my Microsoft Partner Network background, but I think big platform partnerships are great for start-ups looking to expand their market footprint. The qualifying criteria to start is simple: you must build on or integrate with the platform. Yet, often, I see this strategy written off! It’s seen as completely unattainable, a moonshot. ‘It’s safer to stick with the school.’
In this article, I’ll cover the quick wins of a ‘big platform’ partnership and how to make a more in-depth pilot fish partnership work for you, regardless of your ARR or headcount.
Quick Side Bar: What do I mean by ‘big platform’? Think about a large and well-known vendor many people build solutions or apps on top of. That’s a big platform. Popular ones include Microsoft, Shopify, Google Chrome, and so on. Usually, they have a marketplace for vendors and a strategy around recruiting partners into their ecosystem.
What’s the value of partnering with a big SaaS platform?
Instant Credibility: Associating with a respected platform adds credibility to your product, which can be invaluable in crowded markets. Many prospects view platform partnerships as a “stamp of approval” or a sign of quality and reliability.
Access to Resources and Incentives: Most big platforms provide marketing incentives, customer referrals, and sales resources to join you in meetings. This can give you the extra boost you need to go to market confidently.
So, where do you start?
Where to start
There’s a bit of admin associated with becoming an official platform partner, but it’s worth it. Here are some things you want to nail from the outset.
List your app on their marketplace
If you build on a platform that has a marketplace or App Store. Getting your app or solution set up on it is a really quick win and a low-maintenance channel. Often this is a place where companies don’t put in much effort, so if you want to stand out - it’s not hard! Choose bold colors, get a designer to add some nice product highlights, and keep your copy focused and punchy. I feel like this is another article, so I’ll leave it there - and when I write a marketplace listing guide, I’ll link it here!
Reach out to the partner team
You might not qualify for the gold partner status from day one, but get a rung on the program ladder (if there is one) as early as possible. Some platforms even give you a partner account manager you can check in with from the outset. What you want to find out is what’s possible, are there any initiatives or promotions being run that could be advantageous, or do they have a conference coming up you could speak at? If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Did you know many partnership and alliance teams in big partner companies earn a bonus for nurturing relationships with partners and driving joint sales? If you can help an account manager get a bonus, you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll hear you out. Also, sometimes it’s someone’s job to recruit new partners into the channel. This person is often called a Partner Recruitment Manager or a Partner Development Manager. So get on LinkedIn and do some searching!
Prepare a one-pager
I don’t know who decided this, but partner teams love a one pager. I’m talking letter size, front and back, one page that says everything you want to say about your product (and business). Include a value proposition, details about integration with the platform, testimonials and a feature list. Bonus points for saying how you beat a mutual competitor.
How to get serious about your pilot fish strategy
If you bump into Satya Nadella at the bar and say, ‘Hey, we should partner up, go to market together, share referrals, let’s swap funnels!’ He’ll probably say something to the spirit of, ‘That’s cute. Please leave me alone.’ So what do you do?
Get the positioning right
Before having a serious conversation about turning a platform integration into an all-singing and dancing pilot fish partnership, answer: what have you got that they don’t? If you don’t have a good answer, take the App Store or Marketplace Listing and leave it there. But if you think, “Well, we don’t have much, but we do have… keep reading. Let’s do this.
Don’t sweat your size
Whether you’ve got a floor in WeWork or operating from your garage, creating something a big-platform partner wants isn’t based on scale. In reality, platforms benefit from partnerships of all shapes and sizes.
BUT. It’s a big but. The partners all bring something to the table that the platform doesn’t have or that doesn’t make sense for the platform to invest in. While big platforms do a lot for most, they don’t help everyone. This is where partners shine. What you bring to the party is authority. This might be the authority in a vertical, a niche, or an innovative use case of their very own product.
Storytime
I used to work at a Microsoft Independent Software Vendor (ISV) that hit all three of these areas. The company sold solutions built on the Microsoft platform (platform, check) configured for law firms (vertical, check), specifically the top 100 law firms in the UK and the top 500 in the US (niche, check). They also had a solution built on Microsoft Teams, which got lawyers using the tool (innovation, check).
Microsoft loved this because each software sale brought in a license for them in an industry and niche they couldn’t access out of the box with Dynamics 365. They also liked the innovation angle, which delivered a cracking case study for Microsoft Teams.
The moral of this story is: to get in with a big player, you’ve got to give them something they don’t have, and something that doesn’t make sense for them to invest in. As the platform sees your product bringing in users in untapped markets, it’s likely to invest more resources in your success, often helping your solution reach a wider audience.
Bottom Line
Forging a platform partnership is one of the most strategic ways to grow within an ecosystem of potential customers. While it requires some positioning, ongoing relationship-building, and drum-banging, the rewards are great. When done well, a platform partnership is a shortcut to credibility by establishing your product in the platform’s ecosystem while also opening doors to co-selling, co-marketing, and collaborative growth hacking.
Open Office Hours
Here are some things that our clients have asked us about big platform partnerships.
What should I do first to start a big platform partnership?
Begin by joining their partner program at the entry level. Most platforms provide a roadmap to advance through the ranks. Then start identifying the unique value you can bring—whether it’s niche market access, specialized features, or a specific use case that’s valuable to the platform.
Should I cold email the partner team?
Yeah! If they don’t want to talk to you, they’ll move you to junk, so don’t overthink it. If you do something that makes them look good, they’ll share it with their team and sometimes that’s all that needs to happen to get the ball rolling.
I have a call with a partner manager! What do I prepare!?
Run through this checklist before the meeting:
Good Standing: Ensure your business is in good standing with the partner and that all financials, support systems, and contractual obligations are in order.
10-Slide Deck: Prepare a slide deck (no more than ten slides) that clearly outlines your product’s value, ideal customer, and your unique advantages as a partner. This differs from a standard sales pitch and is probably closer to an investment deck.
One-Page Summary: A concise overview of the slide deck to send as a follow-up.
Battlecard: Prepare a one-page battle card that outlines how account managers can position your product and understand your ideal customer profile (ICP).
Case Study: Share a success story demonstrating your product's real-world value to its users. Platform partners need to see evidence of market traction.
Should I have more than one platform partner?
Sure! If you want to! Partnering with multiple platforms can diversify your reach and reduce dependency on a single ecosystem. However, some companies focus exclusively on one platform to build deeper relationships. Consider your target market and resources: exclusivity might make sense if your ideal customer is predominantly on one platform (eg. Microsoft 365). If not, a multi-platform approach can offer more flexibility.
How can I measure the success of a platform partnership?
Success can be tracked through several metrics, but two of the most important performance indicators are:
Referral Volume: Track the number of leads or referrals from the platform’s marketplace (via conversion tracking) or account managers (via your CRM tool of choice—spreadsheets are fine), the quality of referrals, and the conversion rates.
Win Rate: This is a little less scientific, but note when you started positioning the partner in your messaging and see if there’s a correlation to a change in your win rates.
Do you have another question?
Drop it below!
