ABPM Solution Partners Community Culture
Whether your company is a new ABPM Solution Partner or you're an employee of a company that's maintained Solution Partner membership for many years, this page is meant to help you understand the unique culture of the ABPM Solution Partner community and the things you can do to ensure you and your company thrive within that culture.
Your company went through a qualification process in order to be eligible for ABPM Solution Partner membership. This means your organization was enthusiastically recommended by a Primary or Associate ABPM Member (briefing or customer engagement professional) with whom the company recently completed a project or has an ongoing working relationship.
ABPM has a Solution Partner Advisory Committee made up of one representative per Solution Partner category (see category list in the left column) that meets regularly and has provided a few suggestions below that committee members often share with new Solution Partners to help them be successful in the community.
- Listen and learn first, sell last: Briefing and customer engagement professionals work every day to help their internal stakeholders build relationships and trust with their customers by helping them solve their business challenges. Those conversations often end in sales but the primary focus is solutions and business relationships. They expect the same from ABPM Solution Partners and, if they feel they are "being sold to", they don't react positively.
- Bring a consistent face (or two) to conferences: As we said above, briefing/customer engagement professionals are relationship and trust people so seeing regular faces that represent your company is important to that long-term relationship. Attending sessions and listening is key as well (see Listen and Learn First above). Learning about their customer's challenges first is what they do, and they expect it from you as well.
- Build relationships with your fellow Solution Partners: Each Solution Partner company brings its own strengths to the table and it's very common that Solution Partners bring fellow members into a project they are working on. There is as much value in forming relationships with fellow Solution Partners as with briefing and customer engagement professionals in the community. ABPM holds quarterly Solution Partner Connection Calls to encourage that relationship building.
Finally, ABPM has a Solution Partner Mentor program that is meant to support Solution Partners during their first year of membership. If you've recently joined, you'll receive an email from your mentor in the near future to set a 30-minute meeting with your mentor so you can hear their perspective and ask questions. That first call is required. From there, your mentor may check in with you via email a few more times during the year. After a couple of years in the membership, if you have interest in serving as a Solution Partner Mentor, just let the ABPM team know! We welcome your insights and expertise.