How ISVs Can Build Stronger ERP Partnerships

You can automate a follow-up, generate a month’s worth of content, and pull together a partner report faster than ever.

But when a partner has an opportunity to share, are you the person they think to call?

That question kept coming back to me across three conversations on The Channel Buzz. Marie Wiese, Ryan Grant, and Justin Baryza each approached it from a different direction: trust, community, and the practical role of AI.

Together, their conversations offer something worth considering as we plan our next events, marketing activities, and partner initiatives: what are we making easier for each other, and what are we actually building together?

Give people a reason to trust you

Marie Wiese, CEO of Marketing Copilot and author of You’re On Mute, joined me to talk about representation, the changing role of marketing, and the growing trust gap.

One part of our conversation deserves more attention: how clearly companies explain their value.

It’s easy to describe a product. It’s harder to explain why someone should care, what it changes about their work, and why they should trust your company to help.

AI gives us more ways to create and distribute content. It also gives us more material to sort through. Publishing more doesn’t resolve a message that was unclear to begin with.

For ISVs and partners, that means getting closer to the questions customers are actually asking. What are they struggling with? What have they already tried? What would make them comfortable taking the next step?

Marie’s discussion of representation adds another question: whose perspective are we missing? Hearing from people with different experiences can challenge assumptions we might otherwise carry into our marketing and customer conversations.

Something to try: Look at one recent piece of content. Can a customer recognize their problem in it, or does it mostly describe your company?

Hear Marie’s conversation: Why Trust, Diversity & Relationships Matter More Than Ever

Give partners something to build with you

Ryan Grant brought nearly three decades of ERP channel experience to our conversation about community, AI, and partner marketing in the Business Central ecosystem.

His perspective raises a useful question for any partnership: what happens beyond the transaction?

An introduction is a beginning. A shared customer creates a reason to work together. But a relationship needs attention between those moments, too.

That might mean bringing complementary expertise into a customer conversation, creating educational content together, or helping another company understand an issue you see regularly.

This connects closely to why I created The ISV Society’s joint initiatives. Each company has experience, relationships, and knowledge that can make the work more useful for everyone involved.

Through Shared Visibility, companies contribute to an activity and help introduce it to their own networks. The opportunity is to give people a reason to discover—and remember—the other companies taking part.

That takes participation. What can you contribute that makes the experience better for the audience and your fellow partners?

Something to try: Choose one partner and identify a customer question you could answer together. Start with the question, then decide whether a conversation, article, or joint session would help most.

Hear Ryan’s conversation: Stop Selling Products — Start Building Ecosystem Value

Use AI to make room for partnership work

Justin Baryza, Director of Channel Partners at PointFive, brought practical examples of how AI fits into everyday partnership work.

We talked about pipeline analysis, follow-ups, co-sell account mapping, and creating more relevant outreach. These are tasks that can consume a substantial part of a partner team’s week.

For a smaller ISV, that matters. There may be one person managing relationships, preparing reports, coordinating with sales, and making sure the next conversation happens.

AI can help with that preparation. The opportunity is deciding what to do with the time it frees up.

Could you spend more time understanding a partner’s priorities? Follow through on an introduction? Work through an account opportunity together?

Those activities still require judgment and attention. A faster draft is useful when it helps you have a better conversation.

Something to try: Pick one repetitive task that regularly delays your partner work. Test an AI-assisted workflow, review its accuracy, and decide where the time saved will go.

Hear Justin’s conversation: AI Isn’t Replacing Partner Teams — It’s Making Them Effective

What will you do together next?

As you look ahead, you'll make plenty of decisions about tools, budgets, events, and content.

Make room for a few questions about the people involved, too.

Does your message give them a reason to trust you? Do your partners know what you could create together? Is your technology helping you spend more time on the relationships that need your attention?

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. Start with one clearer message, one shared idea, or one conversation you’ve been meaning to continue.

That gives you something to build on.

Explore more conversations on The Channel Buzz