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partner-positioning-assessment

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Partner Positioning Assessment

Purpose: Assess Brainforge’s positioning against enterprise partner evaluation frameworks
Use: Before partner conversations, for partner-facing materials, to identify gaps
Based on: Nelson Wang’s framework (3 Cs + 6 Pillars)
Last Updated: January 2025

🎯 Assessment Purpose

This assessment helps you:

  • Understand how enterprise partners evaluate Brainforge
  • Identify positioning gaps vs. highest tier
  • Strengthen partner-facing materials
  • Prepare for partner conversations
  • Track improvement over time

Complete this assessment for each major partner (Snowflake, Mixpanel, Amplitude, etc.).

📊 The 3 Cs Assessment

C1: CAPACITY

Current State:

Team Size:

  • Total employees: [Count]
  • Sales team: [Count]
  • Consultants/services team: [Count]
  • Services bench depth: [Description]

Reach:

  • Digital presence:
    • LinkedIn followers: [Count]
    • Website monthly visitors: [Count]
    • Social media presence: [Description]
  • Regional presence: [List regions]

Customer Portfolio:

  • Total customers: [Count]
  • By segment:
    • Startups (30M): [Count]
    • Scale Ups (100M): [Count]
    • Enterprise ($100M+): [Count]
  • By vertical:
    • Manufacturing: [Count]
    • Retail/E-commerce: [Count]
    • Logistics: [Count]
    • SaaS: [Count]
    • Other: [Count]
  • By revenue range: [Breakdown]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing vs. highest tier? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]
  • What evidence do we need? [List evidence needed]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge has X consultants with deep [Platform] expertise, serves X customers in [Verticals] with [Revenue range], and has strong digital presence (X LinkedIn followers, X website visitors) with regional presence in [Regions].”

C2: CAPABILITY

Current State:

Practice Areas:

  • Data Engineering: [Description]
  • Product Analytics: [Description]
  • Automations & AI: [Description]
  • Customer-Facing AI: [Description]
  • CRM Automation: [Description]

Past Experience:

  • [Platform] implementations: [Count]
  • Projects with reviews/outcomes: [Count]
  • References from peer group: [Count/Names]
  • Portfolio quality: [Description]

Existing Partners:

  • Technology partners: [List]
  • Ecosystem alignment: [Description]

Vertical Expertise:

  • Manufacturing: [Examples]
  • Retail/E-commerce: [Examples]
  • Logistics: [Examples]
  • SaaS: [Examples]
  • Other: [Examples]

Services Match Customer Needs:

  • How do our services match [Platform] customer needs? [Describe]
  • What needs do we address? [List]

Economic Buyer Alignment:

  • Primary buyers: [Roles/Titles]
  • Secondary buyers: [Roles/Titles]
  • How we align: [Description]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing vs. highest tier? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]
  • What evidence do we need? [List evidence needed]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge has deep practice areas in [Data Engineering, Analytics, AI], X successful [Platform] implementations with proven outcomes, references from [Peer companies], partners with [Technology companies], vertical expertise in [Industries], services that directly address customer needs [List], and aligns with economic buyers [CxOs, VPs Data, Engineering Leaders].”

C3: COMMITMENT

Current State:

Dedicated Resources:

  • Champion assigned: [Name/Role]
  • Executive sponsor: [Name/Role]
  • MDF allocation: [$X/quarter]
  • Marketing resources: [Description]
  • Training/certification commitment: [Description]
    • Certifications held: [List]
    • Certification commitment: [Yes/No]

Collaboration:

  • Joint action plan: [Yes/No]
  • Action plan details: [Description]
  • Meeting cadence: [Frequency]
  • Progress review process: [Description]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing vs. highest tier? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]
  • What commitments do we need to make? [List]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge has dedicated champion [Name] and executive sponsor [Name], allocates $X in MDF and marketing resources per quarter, team is certified in [Platform] (X certifications) with commitment to ongoing certification, and commits to joint action plan with weekly progress reviews.”

📊 6 Partner Program Pillars Assessment

Pillar 1: Partnerships Management

Current State:

  • Relationship manager: [Name/Role]
  • Meeting frequency: [Frequency]
  • Strategic alignment: [Description]
  • Account management: [Description]
  • Issue resolution: [Description]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge has dedicated partnership manager [Name] with [Frequency] check-ins, maintains strategic alignment with [Platform] priorities, provides excellent account management, and resolves issues quickly ([X hour] response time).”

Pillar 2: Partner Marketing

Current State:

  • Co-marketing campaigns: [Count/quarter]
  • Content created/shared: [Count/Types]
  • Event participation: [Count/Types]
  • Lead generation: [Count/quarter]
  • Brand alignment: [Description]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge actively participates in co-marketing (X campaigns per quarter), creates and shares content that drives demand (X pieces per quarter), participates in [Platform] events (X events per year), generates X qualified leads per quarter, and brand aligns with [Platform]‘s positioning.”

Pillar 3: Partner Enablement

Current State:

  • Sales enablement materials: [Count/Types]
  • Training/certification: [Description]
  • Technical resources: [Description]
  • Best practices sharing: [Description]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge provides ready-to-use sales enablement materials (co-sell plays, case studies, one-pagers), team is trained and certified in [Platform], provides technical resources for deal support, and shares best practices and thought leadership.”

Pillar 4: Partner Operations

Current State:

  • Process maturity: [Description]
  • Systems integration: [Description]
  • Reporting/metrics: [Description]
  • Operational efficiency: [Description]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge has mature processes for partner engagement, integrates with [Platform]‘s systems (CRM, PRM), provides regular reporting and metrics, and operates efficiently ([X hour] response time, clear SLAs).”

Pillar 5: Cross Functional Alignment

Current State:

  • Sales alignment: [Description]
  • Marketing alignment: [Description]
  • Product alignment: [Description]
  • Engineering alignment: [Description]
  • Strategic initiatives: [Description]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge aligns with [Platform]‘s sales, marketing, product, and engineering teams, collaborates cross-functionally on strategic initiatives, and supports [Platform]‘s strategic priorities.”

Pillar 6: Customer Centric Strategy

Current State:

  • Outcome focus: [Description]
  • Success stories: [Count/Examples]
  • Customer satisfaction: [Metrics]
  • Business impact: [Examples]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Target Positioning:

“Brainforge focuses on customer outcomes (adoption, ROI, business impact), has X customer success stories with proven business impact, customers report high satisfaction (X NPS, X% retention), and delivers measurable business impact.”

🗺️ Customer Journey Assessment

Map Brainforge’s value across the customer journey:

Awareness

  • Lead generation: [How we do this]
  • Customer introductions: [How we do this]
  • Outbound support: [How we do this]
  • Vendor champion: [How we do this]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Consideration

  • Business validation: [How we do this]
  • Technical validation: [How we do this]
  • ROI analysis: [How we do this]
  • Demos/POCs: [How we do this]
  • Consultation: [How we do this]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Decision

  • Implementation: [How we do this - speed, quality]
  • Change management: [How we do this]
  • Training: [How we do this]
  • Ongoing support: [How we do this]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Retention

  • Cross-sell/upsell: [How we do this]
  • Services coverage: [How we do this]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

Advocacy

  • Success stories: [How we create these]
  • References: [How we provide these]

Gap Analysis:

  • What’s missing? [List gaps]
  • What can we improve? [List improvements]

📊 Quantitative Metrics Assessment

Current Metrics:

  • Win rate with Brainforge: [X%] (vs. [Y%] without)
  • Average deal size with Brainforge: [Y] without)
  • Active users with Brainforge: [X] (vs. [Y] without)
  • ARR contribution: [$X/quarter]
  • NRR contribution: [X%]
  • Active user growth: [X%]

Gap Analysis:

  • What metrics are we missing? [List]
  • How can we improve metrics? [List improvements]
  • What data do we need to collect? [List]

Target Positioning:

“Deals with Brainforge have X% higher win rate, are X% larger, customers have X% more active users, Brainforge contributes $X in ARR per quarter, and drives X% NRR improvement.”

🎯 Overall Assessment

Tier Assessment:

3 Cs:

  • CAPACITY: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]
  • CAPABILITY: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]
  • COMMITMENT: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]

6 Pillars:

  • Partnerships Management: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]
  • Partner Marketing: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]
  • Partner Enablement: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]
  • Partner Operations: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]
  • Cross Functional Alignment: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]
  • Customer Centric Strategy: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]

Customer Journey:

  • Overall: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]

Quantitative:

  • Overall: [Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Strategic]

Overall Tier Recommendation:

  • Bronze
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Platinum
  • Strategic

🚀 Improvement Plan

Priority 1 (Must Fix):

  • [Gap 1]: [Action plan]
  • [Gap 2]: [Action plan]
  • [Gap 3]: [Action plan]

Priority 2 (Should Fix):

  • [Gap 1]: [Action plan]
  • [Gap 2]: [Action plan]

Priority 3 (Nice to Have):

  • [Gap 1]: [Action plan]
  • [Gap 2]: [Action plan]

Timeline:

  • Week 1-2: [Actions]
  • Week 3-4: [Actions]
  • Month 2: [Actions]
  • Month 3: [Actions]

📚 Related Documentation

  • VP of Partnerships Agent: ../agents/vp-partnerships-agent.md - Use for dry runs
  • Partner Evaluation Framework: ../partner-evaluation-framework.md - Detailed framework
  • Partner Playbook: ../partner-playbook.md - Strategy and approach

Last Updated: January 2025
Owner: GTM / Partnerships Lead
Review Cadence: Quarterly per partner

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