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Introduction
Our Q&A sessions are back for Season 2, and we started strong. This time, we welcomed Maurits Pieper, Partnerships Leader at Multiverse, who brought a fresh perspective on one of the toughest challenges in partnerships: how to get GTM teams to truly care about partner activities.
Many partner managers know the feeling; you’ve launched the program, built a solid value prop, even notched a few wins. But when it comes to engaging internal teams, the energy often falls flat. Partner activities get sidelined as “extra work” while sales and marketing stick to their own KPIs.
Maurits argued that the solution isn’t more dashboards, reminders, or top-down mandates. Instead, the key is to tap into something more human: the unspoken psychological drivers that influence behavior: ambition, FOMO, and competitive spirit.
The Psychology of Resistance
Maurits began with a simple truth: people don’t like being told what to do. When GTM teams are overloaded with quotas and meetings, another “to-do” from a partnership manager rarely lands well. He referenced psychological reactance theory as the idea that when freedom feels restricted, people resist, sometimes by doing the opposite.
Instead of telling AEs what to do, Maurits reframes partnerships as something scarce and valuable, a kind of “forbidden fruit” that reps start to want because it’s not forced on them.
Building the “Ideal Colleague Profile”
Just as we create Ideal Customer or Partner Profiles, Maurits introduced the idea of an Ideal Colleague Profile. The concept:
- Scout internal champions who are naturally curious and open to trying partnerships.
- Focus energy on these allies rather than trying to convert skeptics too early.
- Put champions in the spotlight so others see their success and want to follow.
In other words, draft your “internal team” the way a coach picks players: start with the best fit and let results speak louder than instructions.
FOMO as a Curiosity Engine
FOMO is a powerful tool, and Maurits showed how to engineer it. Instead of only celebrating big closed-won deals, he emphasizes smaller wins such as partner introductions, insights, and workshops.
He shared a practical tip: create opportunities for public recognition. For example, if a rep has a positive interaction with a partner, ask them about it in a team setting where others can hear the story. Or post wins in group Slack channels where emojis and reactions build visibility. Over time, this builds curiosity: “Why are others talking about partners? Am I missing out?”
Ambition and Recognition
Maurits reminded us: make the AE the hero, not the partner manager. When wins are announced, credit should flow to the rep and their work with the partner. That visibility fuels their ambition for both short-term performance and long-term career growth.
As he put it, learning how to work with partners is a skill that strengthens a rep’s CV and makes them more competitive in the job market. When framed this way, partnerships become an investment in personal growth, not just another task.
Competition: The Double Risk
Finally, Maurits pointed to competition as a motivator. Partners are like “free agents” on the market. If your reps don’t engage with them, your competitors will, and that’s a double loss. Not only do you miss out, but your rivals gain an advantage.
Framing partnerships in this way raises the stakes: it’s not just about pipeline, it’s about keeping your market position strong.
Conclusion
Maurits closed with a big-picture view: in an era where AI is flooding inboxes and automating outreach, human networks and trusted relationships matter more than ever. Partners are part of that trusted network. Helping GTM teams embrace partnerships is not just a short-term play, it’s building resilience for the future.
His advice was clear: start small, find your champions, celebrate publicly, and let ambition, FOMO, and competition do the heavy lifting. Over time, those “meh” responses will turn into motivated action.
