Breaking Down the Silos Between Marketing and Channels, with Craig Patterson
Marketing plus channel, one demand engine
Marketing and channel are usually two teams chasing the same customer. Craig Patterson, SVP of Global Channels and Marketing at Exabeam, joins Jeff and John to explain why he now runs both, and why he treats partners as the demand engine, not an audience. He walks through the "dark phase" of the buying journey: cybersecurity buyers do most of their research on their own, often with AI, before they ever talk to a vendor. Craig puts it at roughly 85% of the process. When buyers do surface, they want validation from a partner they trust.
Craig lays out three layers to decide where to focus: an ICP fit score, buying intent, and partner intelligence, meaning which partners already have trusted relationships inside those accounts. That lets a partner make the introduction instead of a cold call. The three also cover making enablement useful in the moment with PRM and AI, measuring pipeline and outcomes instead of arguing over attribution, and keeping trust at the center.
