What is the potential impact of the Crossbeam and Reveal Merger?

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The merger of Crossbeam and Reveal has the potential to bring a shift for the go-to-market software industry, particularly in the area of partner ecosystems and relationship management. After evaluating the pros and cons, here’s a breakdown of some of the impacts:

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#1. Becoming a Dominant Player in Account Mapping

The combined forces of Crossbeam and Reveal will result in a new entity with a data network encompassing over 25,000 companies. This leads to them being the largest player within the account mapping space.

The merger will likely result in a stronger market position, allowing the combined entity to leverage its data network to hopefully provide better account mapping solutions as it has had some significant drawbacks so far. This could attract more customers and partners, enhancing their market. As for pricing, it could go either way but will most likely lead to eventual price hikes due to their significant market share (let's hope not!).

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#2. Combined Entity = More Features

Both companies bring complementary strengths to the table. This paves the way for the development of more comprehensive go-to-market tools and potentially AI-driven solutions that utilise the vast amount of data at their disposal. As a result, we can expect that partner-tech will significantly improve partner experience. 

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#3. Industry Standardisation

With the emergence of a potentially dominant player, the industry might experience a shift towards standardising data formats and partnership management practices. This standardisation could streamline collaboration, making it easier for companies of all sizes to effectively utilise partner ecosystems. With this merger, partner account mapping tools are poised to play a more significant role in the daily work of partnership managers

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#4. Potential for New Competition

The merger might also spark a wave of innovation from competitors who see an opportunity to fill any gaps left by the combined entity. This could benefit the industry overall by driving further development and offering more choices to businesses. I see this potential impact being the most significant for PRMs and Partner Collaboration and Engagement Platforms. 

By mapping joint accounts, partnership teams start the process of identifying joint customers, yet the real ‘behind the scenes’ cooperation happens when partnering companies start working together towards a joint goal - building a pipeline of shared leads and then collaborating towards closing them. Partnerships are all about these touch points that occur after the joint customer base is established. 

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#5. Even More Focus on Customer Data Quality

The recent merger brings together their focus on partner success and data insights. This could potentially lead to a renewed emphasis on data quality within partner ecosystems.

Conversations with some potential users suggest that partner teams may benefit from clearer guidance on uploading customer lists and creating target audiences. Additionally, some past customer data may be included, raising questions about overall data quality.

Furthermore, inconsistencies in how partners define targets and prospects compared to other companies bring a lot of difficulties in providing one source of truth. Since accurate account mapping is a core offering of both tools, ensuring high-quality data remains crucial for successful implementation.

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#6. Economies of Scale

The merger is poised to generate cost efficiencies through economies of scale. By consolidating operations, the new entity will enhance operational efficiency. This strategic consolidation is likely to lower costs and increase profitability, positioning the combined company for stronger financial performance. 

The downside of the split products historically is that not all of your partners are on the platform, this means that instead of relying on one source of truth, you still have to use manual processes for other partners and remember when to switch in between systems. Merging Crossbeam and Reveal’s data might fix this issue. 

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#7. More Customers

The merger of Crossbeam and Reveal will integrate their customer bases, expanding their market reach significantly. Crossbeam's strong presence among US-based companies, combined with Reveal's European customer base, will create a geographically diverse customer portfolio. This broader customer base not only enhances opportunities for cross-selling and upselling but also diversified revenue streams across different regions. 

Reveal has been adopted by mainly french-speaking and European countries, so this bridges the gap between the US-focused Crossbeam’s customer base.

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#8. Increased Investment in R&D

The merger of Crossbeam and Reveal integrates their unique expertise and resources, enhancing their collective capabilities. With a larger resource pool, the merged entity plans to boost investments in R&D. Additionally, the increased R&D investments might lead to the development of cutting-edge features such as predictive analytics for partner success or AI-driven recommendations for ecosystem strategies. 

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#9. Integration Challenges

Another significant challenge lies in the integration process itself. Merging complex IT systems, supply chains, and marketing strategies can become a logistical nightmare, leading to delays, cost overruns, and disruptions in day-to-day operations. Furthermore, the intense focus on the merger can divert attention away from core business functions, potentially impacting customer service and product development.

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#10. Monopoly & Privacy Concerns

The emergence of a dominant player could raise concerns about reduced competition in the ecosystem-led growth software space. Managing a vast data network encompassing over 25,000 companies increases the complexity of ensuring data privacy and security. 

Sharing sensitive customer information, such as personal details, purchase history, and communication logs, with another company significantly increases the risk of data breaches. If the partnering company does not have robust security measures in place, your data could be vulnerable to cyberattacks. Considering the above, the merger may attract regulatory scrutiny, particularly if it significantly alters the competitiveness of the industry.