Mastering Partner Growth Strategies

Monica Reynolds

Hey there, welcome back to another episode of our Dayforce SKO 2026 Breakout Sessions Recap. I'm Monica Reynolds, and today we’re zeroing in on one of my favorite—and honestly, most impactful—topics from this year’s sessions: partner growth strategies. Now, we'll explore exactly how Dayforce supercharges pipeline growth through partner alliances. And trust me, the numbers here are pretty wild.

Monica Reynolds

So, let’s talk about the big picture first. For 2025, Dayforce drove about $131.86 million in pipeline just from partner-generated leads. The target for 2026? $164.7 million. That’s not just a minor bump—it’s a full-court press across all partner types. And, you know, it’s not a single lane play either. We’re talking about a really diverse set of partners: advisory firms, brokers, private equity, SI and consulting partners, and software partners. The breakdown is worth mentioning: advisory partners brought in $25.5 million, brokers $38.2 million—which, by the way, is a huge chunk—and private equity, SI/consulting, and software partners added another $16.9, $48.4, and $2.9 million respectively. You put all those numbers together and, well, suddenly the strategy comes into clear focus.

Monica Reynolds

And, you know, that diversity isn't just a talking point. I remember, back in a particularly tight quarter, I was working with a consulting partner on an account that we’d pretty much written off as too complex. But once we actually got strategic about it—looping the partner in early, mapping who they already knew on the customer side, and swapping what we both knew about the client’s system messes and pain points—it was like new doors started opening up. Sometimes, just admitting, “hey, we’re stuck, what are we missing?”—that’s what actually moved the needle for us and expanded our reach in ways we couldn't have planned on paper.

Monica Reynolds

Anyway, that's the high-level look. But how exactly do those partner alliances help us get from stuck to scalable? That’s where things get interesting.

Monica Reynolds

I want to unpack what I think are the four absolute pillars of partner-driven results. If you caught Chad Gunerra’s session, you probably already know these by heart: Get Intel, Get Access, Get Influence, and Get Strategic. Each of these is a little different, but together they’re sort of like, uh, this Swiss Army knife for busting through pipeline blockages.

Monica Reynolds

Let’s start with Get Intel. This is all about surfacing the real backstory inside an account—who’s involved, the platforms they’re running, the things nobody wants to say out loud about budget or timelines. A great example from Dayforce: we had this partner that knew everyone in the customer’s IT network. We thought we had a handle on the pain points, but our partner flagged a legacy payroll vendor that was quietly creating delays. That nugget steered our whole approach.

Monica Reynolds

Then you’ve got Get Access. Honestly, warm introductions from partners will always beat cold outreach—always. A broker we worked with last spring had a personal relationship with the buyer’s COO, and overnight we went from ignored emails to strategy sessions. It’s about bringing your list of contacts and gaps to the partner and letting their network open doors.

Monica Reynolds

The third pillar—Get Influence—is where partners validate us. They give us credibility and can, sometimes with a single call, nudge a deal out of the doldrums. I might be wrong, but more often than not, when a partner vouches for your fit and value inside an account, the internal blockers start falling away. You just gotta show your partner why Dayforce is the right choice, where you're getting stuck, and what would actually help nudge things forward.

Monica Reynolds

And finally, Get Strategic. This is about thinking bigger—multi-threading, co-selling, all that “changing the shape of the deal” stuff. I remember Ryan Schantz, one of our Enterprise AEs, talked about how pooling what sales already knew with the partner’s hidden insights created a totally new opening we’d missed. “We realized,” he said, “it’s not just about working harder, it’s about working… wider? That sounds odd, but you get what I mean.” Sometimes the real win is not just getting in, but changing what you actually aim for together.

Monica Reynolds

At the end of the day, tactics like mapping out account gaps with partners, validating where we’re stuck, getting those warm intros, and strategizing on bigger outcomes—those are what carry us from “maybe someday” to actual, booked pipeline. And it’s never a perfectly linear process, but with these four outcomes guiding the way, you’re, well, you’re a lot less likely to get blindsided.

Monica Reynolds

Okay, so it’s easy to talk frameworks and pillars, but what do these strategies look like on the ground? This is where people like Tatiana Grimsley, Martha Leonhard, Kim Hasler, and the whole crew in verticals like Private Equity and Public Sector are really making these approaches real.

Monica Reynolds

Lately, we’ve seen a few standout wins that make this super clear. There was a tough public sector account where, honestly, things were bogged down for months. But when our partner came in, mapped their relationships, and even helped us reframe our entire value proposition as a co-sell—suddenly, doors opened. Same thing in mid-market: combining the influence and access our SI and software partners brought led to expanding into accounts we’d never cracked before.

Monica Reynolds

I keep coming back to one lesson from my own playbook—sometimes it’s about overcoming resistance inside our own house. We had a situation where a major decision-maker kept dragging their feet, but by aligning our partner directly with them—letting the partner steer that “get influence” conversation—we finally got the internal buy-in we needed. I always say, don’t be afraid to let your partners champion you, even if it means giving up a little of the spotlight.

Monica Reynolds

So, the best practices? Lean into your partner’s strengths, share what you know, and don’t shy away from getting real about what isn’t working. The most successful folks in our ecosystem—like Jason Delo and Umair Anjum in customer base and PE, or Brady Kuhn and Chad Gunerra on consulting—are the ones who treat partners as true collaborators, not just lead generators.

Monica Reynolds

That’s all for today’s breakout recap. Hopefully you’re walking away with a real sense not just of the numbers, but of how these partner-first strategies are moving the needle for Dayforce. We’ll keep sharing more stories and strategies to help you turn tough markets into pipeline wins. Until next time, keep thinking bigger, and keep growing your network!