Ecosystem-led growth: How revenue teams win bigger with Gong + Crossbeam

Revenue leaders are under immense pressure to hit bigger targets with fewer resources. But cold outreach is getting colder and inbound channels are saturated. Product-led motions — while scalable — don’t always translate into predictable pipeline at the enterprise level.

What’s the solution? It isn’t more hustle. It’s smarter alignment. The best-performing sales organizations aren’t just dialing more, they’re tapping into trusted networks to move their deals forward. That’s an approach known as ecosystem-led growth (ELG).

Ecosystem-led growth is emerging as the next frontier in go-to-market (GTM) strategy. It enables revenue teams to move faster, engage buyers more strategically, and win bigger deals. And it’s based on leveraging the partners and integrations their prospects already know and trust.

In this article, we break down the ELG framework and explain how it differs from other growth models. We also share how two SaaS companies, Gong + Crossbeam, are unlocking real-world value for sales teams that adopt an ELG approach as part of their growth strategy.

Everyone inside your sales organization — from SDRs to CEOs — is part of your daily, internal ecosystem. Whether they’re sales reps at a global brand or co-founders at startups, they’re trusted allies.

Externally, your ecosystem can include technology partners, resellers, system integrators, consultants, and more. It also includes your customer base, industry influencers, and thought leaders. Connections you make when you participate in industry events also become part of your external ecosystem. They’re all candidates for engaging in strategic partnerships, or forming loose “partnership teams.”

Everyone in your internal and external professional world is part of your work ecosystem. 

In short, ELG is about the selling power of partnerships.

You have the ability to transform everyone in your ecosystem into potential advocates and collaborators — even new customers! That’s true whether you work at small startups or global behemoths. 

Ecosystem-led growth (ELG) is a revenue strategy that relies on partnerships, integrations, and shared customer relationships tofuel pipeline expansion and revenue growth. 

That may not sound revolutionary, but the “power of partnerships” isn’t addressed in traditional go-to-market (GTM) sales models. Traditional models rely on siloed execution:

Ecosystem-led growth (ELG), on the other hand, engages external networks — partners, integrations, and co-sellers — to accelerate every stage of the sales cycle.

ELG shifts the GTM model away from isolated sales motions where people in each part of the sales process work on their own. It moves them all toward collaborative, insight-driven plays made by the entire revenue team — from business development through to customer success. And, as you’ve likely guessed, a good ELG strategy extends outside your organization.

Done right, ELG is a revenue multiplier. It means your teams’ playbooks are aligned from the moment you begin onboarding new hires. Plus, it primes everyone to make the most of their professional network — or ecosystem.

B2B buyers are harder to reach. Sales cycles are longer. Customer experience matters more than ever. And trust is hard to come by.

ELG flips the traditional selling equation on its head. Instead of conducting cold outreach, you get a warm introduction from a partner your buyer already trusts. Instead of pitching a point solution, you offer a connected ecosystem that solves bigger business problems.

In fact, according to the State of Partner Sales report by HubSpot, Crossbeam, and Partnership Leaders, sales leaders using ELG see a measurable boost in pipeline creation. And the Future of Revenue Report shows that ELG also drives stronger GTM alignment, increasing conversion velocity across the board.

Partner referrals eliminate the biggest barrier in B2B sales: skepticism. When a trusted partner introduces your solution, you start the conversation with instant credibility. That leads to several key benefits:

Buyers don’t want siloed tools, they want solutions that work together. When you sell as a package, you not only raise the average contract value, you also improve adoption and reduce churn.

With ELG, tapping new verticals or regions doesn’t require a ground-up strategy. Your partners already have the trust and access you need.

Let’s see how our Gong + Crossbeam partnership has changed what’s possible in terms of your ELG strategies! Together, we’re going to help you take ELG from theory into the real world to create a stronger pipeline. Here’s a quick recap of the two platforms involved in this partnership:

When you combine Gong + Crossbeam, you unlock powerful, data-backed, co-selling motions. How? Through crucial account mapping and more.

Let’s break down a few use cases.

One of the biggest challenges in outbound is knowing who to prioritize. Together, Gong + Crossbeam make that selection process easy.

Crossbeam surfaces accounts where your partners are already engaged. Maybe they’re customers of your integration partner, or they’ve attended a co-branded webinar. That’s how you get your foot in the door. 

Then Gong layers in real-time engagement insights to prioritize the right plays. Are the recipients opening your emails? Did the champion just forward your deck? With the Gong + Crossbeam partnership, you’ll know.

Gong + Crossbeam helps you accelerate sales cycles by zeroing in on the right stakeholders and surfacing the best partner to bring in.

Gong Engage shows you who to contact, when to reach out, and how to personalize your pitch. Crossbeam then reveals partner activity — who’s in the account, and who can give you an introduction. CRM-integrated workflows make the whole process of co-selling seamless.

With the Crossbeam and Gong Engage integration, your field teams or partner teams can initiate messaging and collaboration from the Crossbeam Co-Pilot experience directly from within Gong. This means capturing the intel from partners about the accounts you’re trying to break into can be accomplished without ever leaving the Gong UI.

Imagine being able to get the answers to the test – how your prospect buys, their timelines, the potholes, all from the partners that have gone down the road before you. What would that give you the power to do?

Not all reps are equal when it comes to partner-led selling. Some have a great track record of landing deals with a specific partner. Others thrive in certain verticals.

Gong + Crossbeam helps you operationalize those insights. You’ll be able to get key metrics in just a few clicks, then strategize accordingly. That means you can:

Retention is critical. Expansion is even better. Gong + Crossbeam helps CSMs and AMs spot upsell plays early.

Crossbeam surfaces signals like a new tool that’s added to the customer’s tech stack that integrates with your product. Or it might pick up on a mutual partner launching a new initiative.

Meanwhile, Gong captures usage trends and uses revenue insights to inform its insights around timing and messaging.

The most successful ELG strategies are built on three pillars:

Partnerships thrive when both sides win. That means you need clear agreement on:

Be sure you incentivize co-selling, not just referrals. Run joint campaigns so that when one of you succeeds, you both succeed.

Information should never be a bottleneck. ELG breaks down when insights live in silos.

To avoid having that happen:

AI makes ELG scalable. Gong’s Revenue AI Platform identifies which partner-led deals are heating up, where risk exists, and which actions reps should take next.

With AI, your GTM engine becomes proactive, not reactive, no matter its size or how fast it’s growing.

Tracking partner-sourced revenue is a great start for your ELG strategy. The best ELG strategies also look at how partnerships influence performance in three important areas: 

This refers to the total number of deals in which a partner played a role. You can break it down by partner type, such as tech integrations vs. referrals vs. co-sell. You should also be clear in terms of attribution, looking at who sourced, influenced, and closed each partner-related deal.

This is the time it takes to move from an introduction to the first meeting to closed-won. Is there a difference in the sales cycle length for partner-led vs. direct deals? Partner-led deals are typically shorter. Use Gong to track which interactions correlate with momentum, then focus on those in future partner-led deals.

Compare your churn rate for partner-sourced customers vs. direct sales. Don’t forget to track your account growth over time, by partner cohort, as well as by the number of ecosystem solutions adopted per customer. These are all good indicators of whether your ELG is working to boost expansion and retention rates.

When you combine Gong’s revenue insights with Crossbeam’s partner mapping, you get a 360° view of your potential ecosystem impact in all three areas. 

What’s an ecosystem lead?

An “ecosystem lead” is the person responsible for designing, implementing, and overseeing your company’s partner ecosystem and ELG strategy. Ecosystem leads focus on the broader business ecosystem in which their company operates, including partners, suppliers, and other stakeholders. 

They build and manage relationships with partners to drive growth and innovation. The best ones play a strategic role in identifying and building partnerships that align with the company’s goals, and are responsible for ensuring that these partnerships are successful. 

This role is also key to implementing ecosystem-led growth strategies, which focus on leveraging partner ecosystems to drive revenue, market expansion, and customer acquisition. Here’s a list of their key responsibilities:

How do I know if I need an ecosystem lead?
Start by assessing your current growth strategy and partner engagement. If your company is heavily reliant on partnerships for growth, or if you’re aiming to significantly expand your market reach through strategic alliances, an ecosystem lead is crucial.

You likely need someone to fulfill this role if you’re currently experiencing fragmented partner relationships, missed opportunities for co-selling, inconsistent partner program performance, and a lack of data-driven insights into partner contributions. 

If your sales and marketing teams are struggling to effectively leverage partner ecosystems, or if you’re seeing potential in partnerships that’s not being realized, you should consider hiring an ecosystem lead.

Not surprisingly, the top companies are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to boost their ELG strategies. It’s a key that can unlock ELG’s full potential. 

Here’s why: AI can sift through mountains of data, analyzing market trends and customer profiles to highlight partnerships that will truly ignite growth. It can also help you navigate the intricate web of relationships within target accounts. AI illuminates these connections, revealing hidden influencers and potential allies for your sales team. 

AI doesn’t just identify opportunities; it also streamlines the process of seizing them. With solutions like Gong Engage, AI can automate your communications and craft personalized outreach that resonates. These capabilities are powered by insights gleaned from AI’s analysis of customer interactions. Plus, when it comes to co-selling, AI ensures that information flows seamlessly, breaking down silos and enabling real-time collaboration.

AI also transforms the analysis of partnership performances from a guessing game into a precise science. It tracks every interaction, every lead, every closed deal, revealing which partnerships truly drive results. It’s like having a dashboard that shows you where you’ve been and where you’re headed, allowing you to fine-tune your strategy in real time.

And finally, AI elevates the customer experience by weaving together a seamless ecosystem of integrations. It’s able to recommend solutions based on your buyers’ needs and usage patterns. This creates a sticky ecosystem, where customers are not just satisfied, but deeply engaged.

AI is the catalyst that transforms ELG from a promising concept into a powerful, scalable reality.

Yes — and they should. You don’t need a massive partner ecosystem to get started. Even a few focused relationships can yield high-quality leads and warm intros. Start by mapping overlaps in Crossbeam and engaging one or two partners with co-marketing or introduction requests.

Gong gives you unmatched insight into your internal signals — the calls, emails, and engagement that drive deals — facilitated through a robust API. Crossbeam’s software adds the external layer, letting you know which partners are in your accounts and how to activate them. These two platforms stitch together information that give reps and sales leaders a complete picture of how to sell smarter.

The best revenue teams don’t rely solely on cold outreach or in-product nudges. They activate their ecosystem — the trusted partners, integrations, and data sources that buyers already use.

Ecosystem-led growth isn’t a buzzword. It’s a smarter way to build pipeline, accelerate deal cycles, and drive sustainable expansion.

With Gong + Crossbeam, ELG becomes more than a strategy. It becomes a system that’s powered by data, activated by people, and optimized by AI.Ready to turn your ecosystem into a competitive advantage? Connect with us today.