What's the absolutely best way to coordinate those early co-selling conversations between AEs and the prospect?

On board with Franz-Josef. Be selective with which AEs can and want to work with partner teams to co-sell. It isn't for everybody and it can actually negatively impact performance on deals if done incorrectly so it shouldn't be enforced widespread on all AEs. Great way is to start small with pairings, sharing intel, understanding each others business etc.. learn from those interactions before allowing other pairings to occur.

In the beginning, my biggest mistake was to preach co-selling to all Hopin AEs equally. The truth is not everybody cares... yet! Identify a handful of high-performing AEs who "get" partnerships. They often have prior experience co-selling and know the value of it. Chances are they were former partner manager, or want to switch into partnerships at some point. These AEs won't need a lot of hand-holding. Intro them to the partner AE and be a facilitator, not a manager. Let them do what they do best: close and expand deals.

As I’m sat in the marketing team, I’m actually not too close to the co-selling conversations between Partnerships, AEs and prospects. In terms of coordinating the calls, I have two recommendations: 1) Remind your partners that your AEs are happy to jump on a call and be the platform expert - some partners may not know your team would be happy to do this. 2) It’s all in the briefing. If you’re in a Partnerships role, make sure to understand what problems, concerns, questions, and features the prospects would like to hear more about before the call takes place. Ensure you pass this on to your AE in plenty of time so they can tailor their preparation for the call. For me, when it comes to co-selling it all comes down to the storytelling. You need to be able to take a merchant on a journey that tells them why using the two platforms together will drive more value to their business. Make sure to back up this value by sharing the key results from a mutual case study if you can. Include the link to the full case study so prospects can access more detail in their own time if they wish. I’ve seen partners create mini-demo videos of the two platforms working together on a brand’s site. I always think this is a really powerful way to bring your co-selling message to life, and could easily be replicated on a live call.