How ZoomInfo Helps One VP of Strategic Partnerships Launch Enterprise Partnerships

In the world of B2B partnerships, there is no shortage of tools promising better data, faster outreach, and bigger pipelines. Most of them underdeliver. Marissa Pipkin has tried enough of them to know the difference.

As a Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Marissa has spent her career launching and growing partner programs across enterprise businesses, retailers, and manufacturers. She has built B2B functions from the ground up at multiple companies. At each one, she has made the same call.

"In my last role, which was also a startup where we built the B2B function from the ground up, ZoomInfo was the system we selected as well," she said. "So in my current role, it was the obvious choice for me based off of my experience."

That choice reflects a philosophy she applies to every decision, professional and personal alike.

"I like to apply the same philosophy, both professionally and personally, of 'fewer, better,' and ultimately make the decision that you will eventually land at, now."

"If I were to go and do this role at a different company, the first call I'd make when setting it up is to ZoomInfo. I know who I'm calling. That part is easy."

— Marissa Pipkin, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships

When the Wrong Contact Costs You the Deal

For someone whose job depends on getting the right decision maker in the room, not just any contact, but the person who can actually say yes, data accuracy is not a nice-to-have. It is the foundation of everything.

"Oftentimes similar solutions will provide inaccurate information," Marissa said. "And I think what's key is being able to really trust the data that ZoomInfo provides."

That trust has translated directly into results. In a previous role, Marissa launched 250 partnerships in two years, all through contacts she had identified through ZoomInfo, combined with the personal relationships she had built over years in the industry.

"What it allows me to do is really identify the key stakeholders at an organization, contact the right people so that I have the key decision maker in the room, and ultimately shorten the lead times for what could be much longer sales cycles down to a truncated version, as a result of working with ZoomInfo."

The return, she said, is not abstract. It shows up in closed deals and live partners.

"I've launched several large enterprise retailers as a result of having worked with ZoomInfo, being able to identify key stakeholders, get the right person in the room, negotiate, and ultimately get the partner live."

Curated Outreach in an Age of Mass Everything

Accurate data is only half the equation. What you do with it matters just as much.

"Now with the rise of AI, everyone is getting mass-contacted with very blanketed emails, and those do nothing," Marissa said. "ZoomInfo allows me to do it in a curated, meaningful, thoughtful way, but also automated and systematized."

The features she relies on most reflect her dual mandate of launching new partnerships while growing existing ones: sourcing contacts, building sales campaigns, and using company data to surface partners she would never have found on her own.

"I certainly have an idea of partners of interest, and that list is robust," she said. "But I don't know everybody. It's about thinking outside the box of who I've identified as interesting. ZoomInfo helps me identify additional companies that could be valuable, on both sides."

The Person Behind the Platform

Ask Marissa what her favorite part of ZoomInfo is, and she does not always talk about features. She talks about a person.

"I think it's the blend of these advancements in technology and systems with the human connection," she said. "And with ZoomInfo, I've really found that with Aswin, who is my customer success manager."

Aswin Sasindran, a Customer Success Manager at ZoomInfo, has become more than a support contact for Marissa. For a VP running a lean team, he functions as a strategic partner.

"He has been so supportive of the work that I do, really helping me to understand the system, how it works, how I can maximize its use," Marissa said. "I have a very lean team, and Aswin feels like an extension of my team, even though I'm sure he supports several people like me, but it doesn't feel that way. It really feels like he's helping me one-on-one."

The support goes beyond troubleshooting. Aswin has shared outreach techniques and best practices that make a lean team punch above its weight.

"Mass contact does not work when you just do things without real thought," she said. "Aswin really understands how you can do outreach in a way where you will have the greatest success. He's taught me his techniques and what he considers best practice. He's passed that wisdom on to me."

In a world where customer support increasingly means automated responses and chatbots, Marissa sees this as a genuine differentiator.

"You call up any customer service company now and it's generally some automated bot. And as much as we love AI, I think everybody also loves to talk to a real human. And that's what Aswin is for me. You don't find that all the time."

The Obvious Choice, Every Time

Marissa does not rely on a sprawling stack of software. She uses two tools. ZoomInfo is one of them.

"I certainly don't know how I would do what I do without it," she said.

And if she were to leave tomorrow and start over at a new company, building another department from scratch, launching another partner program from zero, the first call would be the same one she has made before.

"If I were to go and do this role at a different company, the first call I'd make when setting it up is to ZoomInfo. I know who I'm calling. That part is easy. The next part is a little bit harder, but ZoomInfo makes it at least easier for me."