Using Data and Trust to Transform Partner Relationships With Lisa Forrest

Partnership leaders often work in industries that have operated the same way for decades. Driving change in these markets requires more than building relationships. It requires education, trust, and data-backed insights. The challenge isn't usually the work itself. It's translating partnership efforts into the language that executives, finance teams, and revenue leaders actually understand. In this episode, Lisa Forrest, Senior Manager of Partnerships at Contractor Commerce, joins Tyler Calder, CMO at PartnerStack, to discuss how she’s modernizing the contractor industry through e-commerce, AI-powered tools, and collaborative partner programs. Lisa shares how she convinces traditional contractors to adopt new ways of doing business, the role partners play in driving adoption, and why transparent pricing builds trust and accelerates results. They also explore how to use proprietary data to persuade partners, create meaningful education-driven programs, operationalize AI, and run partner initiatives that drive behavioral change in historically conservative industries. You’ll learn: How to drive digital adoption in legacy industries Ways to use partners and data to influence behavior and build trust How AI and e-commerce tools can enhance both customer and partner experiences Jump into the conversation: (0:00) Introducing Lisa Forrest (2:57) What Contractor Commerce does for contractors (4:45) Early resistance from contractors and lessons learned (6:04) Typical partners and their roles (7:24) Educating partners through consumer analogies (11:10) Using data to drive adoption and trust (14:43) Consulting mindset for partner engagement (17:37) Moving beyond simple lead swaps (19:21) Bringing partners along for AI-powered adoption (23:28) Anchoring change to a consistent point of view (27:26) Recommendations for partner leaders driving change (30:18) One-to-one vs curated partner experiences (33:34) Operationalizing AI within partner programs (36:39) How to connect with Lisa Forrest Resources: Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn:   / lisamforrest   Learn more about Contractor Commerce: https://www.contractorcommerce.com/