Building Bridges: How Stephanie Lawrence Drives Agency Partnerships at Nextdoor

This article is part of our ongoing series spotlighting the talented individuals who drive Nextdoor's advertising partnerships.

At Nextdoor, our sales team plays a crucial role in connecting brands with our unique community of neighbors. Through this Q&A series, we're pulling back the curtain to showcase the dedicated professionals who help businesses reach and engage with our platform's distinctive audience of household decision-makers.

In this edition of our Sales Spotlight series, we sit down with Stephanie Lawrence, Head of Agency Development at Nextdoor. From her journey evolving from Client Partner to leading agency-wide relationships, Stephanie shares insights on cross-departmental collaboration, the evolving nature of partnership development, and how she positions Nextdoor's unique value proposition to drive growth through strategic agency relationships.

How do you collaborate with other departments to close deals and ensure client satisfaction?

The agency development team works very closely with:

• Sales Marketing. We tend to lean into the SM team to assist with new GTM materials that we dream up to package up what we have in a beautiful way to entice trial of Nextdoor; we tap them for their expertise with live events, be it our own bespoke activations or in tandem with an outside partner.
• Sales. We are the shadow organization for the sales org, so everything we do is to impact revenue. In addition, we will include the teams in larger agency events so they too can fraternize with their clients and often ask for assistance and participation when building out materials for in person meetings that are in line with their expertise.
• Product/Eng. We bring back the voice of the customer to inform partnerships or to influence the roadmap.

How has your role in sales evolved since you joined Nextdoor, and what new skills have you had to develop along the way?

Since joining Nextdoor, my role has evolved significantly. Initially, I was brought on board as a Client Partner to develop the CPG vertical. In 2022, I transitioned to the role of Head of Agency Partnerships. This shift required me to adapt and develop new skills. Unlike my previous position, where I was focused on achieving quarterly targets and managing my personal book of business like a CEO, my current role emphasizes building strong relationships with senior leadership at agencies with the goal of brokering large scale partnerships that benefits both the agency and Nextdoor's bottom line.

Essentially, I now oversee negotiations at the holding company level rather than concentrating on individual accounts. Additionally, I have the responsibility of leading a team of individual contributors, supporting their professional development, and helping them advance in their careers.

When you're explaining Nextdoor's value proposition to a potential client, what aspects tend to resonate most strongly?

I get the most head nods when I talk about the fact that we have verified neighbors and when we talk a bit about the fact that advertisers can reach an incremental audience. Net new customers is the holy grail, especially with brands that are in a saturated market. So talking about the white space is key.

What's one thing about our revenue model or sales process that you wish everyone at Nextdoor better understood?

I do think that sellers should understand the importance of CRM tools like Salesforce in our sales process. Often looked at as a hindrance, these inputs can help to shape our sales strategy and paint a better picture for leadership to identify the gaps.

How do you see AI and other emerging technologies changing the future of sales, both for Nextdoor and the industry as a whole?

At the very least, this approach will significantly enhance efficiencies by completing tasks in a fraction of the time. While human input will remain essential in shaping the final output, AI will effectively refine workflows and optimize results.

This article is part of our ongoing series highlighting the talented individuals across Nextdoor's sales organization. Stay tuned for more inspiring stories from our sales team as we continue to explore the people and partnerships that make Nextdoor a unique platform for advertisers and neighbors alike. Follow us on LinkedIn and X to catch future installments featuring more of our team members.