Review-platform partnerships: restaurants bring restaurants (Etoile, Lyon)

900 bistros. Growth engine: partnerships, not ads. Shapes that work: POS integrators (the review reply inside the till flow, distribution built-in), accountant referrals (Fabian's world: trusted advisors recommend, 30% of intros convert), and restaurant-to-restaurant (a bistro owner convinces in one dinner what ads cannot in a quarter).

Affiliate terms: 20% year one for integrator referrals (tracked, monthly, in writing). Restaurant referrals: free months, not cash (cash complicates friendships, free months deepen them).

Lesson: 900 bistros came from 40 partners, not 900 sales calls. Partners scale. Calls do not.

Trusted-advisor confirmation: accountants recommend tools clients keep. 30% intro conversion checks out (my referrals stick because the advice is the product). Integrator + advisor + peer: the three-legged distribution stool.

Booking-software distribution envy: Tavolo grows by direct sales (my legs, my calls). The integrator leg is missing. POS-integration outreach starts Monday. Partners scale. Legs tire.

Bakery-network parallel: Fournil grew through bakery suppliers (flour vendors recommend software, who knew). Supplier referrals convert at 40% (trust transfers with the flour). Every industry has flour vendors. Find yours.