Getting Partnerships Back On Track
OBSERVATION
So you formed a partnership with another company, but it is not providing as much value as the effort you invested. In a prior blog article, “To Partner or Not To Partner” we discussed the pre-screening factors that you should consider before forming a partnership. Assuming now that you have already formed a partnership, what do you do if it is not bearing fruit? Instead of debating whether or not to continue this partnership, consider the following assessment.CONSIDER THIS
The following questions will help you gather concrete information to have a fact-based conversation with your partner, with the goal of improving the partnership.- What is the amount of time (in hours) and money that you (compared to your partner) spend developing the partnership on:
- Joint-Marketing Collateral & Events?
- Joint-Client Deliverables and Methodology?
- Educating each staff on partner’s value?
- Is the amount of client work appropriately divided between each partner? Is the allocation of work justified by the differing skill sets of each partner?
- How much time do you spend repairing the partner relationship vs. expand partner accounts?
- Does the partner’s actions change to reflect your suggestions to improve or do they continue with the status quo?
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Partnership should require considerable investment – especially in the beginning – to ensure each party gets the most value. Should you find your partnership is not providing you due dividends, what is your plan to assess the situation and improve the partnership?RELATED RESOURCES
Check out these other resources for more information related to this topic:- Take the Tri Tuns User Adoption Challenge - a free online assessment tool
- Read: “To Partner or Not To Partner”
To Partner or Not To Partner? How choosing the right partners can add value to sales efforts.
OBSERVATION
Consulting firms often debate whether to apply their business development effort toward building a partnership vs. seeking direct client opportunities. One key benefit of forming a partnership is the ability to expand sales opportunities while sharing marketing and sales costs. As tempting as it is to form a partnership with the goal to increase revenue while mitigating marketing/sales effort, you also should consider factors that could add frustration and internal cost if there is no alignment between the two companies.CONSIDER THIS
While no one can predict the success or failure of a new partnership, there are some key considerations when evaluating potential partnerships:1. Similar Company Values – this may seem nebulous and non-relevant to a business decision; however many business relations falter because one party valued a particular method of conducting business in place of the other party’s preferred value (for example: Party A pursues business sales no matter how the sale is achieved. Party B pursues business sales within ethical and legal parameters).
2. Matching Customer Profile – increasing sales in general is tempting, but if the new customers do not fit within your identified profile, you may not have the skill set to satisfy that new customer base. The result hurts not only your reputation, but also your new partner’s!
3. Balanced Workloads – just because you formed a partnership, you cannot afford to assume the workload to building and maintaining the partnership will be equal among partner companies. There are many instances where one partner ended up doing most of the internal, infrastructure work for the partnership (marketing collateral, sales outreach, IT systems, document management, etc.).
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
In addition to the above considerations, it is helpful to monitor the amount of business each partner generates for the other. If you or your partner is delivering an unequal and disproportionate amount of the sales opportunities, you both need to look at the numbers and evaluate why this is occurring.1. How often will you monitor joint/shared sales leads? Examples:
- Each week
- Each month
- Each quarter
- Customer type
- Customer demographic
- Pre-determined criteria for justifying contract is not for other partner
RELATED RESOURCES
Check out these other resources for more information related to this topic:- Take the Tri Tuns User Adoption Challenge - a free online assessment tool
- Read: “Return on Relationships”