Why strategic business relationships should be treated as partnerships

Business success depends on a variety of relationships.

Whether you’re focused on partnerships that help your business grow, or supplier partnerships that help you achieve cost reduction and innovation goals, your business depends on many different types of external relationships. doing.

There’s no denying that some relationships require more time and effort than others. If you want to increase value and further innovate in your business relationships, it often means you need to move from transactional relationships to strategic results-based relationships.

In these relationships, purposeful collaboration creates lasting value for both parties.

The value of a partnership mindset

When companies change their mindset from a transactional mindset to a partnership mindset, they focus on bigger-picture outcomes for both organizations, supporting the organization’s direct (or indirect) interests, contributing to strategic goals, and more. Start guessing.

Bob McDonald, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of P&G, shared the value of strategic supplier partners in a press release, saying: I am deeply grateful for their dedication to helping P&G achieve its purpose of impacting and improving the lives of consumers around the world, now and for generations to come. ”

Similarly, this is how the United Nations, which formalized its partnership program with the Partnership Accelerator Program, views partnerships: In creative ways, we go far beyond what additional organizations operating on their own can accomplish. ”

They continue: “While it differs depending on the partnership, there are some common types: sharing risk, accelerating knowledge exchange, expanding reach, accelerating organizational growth, fostering innovation, building collective legitimacy, and creating critical mass around an issue. There are some collaborative benefits.”

Depending on your approach to partnership, you can also reconsider how you choose partners in the first place. Are “good enough” suppliers truly optimal for achieving an organization’s strategic objectives? Or are you better served by applying a similar level of due diligence when vetting collaborative strategic partners? Can you do it? With a partnership mindset, you can build the right relationships from the beginning.

Essential characteristics of a successful business partnership

Once you’ve segmented your relationships and identified those with the greatest strategic impact, it’s important to dedicate the appropriate time, attention, and resources to supporting these partnerships. Treating a business relationship as a true partnership requires certain key attributes. It’s no surprise that trust and transparency are paramount.

Parker Slavin, President and CEO of StatoneryXpress, explained the importance of trust and transparency with strategic partners in a recent conversation: If you promise to produce and deliver a part or product by a certain date, it means you will meet that expectation. ”

Slavin continued, “It also means providing open communication as needed to keep everything running smoothly. Even if these interactions are infrequent, these characteristics are important to have with your most important partners.” It helps build an important foundation of trust.”

A strong support system is essential to ensure trust, reliability, and transparency. One of her best practices is for both parties to designate a “Two-in-a-Box” team member to work together and manage the partnership. These individuals will help ensure processes and outcomes align with the goals established at the beginning of the partnership to reduce risk, improve accountability, and manage all other important matters. .

Of course, the Two-in-a-Box philosophy doesn’t have to be limited to just the people at the top managing business relationships. A study on highly collaborative business relationships at the University of Tennessee found that the best organizations have at least four “two-in-a-box” roles for partnerships. . They are relationship managers, operational managers, transformation managers, and commercial managers. .

master business relationships

When we focus on relationships, whether they are existing key strategic partners or small start-ups looking to collaborate and create value, we approach each of these relationships as true partnerships and It’s important to give them the transparency, support and collaborative mindset they deserve. It’s truly transformative.

Not only will you get better results from each relationship, but you’ll ensure you’re working with the right partners in every aspect of your business.

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