Answer to Question #290044 in Marketing for MEL

Question

How you will develop relationships so that we become strategic partners and generate revenue goals

Answer 1

Partnerships have become more important than ever in the high-risk, uncertain environment that all people are operating in today. Even so, the failure rate of partnerships is 60% or higher. The reason why most partnerships don’t work is lack of discipline. Too often, a partnership makes conceptual sense, but the parties don’t have the necessary frameworks to systematically consider, explore, structure and manage these relationships. A Strategic Partnership is an agreement between two or more organizations that creates shared benefit and accepts shared risk of equal or similar value. Rather than jumping into partnership exploration, organizations should establish a decision-making framework. This framework will help the leaders determine whether a new capability or approach is best delivered by building it internally, accessing it through an acquisition or vendor relationship, or partnering to deliver the value required. After determining that a strategic partnership approach is ideal for meeting the organization’s goals and requirements, leaders should consider Level5’s four pillars for strategic partnership success. These pillars should be leveraged when negotiating, implementing and managing strategic partnerships to ensure that the organization is aligned with best practices, while increasing odds of success. Below are the four pillars;

• Articulate both sides of the value equation before seeking a partner.
• Take the blinders off.
• Negotiate to assess fit, not simply to structure the relationship.
• Manage towards the partnership goal, not the contract.

Strategic Partnerships can be powerful levers to drive tremendous growth. Success through strategic partnerships is achieved when organizations tackle the appropriate business objective with partners that have aligned values and complementary capabilities and assets. This is why the work required to establish the right frameworks and models can offer tremendous upside. 

The first stage of any sales cycle is prospecting. During this time, the goal is to gather sufficient customer data to determine if the prospect is worth pursuing. While doing so, one has the opportunity to start a relationship that could lead to multiple sales in the future. After identifying promising leads for the sales pipeline, the next stage of the sales cycle is qualification. Developing a relationship at this stage means showing the prospect that one understands the needs and has a desire to address them. Continuing to build customer relationships beyond the won stage in the sales cycle is critical if the business wants to increase retention and revenue. It doesn’t matter if a customer who purchased in the past isn’t currently looking to buy, the goal is to be there when they are ready. Regardless of the cause of a customer’s dissatisfaction, being keen to and promptly addressing negative feedback is an opportunity to keep a customer from churning and turn them into loyal customers. Build relationships with unhappy customers by making sure they feel heard, no matter what.