CEO and Co-Founder of Trinetix.
According to the Forrester report, companies engaging in strategic partnerships achieve growth 2x faster than organizations that don’t develop their partnership channels. Accordingly, around 62% of businesses surveyed admitted improving their tech for better partnership management to be their high or even critical priority.
The value of partnerships, however, extends far beyond business and profit. It also affects the company’s approach to technology and digital transformation.
For example, many enterprises have come to the point where buying ready-to-market products is no longer sufficient. However, developing a custom solution requires putting extra pressure on in-house teams as well as expanding resources. The alternative means entrusting an external group of engineering and design professionals with creating a product imbued with the company’s niche expertise, business vision and culture.
This is where tech partners make their entrance. And here is where some entrepreneurs may need assistance with adapting to the new cooperation mindset.
For that reason, I’d like to share some important tips that will help business leaders interested in advancing their digital preparedness maximize the value they can receive from a strategic innovation partnership.
Include them in your growth plans.
According to McKinsey research, companies that cooperate with tech agencies within strategic partnerships are 3.43x more effective at implementing innovative ideas and 2.06x more productive with digitization processes.
The reason for such high performance is that tech partners focus on meeting individual client needs. Beyond exploring basic patterns, they investigate the company’s workflow, map out a strategy and deliver a solution that fits the specific enterprise and its core goals. As a result, they deliver the much-needed digital boost necessary for business growth—while keeping stakeholders confident about potential competitive leverage. Within such strategic relationships, businesses get solutions that won’t be replicated for the mass market—they receive products made specifically for their niche needs.
The most important part of any innovation partnership is to let your partners see the bigger picture. They need to know more than an outline of a product you need: They need to understand its role in your long-term business goals and priorities. So, when you hop on a discovery session together, being detailed and specific about your business development journey, employee needs and priorities is not just welcome, it’s encouraged.
Don’t be afraid to discuss risks.
Digital transformation never comes without risks. Investors’ decisions are at stake in the budget, time, resources and employee satisfaction. Accordingly, when something doesn’t go as intended, decision-makers are held accountable for planning flaws. Due to this, implementing new products used to be preceded by long discussions within decision-making groups. If the product isn’t the perfect fit, the titles who approved the solution would be the ones held responsible.
This issue is still relevant for many businesses. To alleviate it, tech partners share the responsibility for risks taken. To them, product design and implementation is the project they do with the client, not for the client—the goal of their relationship is to secure long-term success, which requires a detailed strategy and regular communication.
For instance, when working with your clients, commitment should be part and parcel of the development journey. Within your collaboration, explain what can be expected—and the measures you will take in case of a sudden disruption. Make sure to educate clients on pitfalls that may be encountered during development, informing them about the planned course of action. As a result, you can achieve more confident back-and-forth communication between our teams and stakeholders’ reps, enabling dynamic development cycles and instant issue resolution.
Therefore, discussing risks and responsibilities is an integral part of any strategic technology partnership, enabling both sides to commit to their tasks and rely on each other’s support.
Communicate investment expectations.
Adopting new technology and incorporating it into the enterprise workflow always makes an impact on the company’s budget. There is no way to bypass it, only to calculate and strategize, cutting away all the elements that won’t secure ROI, and amplifying those that will.
Tech partners know this, which is why their teams are often equipped with a business analyst who takes care of the matters concerning short-term and long-term value and communicates the future solution’s place within the enterprise’s journey. Walking the extra mile regarding informative support allows technological partnerships to account for all specific business needs, including budget brackets, must-have features and even employee onboarding.
Accordingly, it benefits business leaders to consult with their digital product partners on whether it’s worth investing in a certain utility or generally question them about the assets capable of delivering long-term value. After all, your partners are as interested in your ROI as you are, so they are ready to lend you their domain expertise and illuminate the trends and technologies that will remain relevant for years to come. Such support allows for more investment agility, as it provides leaders with better awareness of the innovation landscape.
Final Thoughts
Modern B2BC relations and disruptions are no longer driven by profit alone—they focus on mutual benefits, communication and attention to the smaller details that create the bigger picture. Tech partners can represent that pattern as they dive deep into the individual needs of an enterprise and put personalization at the top of their list of priorities.
However, before tech partners become able to spearhead innovative product development, set new standards for industries and re-imagine business routines, business leaders need to meet them halfway and onboard them as part of their growth-oriented campaign. Thinking of digital product partners as vendors would be a setback since it would imply limitations on communication, information exchange and personalization that is necessary for successful technology adoption.
The key strategy to establishing a productive and beneficial relationship is trusting your technology partner with your top-of-mind concerns: growth, risks and budget plans. Since these three elements are part of your success journey, they matter to your technology partners and the custom product they will be developing for you.
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