Table of Content
What is partner planning and what is the lifecycle approach to managing strategic alliances?
Selection of the right partners, applications of the right resources, development of the right programs, and delivery of the right results are all part of the concept of partner planning.
The life cycle approach to managing strategic alliances is:
- Analyze and assess – Existing channel partners and potential recruit targets are to be analyzed and assessed for productivity and impact. The managed partner list and recruit list will also be informed which requires different account management skills and investments.
- Plan and document – Joint accountabilities should be planned and documented such that it is clear what is to be delivered by both parties which include technology adoption and support, marketing and sales activities, and overall partnership success criteria.
- Train and support – Partners should be trained and supported to develop their products and also to integrate. The ability to grow the product ongoing should also be supported. Identifying early adopter customers also coached to be identified.
- Market and drive awareness – Alignment of partners with marketing messages should be there which syncs with PR timing and fulfills marketing execution expectations.
- Provide sales support – Sales support should be provided in the form of pipeline review and coaching as well as collaboration with the sales teams.
- Nurture the relationship – It is important to ensure a productive and satisfying alliance. A net promoter score kind of measurement is to be considered to ensure that the partner team is accountable for the quality of the relationship.
New approaches to partner planning with the advent of technology
- A systemized collaboration process – The technology partner explains the collaboration process through examples and shows how they’ve successfully partnered with other businesses. A communication process that works with both organizations’ processes should be established. Skill and resources gaps must be recognized and understood also each other’s working styles must be learned The best allocation of project resources can be determined based on this information that will apply across all projects and partnerships. From your client’s perspective, it will show your level of organization and may ease their minds about introducing a partner to the project.
- Flexibility – No two client projects are the same and no two companies work the same way. But it is extremely important to stay flexible and modify your approach to things where necessary. A partner who understands the sales process I important find. This helps bridge the gap between what your sales team can offer to incoming clients and what is possible to deploy within the technology platform.
- Partners involved in the planning stage – Be ready to involve every important member of the project in this stage. Agency partners were brought in because they had expertise in content, design, or another area outside core competency. If you do not include them in the final planning stages it will hurt the final project which can negatively impact your ability to land recurring clients and referrals.
- Established project governance – This should be done however early as possible. Before the launch of the project, and organizational structure, decision-making hierarchy, and communication process must be established that will guide the project execution methodology for you, your partners, and your client. Early establishment of the project will help keep it moving by setting up a chart of what information is important for what people and which decisions require input from who. This will prevent you from bringing in executives before their input is relevant or failing to include executives in important strategic decisions.
- Clear project goals and benchmarks – As the project’s overall strategy and roadmap are planned out, specific goals and benchmarks are set for every team as the project moves forward especially if it is a longer project. Without benchmarks and delivery schedules that allow everyone to see positive progress, it can be easy for a project to fall off the rails.
- Full transparency – Transparency is a great asset as the project goes underway. It is to be made sure that the client and any relevant partners are invited to the strategy design, and planning meetings to get their complete input. Not only does this help us get closer to their final vision, but it also prevents the need for major revisions when you learn you’ve gone too far off scope or that your fancy new web design won’t work with the CMS your technology partner chose.
Benefits of partner planning
- Generate more qualified leads with partners – Lead generation needs to be focused on for every business to grow and expand. You can get access to the customer base they have already spent years growing, by partnering with other established companies. Since you select partners based on them already working with your ideal customers, the leads you get from them are highly-qualified. Not only do you multiply the number of leads coming in, but you improve the quality of your lead acquisition.
- Increase the conversion rate of your leads – The attempt to sell directly, customers do not know your brand or a reference point. The potential customers already have a point of reference through someone they already know and trust when products and services are sold through a partner program. Thus the customers are more likely to trust your brand and your conversion rates should get a boost.
- Expand the Reach of your Marketing Campaigns through Partner Marketing – A channel partner program not only helps in increasing your sales it also helps expand the reach of your marketing campaigns efficiently and cost-effectively. For example, you can collaborate with your partner for a mass email campaign or ask them to feature your brand in their newsletters. This puts you in touch with new customer segments that may otherwise be difficult or expensive to tap into.
- Reduce Costs – Every business aims to keep its customer acquisition cost as low as possible. When investing in a channel partner program, get you more people promoting your product without hiring any extra staff. This dramatically reduces costs without affecting your customer service. The lower your acquisition costs, the faster your business can grow.
- Simplify Customer Training and Onboarding by using other Channels – A certain amount of training and onboarding is involved where every company must invest for their new customers. With a partner program, you can externalize a large portion of this to your partner. The support need is reduced internally and allows you to offer an elevated customer experience with minimal additional costs.
- Upsell & Cross-Sell with ongoing Partner Relationships – The sole purpose of having partners is the fact that they are better positioned to sell to your customers than you are. The same applies to cross-selling and upselling. Since your partners maintain ongoing relationships with their contacts, bigger packages or other products can be continued to be sold to the customers, even after the customer has already signed with you.
- Reach new Markets and Segments through International Partners – When it comes to international growth, challenges are different in every country. Different languages are spoken, there are different taxation structures, local customs, etc. Therefore, it’s always better to have a partner who already understands the lay of the land and has local experience. With the right partner, you can open up your company to many new markets and connect with customers you earlier assumed were beyond your reach.
- Forge Stronger Relationships with your Customers – The strongest businesses puts their customers first always. Now, there’s a big difference between starting a relationship from scratch and building on existing relationships. When you acquire customers from your partner company, you are leveraging their relationship to build your own. Your customers can easily stay connected to your partners, and you. This helps build stronger, long-term relationships.
- Expand your Brand Awareness – Co-branding goes a long way and helps increase brand awareness. A well-established company must be chosen with a high brand value when you look for business partners. If they can list you as a partner on their website or during events and webinars, your brand benefits immensely. Their endorsement helps build credibility with potential customers and elevate your brand.
- Enhance Revenue and Scale Faster with a Partner Program – Hiring more sales reps may help you scale sales but it also eats into your profit margin. Thus, increased direct sales may not always be proportionate to company revenue. Instead, when you participate in growth through partnerships, you can scale your sales without increasing the cost and hence see company revenue grow too. Pairing a partner manager with multiple partners can give you the same revenue as four or five sales reps. the benefits of forming strategic partnerships far outweigh the costs. But, these benefits can only be experienced when you properly manage your partners and forge strong relationships with them.
Conclusion
- Data – The availability of vast amounts of data on sales, stock, and production is the most important effect of technology on management planning. You can use information technology to gather external data from sales teams, branch offices, retail outlets, suppliers, and logistics partners. You can also include market data from independent analysts and market research companies, plus internal data on customer orders, inquiries, and production add.
- Integration – Planning by integrating individual computer systems around your organization is improved by Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. Tracking and planning the fulfillment of customer orders is easier because an ERP system replaces a series of standalone computer systems in different departments, such as sales administration, finance, warehousing, and dispatch. Managers can now view the progress of an order through the various company systems and identify any bottlenecks or other problems as a basis for planning improvements.
- Storage – Storing the vast amount of data available is problematic. However, you can use cloud storage to supplement your facilities. Cloud storage is a pay-as-you-go solution that enables you to store data on massive servers at an independent service provider. Your IT team can access the data over a secure Internet connection and increase or decrease the amount of storage you use. This flexible approach to storage means that you can increase the amount of planning data you provide to managers, without having to invest in additional storage capacity.
- Access – Same data can be accessed and shared by managers through communication networks throughout the organization. Technology’s contribution is to remove what was known as silos of information, previously only available to people within individual departments. Managers can also use such collaboration tools as videoconferencing and Internet forums to share data and carry out joint planning exercises.
- People – Social networking tools can help your managers to plan their human resources. Consultancy firm Deloitte has developed a system that enables employees to post their profiles and work history. Managers and other employees can access the profiles over an intranet to identify people with the skills needed to provide expert advice or join a project team.