PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS
This month’s SalesPulse brings you the key learning points from our annual business conference which was held on 22nd April at the NEC.
The topic was Partnering for Success, and the event turned out to be a great success. Using the Net Promotor Score (NPS) as a simple way of measuring the delegates view we ended up with a score of 9.2 (out of 10). Those of you who know the NPS methodology will know that this is a tremendous approval rating. It also shows that we delivered great value as promised.
We had a range of external speakers from both the private and public sectors with a wide range of experiences embracing “the good, the bad and the ugly” of partnering with customers, suppliers, other companies, the public sector and even with competitors. To succeed in partnering you need
Absolute trust built around a win:win arrangement
Shared objectives, risks and rewards
Honesty and integrity
Complementary skills, products and services
Compatibility, like mindedness, “do what you’re best at” and teamwork
Understand shortcomings (yours and your partners)
Great and continuous communications
Agile management, decision making and problem solving
Disciplined implementation, and
If it does not deliver value for your customers, it will NOT deliver for you or your partner
Here are some considerations before you tie the knot:
Don’t expend masses of time putting together a big agreement. By the time you’ve done it the opportunity may have gone away and it smacks of lack of trust
Don’t have a rigid partnership model, few partnerships are the same 
Try it before wholehearted commitment – it might not work
Involve all your stakeholders particularly those who it most affects – your customers and key people
Show commitment – give something of value to you to your partner
Organisations, countries and people have different cultures – ignore them at your peril, and
If in doubt DON’T do it
If you couldn’t make the conference and want to know more about partnering and how we can help you just call me on 07903 121916.