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Relationships matter
! BY: Denis Orme VirtualCEO
www.leader-success.com
My apologies for Part 1 of "Relationships Matter"
The formatting was bad.... You just can't get good
help!!
Truth is I did it myself for the first time, but I
promise I am getting better. If you would like Part
1 again please let me know.
To recap from the last edition of Leading Ways: In
recent research it was found that 70% of all
relationships either fail outright or only achieve
their initial goals - without the parties ever
becoming long-term business partners.
In a sentence, the relationship never gets beyond
the "you can" to a position of "together we will."
Relationships matter!
The logical building blocks in establishing
relationships are:
Evaluation and Selection
Negotiation
Post deal - VRE
Performance monitoring
Exit Strategies
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Evaluation and Selection
If you accept that 70% of all alliances or vendor
relationships either fail outright or only achieve
initial goals then vendor selection is the most
crucial part of the process. Most relationships
falter because partner companies are unable to work
together and therefore are unable to deliver on
joint goals.
"We never turn over enough rocks when we are
considering establishing a new relationship." Do
not be afraid to dig deep for information:
- Who are the management, shareholders, and
directors
and what is their track record?
- What is the history of the company? How
long do their
typical key customer/client relationships
last?
- Ask for a complete customer list, and call
whomever you choose
on that list.
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Negotiation
We have all seen the "buy today to take advantage of
the special price" type of negotiation and this
raises the question: Is our potential relationship
partner simply trying to make a sale, or are they
focussed on long-term implementation as our business
partner?
Telltale signs include withholding or a willingness
to share information; doing joint fact finding with
you to come up with appropriate solutions, or giving
you a canned approach, possibly with very little
consultation.
Answers to these questions will clue you in to
whether they plan to be your long-term relationship
partner, or are just interested in today's sale.
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Who is steering you through the treacherous
passages on the journey to business success?
The right resource can mean the difference between
an effective and profitable business and an
irreversible slide. If you want to improve
leadership, build winning teams or have business or
marking plans, which produce profitable long-term
results:
>>>> Send an email to receive a list of the 30+
seminar
and workshop topics.
principal@leader-success.com
or call Denis Orme now 021-617-008
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Post - deal, Vendor Relationship
Enhancement
As stated this under-done activity is the major
reason why relationships never reach their
potential. We mainly assume that things will go
right and so spend too little time to plan on what
happens if things go wrong.
- What if a competitor wants to change a
feature set?
How open to change is your partner?
- What if a key project team member leaves,
or we cannot find
enough project staff when we are
two/three weeks into the project?
- What if the bridge design won't carry the
vehicle load?
- What if computer response times are not as
promised?
- What if team members go stale?
- How will we resolve conflicts and
personality differences from
our respective team members?
Play the "What if" games and prepare alternative
fallback solutions.
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Performance Monitoring
In the IT sector, or in relation to building
projects SLA's [Service Level Agreements] will
provide a level of comfort in relation to
mission-critical processes or functions. However, I
stress that an SLA provides mutual obligations and
your staff must also deliver on their obligations
for the relationship to be truly effective.
An effective key I have used in relation to SLA's is
to have an "all bets are off" clause so that your
alliance partner pulls out all stops if there is a
mission-critical failure. Remember too that
business needs change, and so do SLA requirements.
SLA agreements should be reviewed annually. In
managing the relationship:
Establish at the outset regularly
scheduled meetings.
Review the criteria for the SLA
and benchmarked
performance.
Report on measured performance for
the current period.
Discuss "open items" and actions
since the previous meeting
to resolve.
Analyse problems and potential
impacts on the project
or users.
Negotiate corrective action plans
for the new, or ongoing
problems.
Assign appropriate resources.
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Exit Strategies
If yours turns out to be one of the 70% of
relationships, which never result in a long-term
partnership, then you must know your "Walk-away"
alternatives.
In the IT area this may include access to escrowed
source code. All well and good but who is going to
be able to use that source code in order to keep
your system running, let alone make system
enhancements?
In other areas of your business you may be looking
to take the function in-house or to start
negotiation with a new supplier.
Rate how your needs and those of your business
partner are currently being met. Maybe yours will
one of the 30% of relationships, which are truly
strategic in nature and longevity.
"Business is not just about doing deals;
business is having great
products, doing great engineering, and
providing tremendous
service to customers.
Finally, business is a cobweb of human
relationships."
- H Ross Perot
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Wishing you continued business and career
success
Denis Orme
CEO, Leader Success Institute
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