How do you align your goals and incentives with your strategic partners?

This is one of the most important aspects of partner management. Without aligned goals and incentives, partner programs tend to fizzle out. Understanding your company's and your partner's company's top short term and long term goals is imperative. You can then work back how your partner orgs can drive those goals forward (e.g. enter a new segment like enterprise in the next FY) and align programs and incentives so that your goals are tied to your respective company's top priorities. You can then waterfall those goals and incentives to teams and individuals (e.g. partner sourced leads tied to MQLs and SQLs, SPIFFs tied to closing or sharing deals with partners). At the end of the day, your goals should line up to both your companies '.

I would suggest that it is not about aligning your goals and vision with that of your partner, but about putting goals and vision before partner identification, and using it as the driving force for selection. A long term partnership cannot work if values are misaligned - the two entities, pulling in different directions will fracture under pressure. However, by bringing two organisations together, who, when combined, can become more than they are individually, you create a unique and valuable partnership that can weather any storms.

A Strategic Partnership is also an alignment of journeys between different brands and businesses who are looking for common audiences and want to share their strengths and synergies. It is an initiative to be able to go beyond existing resources to achieve bigger objectives.

A strategic partnership is all about teaming up to amplify strengths and crush shared goals. I focus on building alliances that perfectly complement our skills, making sure each side brings something special to the mix. This synergy sparks innovation and growth, making our joint efforts way more powerful than going it alone.

In my experience, if we take a relational view of competitive advantage that focuses on strategic partnerships, we will observe that important units of analysis for understanding competitive advantage can be characterized as: 1. specific asset investments, 2. large amounts of information exchange, 3. inseparable technological and functional systems, and 4. high transaction costs and investment in governance mechanisms The above conditions make it challenging to switch partners, and align with the strategic nature of strong partnerships.

Finding the right partners kicks off with a deep dive into your strategic needs and goals. I dig into potential partners' strengths, values, and market stance to ensure we’re on the same page. By zeroing in on complementary strengths and a shared vision, I lock in partners who not only fill the gaps but also supercharge our overall value proposition.

It is important to shortlist, and try to connect and discuss with potential partner teams to understand the fit. The discussion you have can be to understand how the potential partner will align with your objectives and how you can both mutually contribute to each others success.

Finding the right partners requires thinking deeply about the entire spectrum of partners and then doing an analysis of how they differ from each other. Is it their offering? Their culture? The way partnerships are structured from an economic perspective? Compatible geographies? There are an infinite number of ways to screen for a potential partner, which includes publicly available information from the outset combined with private detailed information as talks progress. I always move to put an NDA in place earlier than later to allow for open, honest, and transparent conversations. After all, nothing is worse than having many time-consuming conversations only to find out the partnership has no legs once the hood is opened up.

How to negotiate a partnersip agreement depends entirely on the size, scope, and nature of the partnership. Some partnerships are less formal than others and do not require a lengthy partnership document that addresses every potential scenario. In fact, leading with such an agreement may kill the deal or be counter to the spirit of the two parties coming together. Of course, adequate levels of protection are required for both parties. But this should not get in the way of ensuring that the purposes and objectives of the partnership ring clear in the agreement. I like to lay out agreements with the business objectives first followed by the legal points. This ensures alignment but also the necessary level of detail around all key issues.

You also need to keep scope for flexibility and for corrective and preventive action taking, in case of any operational gaps when the partnerships are in force. This also helps to heal any drawbacks and issues, and helps maintain relationships rather than just action taking which can be hard decisions.

Aligning goals and incentives is crucial for any partnership, and even more so when a startup joins forces with a larger corporation. While shared vision, desired outcomes, and performance-based rewards are all important, startups need to be extra cautious. In the case of a startup-corporate partnership, it's vital to ensure that every development and investment within the partnership has a clear path to financial return for the corporation. This focus on financial viability from the outset will help ensure the long-term success of the partnership and prevent the startup from pouring resources into projects that don't ultimately benefit both parties.

I have one, very simple guiding principle when composing partnerships: Solve the other person's problem first. Hey, I said it was simple. Here's the thing: no one wants to be sold, including me. When a prospective partner leads with product, or just submits to the gravity of their pitch - they have presumed to understand that which they could not: the needs of their hopeful partner. This is on all sides, btw...buyer, seller, collaborator. Make solving that which challenges your partner...YOUR priority. This is fundamental. If you contextualize everything in that framework, you can not only determine if you do in fact have a solution for them...but you will approach it from a more objective, thoughtful, and effective perspective.

#1 Ask the other partner what they're trying to accomplish over the next 6, 12, 24, 36 months. They almost certainly have business objectives they are driving toward #2 Query how the partnership can be structured to align the goals of your partner with your company's goals #3 Map out the home run scenario, downside case, and a few intermediate ones in between By using this fundamental process, you'll have a baseline of understanding what alignment is necessary to ensure there is a successful and durable partnership.

Share your WHY? Partners align on the bigger picture, the deeper reason why they are doing what they are doing, and how working with you will enhance their own beliefs and core values. Thus, sharing your WHY is also important, which will help partners align with your goals and incentives.

Effective communication and collaboration are the lifeblood of any winning partnership. I keep the conversation rolling with regular, transparent dialogue to stay aligned and tackle challenges head-on. By creating a space where ideas flow freely, we keep the partnership strong and productive, driving our shared goals forward and staying agile in a changing business landscape.

Regular communication is key to keeping partnerships going strong and committed. Apart from periodic schedules like monthly and quarterly partner meetings, I also suggest to keep ongoing instant comms channels accessible to partner teams like slack, google chat or whatsapp. This helps in quick touch base and the teams supporting each other and building trust.

#1 Establish multiple lines of communication between different levels of each organization. #2 Agree on regular check ins and establish that ad-hoc check ins may be necessary, especially when partnerships are getting off the ground. #3 Track how often communication is happening between the two partners #4 Embrace spirited debate and radical candor. After all, light is the best disinfectant.

Learn to appreciate your partners and highlight their key achievements. You can do a personalised thank you note thanking them for their continued support as well as do a highlight on social media to give them public recognition. Also, when reaching the first anniversary of a partnership, organize a joint celebration, such as a dinner or a small partner event. you can have a trophy to symbolize and celebrate the milestone together.

Is key to listen to your partners. They are closer to the customers and the market than you are. Our partners surprise us all the time with their experiences and best practices in the field. From market views to product feedback their insights are priceless. It is so hard to get surveys answered or customer feedback, but many times our partners have all that information at hand.