How do you manage your relationship portfolio?

1 What is a relationship portfolio?

A relationship portfolio is a tool that helps you categorize and assess your current and potential relationships based on their value, risk, and complexity. It helps you identify the optimal mix of relationships that support your strategic objectives and deliver mutual benefits. A relationship portfolio can also help you allocate your resources, time, and attention to the most important and impactful relationships.

2 How to create a relationship portfolio?

To create a relationship portfolio, you must first map out all the relationships you have or want to have with internal and external stakeholders. You can use a simple matrix or a more sophisticated software tool for this purpose. Then, you need to evaluate each relationship based on criteria such as strategic alignment, trust, value, risk, and complexity. These criteria will help you classify each relationship into one of four quadrants: strategic, collaborative, transactional, or opportunistic. This evaluation of relationships will enable you to identify which ones are most important for your business outcomes and performance.

3 How to manage different types of relationships?

Once you have your relationship portfolio, you can use it to guide your relationship management actions and decisions. Depending on the type of relationship, different strategies and tactics may be necessary to optimize its value and potential. For strategic relationships, which are critical for long-term success, you should focus on building and maintaining strong partnerships with these stakeholders, co-creating value, and resolving conflicts constructively. Collaborative relationships, which are important for short-term or medium-term goals, require enhancing mutual understanding, communication, and coordination with these stakeholders, sharing resources and information, and seeking win-win solutions. Transactional relationships require delivering and receiving value efficiently and effectively with these stakeholders, following clear rules and expectations, and minimizing risks and costs. Lastly, opportunistic relationships should focus on exploring and exploiting potential opportunities with these stakeholders, being flexible and adaptable, while maximizing benefits and leverage.

4 How to monitor and review your relationship portfolio?

Your relationship portfolio is not a static document, but an ever-changing one that needs to be monitored and reviewed regularly. This is to ensure that it reflects any changes in your business environment, objectives, and performance. Utilize feedback, data, and metrics to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of your relationship management activities and outcomes. To do this, consider indicators such as the satisfaction and loyalty of your stakeholders, the value and impact of your relationships on your business results and reputation, the risks and issues that arise from your relationships and how you manage them, the costs and benefits of your relationships and how you balance them, as well as the opportunities and challenges that emerge from your relationships and how you respond to them.

5 How to improve your relationship portfolio?

Your relationship portfolio is a powerful tool for analysis, evaluation, improvement, and innovation. You can use it to identify and pursue ways to enhance and expand your relationships, such as by moving them from lower to higher quadrants or by developing new relationships that fill the gaps or complement your existing ones. Additionally, you can leverage your relationships to access new markets, customers, or resources, innovate your relationships to create new value propositions, solutions, or experiences, and end or reduce relationships that are no longer relevant. With a relationship portfolio approach, you can manage your business relationships more effectively and strategically and achieve better outcomes for yourself and your stakeholders.