How do you measure the impact of strategic partnerships on your organization's goals?

As someone who facilitates collaborative marketing partnerships between B2B female entrepreneurs, I've discovered that the lead business should set the tone for the collaboration. In her invite for other people she would like to have involved, she should include what the endgame is for the collaboration (sales, leads, publicity, etc.) along with what she's bringing to the table to make it worth their while and what she needs for them to bring to the table for a win-win relationship.

As a Strategic Partnership leader I have found this part of the process to be the most important for my Partner Managers to do well but most often the hardest to complete. So often there is one side striving to build partnerships and "selling" the value to a targeted partner. Rarely are both parties aligned early in the relationship. Don't be afraid or worried to go deep in discovery. One of my favourite set of questions to ask of a potential partner is "Which partnership would you identify as your best partnership today? What made it so successful? Describe your goals and outcomes and how you work together?" Many times it can take months or years to build the trust and understanding needed to reach that fully ramped stage.

All partnerships should emanate from the alignment of Values, Vision, and Goals: Partners should share similar values, long-term vision, and business goals to prevent conflicts and ensure alignment in decision-making. Long-term successful partnerships are also based on complementary skills and expertise: Partners should bring diverse yet complementary skills, strengths, and expertise to the table, allowing the business to leverage a broader range of capabilities.

In my experience building and managing strategic partnership networks, it is critical to ensure that before entering into the relationship there is a clear and mutual benefit. It is rare for there to be perfect symmetry between the parties, but there has to be value to both or the relationship will sputter, if it even gets started. While at the end of the day businesses generally engage in partnerships to generate direct revenue, there are other, "upstream" benefits that make a relationship valuable, even if there are a few steps between the relationship and closed business. Those vary depending on the exact nature of the products/services/industry. Once value is recognized and defined, then objectives and relevant metrics can be built.

After years of forming partnerships that delivered no results, I've learned that the key to success is having a commitment to each partner achieving tangible results. For me, working with a strategic partner means we both contribute to the marketing process and we both generate revenue. Experience taught us that when both partners market their services in a way that creates demand for each service, the client and the partners all win. Also, the transition from one service to another is almost seamless. #growtogether

Depending on the strategic partnership, there may also be metrics that only one of the parties has and that are of value to the other. This are not restricted to evaluating the partnership performance, but can also give competitive insights, which may form part of the the overall partnership objectives and goals. For example, an online business that works with a number of partners which compete in terms of their product or service can provide Share of Voice insights.

I try and give an impact score to each metric. This helps me get a feel of how impactful the partnership has been. It is not sufficient to just set figure based target and measure what is achieved. Creating an impact score can be challenging, as it also involves measuring e.g. on a scale of 1 - 10 certain parameters based on the objectives and partnership foermat.

Strategic partnerships in recruitment not only foster innovation but also drive significant integration cost savings, streamlining operations for a competitive edge. These KPIs should go way beyond GP margin and EBITDA ??????

I always look at what metrics and indicators this strategic partner helps me/the organization accomplish. What can we do together to push the organization forward toward the goal? Strategic is the name of the game.

Preparing for the Unexpected: Sometimes it's not about the measured results, but rather cumulative effect of synergy between the parties. Strategic partnerships often involve navigating uncharted territory, which can lead to unforeseen problems and delays. To minimize disruptions, both companies should allocate resources and develop detailed execution plans to address potential issues. Open communication and proactive problem-solving can help keep projects on track and ensure that the partnership remains productive.

We have to sit down together, the partner and the leader, and establish what we want from the partnership. It was to be a win-win or what is the point?

Apart from a baseline and target, I also set a strategy in place to look at drops below the baseline. In case of negative growth, or lack or growth, we need to have strategies that will go radical to overcome the shortfall.

If the partnership is built on referrals or co-selling together, then it can be important to look at the long term effect and benefits of activities like Sales training and mutual outings that can build trust and keep your solution top of mind. These can help your partner bring you in or properly position you in their sale. Track the results using Campaigns in SFDC or similar tracking methods in other CRMs so you can measure the long term benefits. Follow up with the partner to see if they found events helpful or not. Surveys following trainings or events can also help you refine your activities so you get the greatest benefit for your time and money spent together.

Setting up a feedback and action system on a proposed timeline is important. It is important that we define typical situation scenarios and attach a timeline to address each type. This will ensure we respond in time to generate results.

As a Partnership Development Manager, it's crucial to understand that stakeholder engagement isn't a set-it-and-forget-it task. Implement review cycles or checkpoints to measure our stakeholder engagement. When it comes to KPIs, make sure they are aligned with your organizational objectives as well as the interests of your stakeholders. And they should clearly indicate changes in stakeholder engagement and impact. Ask questions like do you need to incorporate different metrics or qualitative data to get a better picture? As your partnerships grow in complexity, integrate tools for a more cohesive understanding of stakeholder engagement. I sentiment analysis (TextBlob and similar libraries). The insights you gain should be actionable.

Your Partnerships evolve over time, and is is essential to also drive the review process to keep pace and relevance with the partnership framework. Keep a time frame of about 6 months for reviewing the combination of goals, partnership framework and results. All these 3 are inter-connected. When reviewing the above, also look at the next 6 months of what success will look like, and start building the tri-area structure accordingly.

As a full-service marketing firm built on strategic partnerships, our biggest lesson learned is that strategic partnerships must be a win-win for all parties included. Their success largely depends on how mutually beneficial they are. It’s not just about making profits, but about creating value for each other. Taking the time to truly find a highly-aligned partner is just as important as every other step in the process. Who's their target audience? What are their brand values? How does their story align with mine? How can we both provide added value to our customers? How can we make this a long-lasting partnership? Those are questions brands must ask when going into this. When the shoe fits, it can make a lasting impact on both sides.

In my experience here is a bullet list of things that need to be considered . Some already covered in the article in detail. 1. Clearly Defined Objectives 2. Revenue Growth 3. Customer Acquisition 4. Cross-Selling Opportunities 5. Brand Enhancement 6. Cost Savings 7. Innovation 8. Market Expansion 9. Skill & Knowledge Transfer 10. Retention Rates 11. Feedback & Communication 12. ROI Calculation 13. Contractual Milestones 14. Risk Management 15. Long-term Viability 16. Cultural Fit

It may sound simple, but it is worth taking a step back and asking: how do I align strategic business partnerships with my goals? When you have this answer clear... then the metrics and methods of measuring them will also fall into place. In a broad sense, preliminary phases would include: Define the goals, research potential partners, assess the partnership objective, formulate the plan to execute.

As a serial early stage team member and the chief growth officer of a saas tech startup, I would say: “use LinkedIn!” It might sound cliche, but the best way to stay in touch with the right people, contacts, & companies doing innovative things is to connect organically, through thoughtful interaction and commenting. Hit the follow button first, then learn about them, engage, + use that info to connect w the partners that align with your own go to market goals & strategy. Even if they don’t align, on the call ask for their feedback, thoughts, and HELP with referrals. They’ll buy into the journey, invest in you, & the dividends will be forever if you keep your relationships intentional and active - with LinkedIn as a very powerful tool.