Develop collaborative partnerships with your research vendors for greater ROI.

When you consider how your firm works with its research vendors, what is the nature of these relationships? Are they true collaborative partnerships? Or are the engagements more transactional? The answer may provide a clue as to whether you are truly getting the maximum value from your vendors or whether you may be unintentionally leaving a lot on the table.

?

Let's break this down a bit. What is the difference between a transactional vendor relationship and a collaborative partnership? And how does the type of relationship drive different outcomes?

?

Transactional

?

The following characteristics are common hallmarks of a transactional research vendor relationship:

?

• Not communicating the broader context of the research effort and why it is being undertaken (what goal is the company aiming to achieve or problems is it trying to solve)
• Keeping the vendor at arms-length throughout the engagement and limiting access and communication channels
• Withholding important intelligence or information (e.g., previously conducted research, insights from field sales personnel) that may have material bearing on the research effort, out of concern that it may bias the results
• Not identifying the key stakeholders who will benefit from the work, or allowing them to communicate their vision for success directly to the vendor

?

This implicitly communicates a lack of trust in the research vendor and/or their ability or commitment to deliver results. It also undermines the vendor's efforts and can negatively impact the quality and potential impact of the effort. Not providing the appropriate context and information up-front runs the risk of investing significant budget and time into the work, only to get back generalized and surface level information that doesn't advance your organization's existing knowledge. Or there is a clear disconnect between what your stakeholders actually need to address their business challenges and what was actually delivered by the vendor, operating without this knowledge and vision of the end goal.

?

I will note that there are some engagements or topics that can be highly sensitive and the information and parties involved need to be compartmentalized to some degree. Any vendor will be understanding when these exceptional circumstances occur. But they should be just that - an exception.

?

?

Collaborative Partnerships

?

Organizations that work to establish truly collaborative partnerships with their research vendors will ultimately realize a much greater return on that investment in both parties' mutual success. These collaborative partnerships tend to be characterized by:

?

• Long-term relationships that span many years and multiple business units/stakeholders, resulting in the partner's development of institutional knowledge and broad subject matter expertise
• Investments in the research partner's education to make them more effective (e.g., through "hands-on" virtual or onsite demonstrations of products/solutions, sales, or operational processes)
• Open dialogue and full engagement between all project and vendor stakeholders to align on shared goals
• Two-way information sharing between parties, ensuring that everyone is informed and up-to-date
• Communication of hypotheses and ideas to test, validate, or refute through ongoing research
• Greater flexibility and agility to adapt and find creative solutions when challenges arise, because there is shared base of knowledge and alignment on the goal/vision for success

?

Another benefit of these types of partnerships, that I have witnessed on numerous occasions, is that the partner can often help break down organizational silos and facilitate greater collaboration within a client's organization. This is because they have established, strong relationships with many different stakeholder groups and can see connections between various independent efforts. Often these internal groups are separately working on solving different facets of a bigger problem, and each may have the key to the other's success without knowing it.

?

Conclusion

?

While it takes a significant amount of time and investment to develop a true collaborative partnership with a vendor, the benefits and return on that investment with the right partner can be enormous.? Consider your vendor relationships and ask yourself whether they are partners you trust and would be willing to invest in. Do they consistently demonstrate integrity and a commitment to delivering high quality results for your organization? If the answer is yes, your investment will pay off many times over.

?

?

?

Image credit: John Hain (https://www.johnhain.com). Used under the Pixabay Content License.