#22. What Is a Partnership Strategy and Why Is It Essential For a b2b Company?

A partnership strategy can be considered a subset of a b2b company's overall marketing and business development strategies, tailored specifically to the cultivation and management of business partnerships. At its core, the strategy should define how a company intends to identify, engage, and collaborate with various partners in order to achieve mutual benefits. Here's a breakdown of what a partnership strategy typically comprises and why it's essential.

• Establish Partnership Goals. Are they enhancing the current solution, boosting indirect sales, or expanding into local markets for a physical presence? These goals serve as the foundation for future actions.
  

• Types of Partners: Your partnership strategy should delineate the types of partners you intend to collaborate with. These could include suppliers, distributors, technology providers, or other entities that can complement your offerings. Determining the types of partners helps in focusing your efforts on relationships that align with your business objectives.
  

• Geographic Locations: Specifying the geographical range for your partner network is crucial. It could be local, regional, or global depending on your business size, scale of operations, and your product or service reach. By doing so, you position your company to leverage local market insights or expand your reach in global markets.
  

• Terms of Partnership: Clarity on partnership terms is essential for successful collaborations. This includes agreements on pricing structures, distribution responsibilities, shared marketing efforts, and other logistics. Setting fair and mutually beneficial terms fosters trust and longevity in partner relations.
  

• Marketing/Sales Support: Your strategy should discuss the level of support partners can expect from you, such as sharing marketing materials, providing sales training, or offering incentives. This support is pivotal for enabling your partners to effectively sell and promote your products or services.
  

• Stated Period of Time: Like any strategic plan, a partnership strategy should have a timeline that outlines when specific milestones are expected to be achieved. This offers a schedule for strategy evaluation and adjustment, ensuring that the partnership efforts are progressing towards the company goals.
  

Why is such a strategy essential? Here are a few reasons:

1. Synergy and Scale: Partnerships can create synergistic relationships where the combined effects of collaborating companies exceed the sum of their individual effects. This could result in expanded offerings or reach.
   

2. Cost efficiency: Working with partners can spread out the costs of entering new markets or developing new solutions.
   

3. Innovation: Partnering with other B2B companies, especially those that offer complementary technologies or services, can spur innovation and keep your offerings competitive.
   

4. Faster Growth: By leveraging partners' market presences, you can accelerate your own company's growth, increasing market penetration rates or entering new markets more rapidly.
   

5. Risk Sharing: Partnerships often allow companies to share the risks associated with new ventures, such as research and development or market entry initiatives.
   

In summary, a robust partnership strategy is not just a component of your marketing strategy; it's a roadmap for cultivating powerful relationships that can help drive growth, innovation, and success for your B2B company.