Build New Partnerships to Accelerate Growth
Survey reveals that two-thirds of CEOs form strategic partnerships to implement new technology and give their products and services a competitive edge. New growth opportunities will come from products, services, and technologies that are far beyond your core competencies. If you want to identify new competitive advantages, seek a network of talented partners.
Partnerships drive success.
That’s the message I want to echo today from a CIO.com blog series – you can find the original article at www.cio.com/article/3149534.
The article highlights the findings of a survey of over 400 CEOs published in a special report entitled U.S. CEO Outlook 2016. What struck me most was the reported two-thirds (67 percent) of CEOs who said they were accelerating execution by forming partnerships and 58 percent who said they were planning acquisitions to gather new talent, leverage new technologies, and foster growth.
These CEOs recognize that the competitive edge they are seeking is not going to come purely from their own organic growth. “Opportunities and the pressures that they’re under to grow are greater than what they can achieve internally.”
The report goes on to suggest the following:
The reasons are clear. Most transformational technologies are outside the core competency of the average organization. Machine learning and artificial intelligence, for example, are already available in some vehicles, but they were not invented by automakers. To take full advantage of the technologies that give their products and services a competitive edge, CEOs are creating a network of alliances and looking to bring in the technology and talent they need through acquisitions.
I believe these strategic partnerships apply top-down from the CEO to the mailroom clerk.
And this team-building philosophy is fundamentally what we do at CDI — we build partnerships.
Relationships Based on Trust
I want to continue to peel away the rough exterior layers and take a closer look into what sustains healthy partner networks. Allow me to offer the following questions and answers from my perspective:
Q: What’s a major factor in driving partnerships?
A: Relationships.
Q: How do you drive relationships in business?
A: Trust.
The key to building successful long-term partnerships is your trust in working with each other and holding each other accountable.
Essentially, what I do at CDI is build business partnerships. In my mind, business partnerships are built upon relationships and a mutual shared sense of trust.
I truly believe these principles extend beyond the technology industry and also apply throughout our lives. Relationships drive behavior, contribute to trust, shape the actions we take to earn and sustain that trust, and influence our willful intent to make a positive impact upon each other.
Whether it’s cloud, IT infrastructure, cyber security, hyper-converged, super hyper-converged, or any other industry buzz word, the technology will come and go. You might be migrating up to the cloud on one day and migrating back down from the cloud on another. (After all, isn’t the cloud just someone else’s data center?)
Q: While all these advancements appear and disappear, day-by-day and month-by-month, guess what stands the test of time?
A: A strong partnership.
You’re not just my customer, this is a business partnership. I am invested, along with our entire staff, in making sure you and your company are successful. If that’s not the case, then why are we here? We wouldn’t be here without our customers.
Think about it this way: How does CDI have over 500 customer accounts with almost no advertising? Yes, we have very talented people in sales and marketing, but I also firmly believe it is because we work hard to earn your trust which in turn leads to good relationships and successful partnerships. That is what holds the test of time and the key driver to want to do business in the first place.
The Journey Begins with Customer Goals
Q: Do we want to sell you something?
A: Absolutely! Hey that’s what drives revenue and keeps the lights on.
But, our team doesn’t focus on short term wins. Way too many people in this industry are looking for a the ‘quick hit.’ Instead, we strive to build long-term partnerships.
So, what are your goals? What are you working on and what problems can we help solve? And how can we make you successful?
If we don’t ask those questions right away or understand that from the beginning, how are we going to be able to help you? If we don’t know what makes you successful, our relationship is doomed.
Trust, shared goals, and action plans — when any of these key ingredients are missing, you could fail to reach your goals or be forced to settle for mediocrity.
The ability to be open and share partner data also drives success. Again the article mentions ‘Most transformational technologies are outside the core competency of the average organization.’ Focus on your core competency, whether it’s to build and share the best media content in the world, advising your customers on beating Wall Street, or even helping cure cancer. Our customers are doing amazing things daily. Allow us to help bring the expertise and core competencies that we implement in our wide customer base so you can continue to innovate.
My challenge to you is this: Continue to consistently communicate what your innovation goals and vision is for yourself and your company. From there, it’s our job to broker introductions and make recommendations that will allow you to focus on driving innovation.
It’s worth repeating one more time… partnerships drive success. Thank you for your partnership.