Customers want outcomes. Do your partners deliver?
September 15, 2021
Imagine you’re building a new home. You have a vision for how the space should look and feel, the kinds of automation you want for greater convenience and efficiency. As you move from the design phase to the build phase, how will you manage construction?
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t want to be responsible for selecting every piece of lumber and pipe – or for negotiating individual contracts with the various companies that will be involved in constructing your new space. Instead, you want a general contractor who will consult with you while bringing together all the elements to transform your vision into an outcome: a home where you can live and thrive.
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Enterprise clients are no different. They have a vision for the outcomes they need to achieve to support their strategic goals. Their target outcome could be the ability to schedule workers in a way that optimizes labor costs. It could be a need to better control cost and maximize revenue by adjusting production based on real-time supply and demand.
If you approach enterprise clients with a story about the features and functions of your specific product or service, you’re likely to sound like someone pitching light fixtures for your new house. Yes, it’s something you (and the client) need, but it’s just one part of the complete solution essential to achieving the desired outcome.
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“Your partners are no longer mere channels for moving more of your products and services.”
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To put it another way, your products, services and solutions are no longer what set you apart. Your differentiation now hinges on ecosystems.
Are you confident that you and your partners are crafting compelling value propositions – and orchestrating outcome-focused solutions?
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Your partners are no longer mere channels for moving more of your products and services. High impact partner ecosystems need to be designed to:
- Co-innovate for growth. Recent Accenture research underscores the importance of jointly exploring new ways to create solutions to address critical and emerging customer needs. Co-innovation is key to staying relevant with customers and achieving everyone’s goals for growth. In our survey, 83% of partners agreed that the future of their business depends on a provider-partner ecosystem that fosters innovation.
- Collaborate at scale. Collaboration requires multiple engagement models ranging from provider-to-partner to partner-to-partner. Our study found that 86% of partners agreed that partner-to-partner collaboration is more important than ever. It enables better dialogue not only with a single partner, but also with all partners across a broader ecosystem. Given that, consider how you can “lean in” – acting as a catalyst and connector among various complementary companies – to provide differentiated solutions.
- Co-invest for the future. Coordinate your investments with partners to ensure alignment on how to meet customer expectations and maximize positive business outcomes. Consider how you can design incentives to drive better co-investing mindsets. Equally important is ensuring that you’re co-investing with the right set of partners who are demonstrating the right behaviors.
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It’s unlikely that your company’s current go-to-market agreements offer the agility and sophistication required to create and maintain high impact partner ecosystems. To pursue co-innovation, collaboration and co-investment, develop new ways of working that truly put customers – and their goals – at the core. Work together to understand what enterprise clients are trying to achieve. Consult with them to identify the right combination of products and services. Then bring it all “home” with a solution that delivers the outcomes that matter most.
How are you working to build and strengthen your partner ecosystems? Explore our latest thinking – and get in touch if you would like to learn more.
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