When it comes to leveraging a business and boosting their presence in new domains and markets, presenting competitor advantage, fortifying positive and impactful brand imagery, or just enhancing reputation, strategic B2B partnerships emerge as a remunerative option when implemented effectively.
In Business-to-Business, establishing robust strategic alliances with the partners in the industry enables brands to bolster their strengths, and the outcomes can be compelling for all those involved. However, before you get excited to embark on any partnership, you must set out the objectives. The benefits of building partner networks in B2B are immense. Let’s walk you through them. Read on!
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How do strategic partnerships help B2B businesses?
Strategic partnerships are nothing new. They usually entail a formal agreement done between two parties in order to pursue shared beneficial goals. The agreement may or may not involve a contract. However, both the parties grasp the alliance objectives and commit to working together to accomplish the desired results.
- Mushroom market coverage & attract new customers
The most popular and common reason to consider strategic partnerships is to gain access to new customers and new markets. A strategic partnership facilitates companies to serve bigger territories without the need to invest in further infrastructure or extend their network of distribution. For instance, a beverage delivery service can partner with a bar supply company to deliver the bar supplies on their usual route in exchange for a presence in the physical stores of the bar supply company. Both businesses are laid bare to new customers and mushroom their territories without adding further routes or stores.
- Grow brand awareness
Starbucks, a behemoth in the world of coffee and beverages, rigorously forms alliances with spots like airports, medical facilities, and other places to offer coffee services to the consumers. The visitors identify the added value and adore the convenience of having brands they readily identify available near them. This strategy of Starbucks has burgeoned its general brand awareness, and now several regional and local companies can effortlessly create a similar strategy.
- Broaden service & product offerings: If you aspire to expand your product line and already have a loyal consumer base, you may benefit your business by entering into a strategic partnership with a company that provides complementary products. For instance, a company that offers computer services could partner with an enterprise that provides audiovisual services. Every business has its suppliers, systems, and set of products and thus, may have a similar customer base. Service and sales personnel grasp both technologies well. Through cross-training sales and pooling the resources, the businesses can augment their product lines with the least possible investment in people or further inventories.
- Prop up perceived weaknesses: If your business does not have a compelling local presence or it is new to an area, customers will probably hem and haw when buying from you. They will wonder whether or not to trust your promise. You may consider aligning your business with a company that is well established and already enjoys the trust of the customers. This would help reduce your time to gain ground in the market. It would be a win-win situation for both businesses, where you will garner customers’ trust and new business because of your being associated with an enterprise that has already won a place in the local community.
Strategic business partnerships unfurl tremendous benefits and opportunities to businesses by offering them the window to augment their business and bloom their customer base. The partnership involves a mutual promise to act together for each other’s betterment, thus, providing you a competitive edge.
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So, strategic partnerships are crucial to B2B businesses for the following reasons:
- Gaining an edge over the competition, facilitating growth, and expanding your business presence.
- Helps businesses gain access to a greater volume of resources, get more options to grow, and augment the customers’ reach.
- Facilitates expanding the consumer base, taking business branding to the next level, and increasing the revenue. This is done without investing extra capital in any new networks or new setups.
- Supports both businesses in growing together, improving the structure and quality of current products, and evolving them in correspondence with the latest trends.
- Businesses can expand to new markets and gain new customers without putting any heavy capital or wasting manpower.
- Facilitates a business with a huge boost to its market, thereby helping in its expansion and strengthening its hold in the competitive market landscape.
The best way to enhance the creativity and scalability of businesses to tackle complex scenarios is by connecting the capabilities and strengths of established parts of the ecosystem. The modern competitive world requires mutual growth approaches where businesses in strategic partnerships look for a mutual and innovative way of advancing.