External Partners
Customers are demanding more seamless experiences and
interactions. Organizations are refocusing on their core
competencies. New technologies support — and create — ever
more complexity. These are some of the factors leading
organizations to more dramatically increase external
alliances and partnerships.
One key group of external partners — suppliers — are
often kept at arms length, abused, misused or otherwise
treated very poorly. High performing organizations work with
their suppliers as partners in reducing rework and quality
problems while improving service levels and cost
effectiveness. As partners, suppliers can be important
sources of innovation, process streamlining, outsourcing,
and the like.
Delivery or customer support partnerships vary greatly
from one field or industry to another. High service/quality
providers work closely with their agents, distributors,
dealers, service providers, consultants, etc. to provide
integrated experiences for their customers.
Signs of Weak External Partnering
- Service/quality performance levels aren't
monitored.
- Performance measurements/feedback are used
to beat partners rather than working together to make
improvements.
- Internal partners don't know who the
organization's key external partners are and where they
fit in the organization's customer-partner chain.
- Adversarial "We-They Gaps" exist between
the organization and its key external partners.
- Trivializing the views of external partners
as "not reality, just their perception."
- Managing to the lowest common denominator
with rules and policies that convey mistrust and treat
partners like children.
Keys to External Partnering
- Look at a supplier's lowest total costs not
just low prices
- Trace service/quality breakdowns upstream
to suppliers
- Develop a supplier management program
- Involve upstream and downstream partners in
a continuous service/quality improvement process
- Increase connections and customer ownership
between internal and external partners
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