The Economic Opportunity of a Partnership Pt. 3 – Operational Efficiency

One of the most common discussions we have with our partners is on the topic of evaluating the economic opportunity of a partnership. What makes a partnership worth entering into, and when can you tell it’s the right time to hop in?

In Part 3 of our Economic Opportunity P2PNow series, we break down what operational efficiency entails and what to take into consideration when transacting with a vendor. Watch the session below or read on for a full transcript!

Transcript

Christian: Welcome back to another episode of P2PNow! Today we’re finishing up our series on how to evaluate the economic opportunity of the partnership. What’s our last topic to discuss Sam?

Sam: We’re here to discuss Operational Efficiency working with a vendor. I have to say this is something I’ve personally had very detailed conversations with partners about. I know being a vendor that when a partner is going into this level of detail evaluating a partnership that we’re going to do well together. 

Christian: I bet. It’s sort of like when you’re selling a house. If the happy couple is talking about logistics of how the couch is going to fit. Then you’re probably going to make a sale. 

Sam: Very true. This is essentially the logistics of transacting with a vendor. Now with options like buying via a cloud marketplace, this is heavily expedited. This is the reason AvePoint has invested so much in our distributor partnerships. 

Christian: That’s right. By buying via distribution you’re essentially swiping your credit card and they take care of all the paper work on the back end for the initial sale and the renewals. But, how should a partner look to work with a vendor for deals not on marketplaces?

Sam: The first thing you should ask about is a step by step breakdown of the procurement process with the vendor. The next thing to consider is the point of contacts you’ll have for new deals and renewals.

The second part is where partnerships can get hemmed up. Rarely do partner and vendor sales territories perfectly align. What this can lead to is 2, 3, 4, or more people needing to communicate in our for business to transact. You’ll want to ask your vendor to reduce the number of points of contact. This will allow you to streamline your communication and preferable just work with one or two individual ands have them connect the dots on the back end. 

Christian: I think this falls in the camp of “a good problem to have.” We’re doing so much business together we need to streamline communication. 

Sam: It is, but the trick is – some vendors can’t or won’t simplify their operational process for a partner. This is why you need to ask about this process in detail up front. If you get the feeling that scaling with this vendor isn’t going to be possible, you may be dumping a lot of hours building a solution for your customers that is frankly too painful to even transact after a certain point.

Christian: Simple enough. Ask the tactical questions and have a serious question about how you can scale the more you sell. Instead of hitting a wall after acquiring 10 customers, figure out the details early to avoid unnecessary hiccups.

Sam: Absolutely, you have options as a partner. Ask multiple vendors that provide similar solutions how they handle the procurement process. Whoever makes this as easy a possible for you is going to save you time and like we said in our first session. When it comes to evaluating the economic opportunity – time is money. 

Christian: Perfect! Well that puts a wrap on this series. If you’ve missed an previous segments go and check them out! If you have not already done so, be sure to join AvePoint’s Partner Program, which you can find at www.avepoint.com/partners.

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