If a single choice can influence 35% of your annual revenue, how much thought would you put behind it? Smart leadership would say a lot, which is why choosing your B2B partners isn’t a task you should take lightly.
In fact, 60% of B2B organizations revealed that external parties influence up to 35% of their annual profits. This means that over a third of your company’s earnings will be affected by the partnerships you choose. The best B2B partnerships are those built on trust and reliability – two qualifiers that aren’t immediately apparent when looking through portfolios and websites to determine if they might be a good fit.
Traits of great partners
As the Great Resignation continues to gain momentum, what’s left is an untapped workforce with specialized skillsets that their prior job didn’t make use of or satisfy. Their reasons for leaving former jobs vary – low pay, few advancement opportunities, and feeling disrespected at work being the top three.
The result is a gig economy and free market system in which platforms like Fiverr and LinkedIn connect freelancers and small businesses looking for partnerships. In making these connections, here are six traits that should be your focus.
The best partners are passionate
Civil rights activist and poet May Angelou once said, “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it.” In the scheme of things, loving what you do will go a long way in the results you produce at work, so finding B2B partners who are passionate about their niche is a must.
A study by Deloitte revealed that almost 88% percent of America’s workforce is not able to contribute to their full potential because they don’t have passion for their work. Those who do show up 100%, however, are driven by the need to provide sustained, reliable performance. And that’s exactly the kind of partner you want on your team.
The best partners are responsive
Research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology explored how relationship quality depends on beliefs about a relationship partner’s responsiveness. The study found that when partners are compassionate about each other’s goals, perceived feelings of responsiveness enhance the relationship for both parties.
Pay attention to your interaction with potential B2B partners to determine their level of responsiveness, and how quickly they are able to offer a solution to your needs. Do they ask the right questions? Do they seem genuinely interested in working within your industry or niche? The ones who do are the partners you want.
The best partners are committed
Anyone who has spent decades honing a specialized skillset or building a reputation with clients shows commitment to their work. It reveals that they have been seeking continual growth in an area that is exactly what’s needed to help your business grow.
Someone who is committed to their work will offer new perspectives and challenge approaches that might not be serving your business well. They will bring sound advice based on their years of experience regarding processes that may seem adequate to you but could be fine-tuned to be more efficient. The best leaders know that consistently analyzing and adapting past ways of doing things is the key to business growth potential.
The best partners are resilient
The Deloitte study also revealed that people who are passionate about their work and doing what they are best at are also some of the most resilient partners. When the status quo is a steady stream of market disruptions, a partner who is resilient is one you want on your team.
When disruptions occur (notice I didn’t say if!), having resilient partners who are in the thick of it with you will be key to surviving the storm. As B2B transactions become increasingly digital, 89% of B2B customers are looking online in their research to find the best partnerships. This makes the resilience test easy, since online reviews of a business or service provider are the perfect way to determine just how resilient a potential partner is.
The best partners are willing to learn
When your B2B partners take the time to explore your website, learn about your company, and apply their own expertise to work in harmony with your vision, you’ve landed on a good match. A willingness to learn is another distinguishing characteristic of someone who is passionate about their field, since expertise is so crucial in distinguishing a service or product from its competitors.
Your B2B partner should show the initiative to learn more about your company and discover how they can best help you strengthen your competitive edge. If you’d landed on a partner who asks a lot of questions to help hone their product or service, you’ve likely found a good one.
New ways, old methods
The search for the right B2B partnerships might have moved into a digital sphere, but the old ways of doing things still apply. In a challenging economy, and as a workforce reinvents itself in a post-pandemic world, forging relationships with your suppliers and service providers is the key to staying resilient and serving your clients best.
