Product Managers Need Strategic Partnerships (Focus On This …)

Product managers are under increasing pressure to deliver innovative solutions to a market hungry for the next big thing. To stay ahead of the competition, many companies are recognizing the value of strategic partnerships. But why are these collaborations so essential for product managers, and what aspects of collaboration should take center stage?

Firstly, strategic partnerships are invaluable for pooling resources and expertise, creating opportunities to develop ground-breaking products and services that would be impossible in isolation. By combining forces with organizations that have complementary strengths, product managers can optimize costs, while focusing on key competencies, ultimately accelerating time-to-market turnarounds.

Moreover, these alliances provide access to new customer segments and geographies, increasing market reach and enabling growth. By collaborating with players who have a strong market presence in their respective domains, product managers enhance their credibility and expand their own customer base. To make these partnerships truly effective, product managers should focus their energy on several critical components.

Selecting the Right Partners

While resources and capabilities are essential for successful partnerships, a thorough evaluation of the potential collaborator’s expertise, track record in the market and cultural fit are essential to building a solid foundation for success.

A successful partnership takes a serious commitment from both parties to align on goals and establish trust before moving forward. My research at the University of Tennessee shows the power of establishing a shared vision, guiding principles and clear goals and expectations for the partnership before working on any specific deal points or commercial terms.

This can pay huge dividends in laying the foundation for a healthy, strategic partnership. Putting the focus first on the creating of a relationship helps new business partners pass through a trust-building phase — this is essential for an enduring partnership.

Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, wrote in his 2016 letter to the company’s shareholders of the tremendous efficiency nurtured within trusting, strategic partnerships — noted Bezos:

“If you have conviction on a particular direction, even though there’s no consensus, it’s helpful to say, ‘Look, I know we disagree on this, but will you gamble with me on it? Disagree and commit?’ … We recently greenlit a particular Amazon Studios original. I told the team my view: Debatable whether it would be interesting enough, complicated to produce, the business terms aren’t that good and we have lots of other opportunities.”

Continued Bezos, “They had a completely different opinion and wanted to go ahead. I wrote back right away with, ‘I disagree and commit and hope it becomes the most watched thing we’ve ever made.’ Consider how much slower this decision cycle would have been if the team had actually had to convince me rather than simply get my commitment.”

Because of the intense trust Bezos and his partners shared, he fully supported their ideas, despite his wariness.

Working With Partners to Co-Create Value

When business partners leverage each partner’s strengths, expertise and resources, organizations can generate new ideas and solutions more efficiently than they ever could on their own. At the heart of co-creation is a simple idea: When strategic partners work together to create solutions that address their shared challenges, they not only strengthen their alliance, but create unique, competitive advantages.

While co-creation is easy to say, it is harder to do.

Getting co-creation right requires active participation from both sides in sharing ideas and expertise to create innovative solutions that satisfy mutual interests. As co-inventors of a new offering, partners must remain engaged throughout product development phases, from ideation to commercialization.

Strategic Partnerships: Everybody Wins

Competition is inherent in a capitalist economy, but a shift towards a win-win partnership based on co-creating to achieve mutual goals has multiple benefits for businesses and their partners.

Strategic partnerships done right help drive financial returns for both parties. When partners truly understand each other’s goals and objectives — and how creating a win-win proposition impacts both sides positively — they can streamline processes more effectively.

Someshwar Bindu, director of product management for Walmart eCommerce, recently shared the importance of effective, strategic partnerships, further underlining the necessity of a win-win system:

“At any tech-centric company experiencing exponential growth, many hands make for light work. The more capable the hands, the lighter the workload. By partnering with organizations that make work easier, our teams are able to provide best-in-class service and product value to our customers — these partnerships are greatly valued. This is evidenced by our striving to make deals that provide every party with the best-possible outcome. Much of our success can be traced back to strategic, trustworthy partnerships.”

I’ve witnessed it firsthand: Over my 20 years of research into strategic partnerships, when strategic partners make profit secondary to their company’s partnerships with trustworthy organizations, a true win-win framework comes into focus. And the best part of a win-win?

Well, to state the obvious …

Nobody loses.

Of course, not every business partner can be a strategic, win-win partner. That is why I always challenge organizations to change the world — one deal at a time.