How to Work Well with Business Partners - Hope Ministry

Most of us have business partnerships and collaborations. Good set up is a must. Here is how to work well with business partners.

Matters between businesses.

When you are in a partnership with other businesses, how much should your software be up for grabs?

Of course, you’re all in the same boat together so you want to be as friendly as possible.

However, remember that a partnership is not a joint venture.

You’re not all taking on the same risk, you’re just trying to get to the same destination.

The issues around services controls and access have been around for years when it comes to B2B relationships.

You want to give your partners essential usage and information, but you have to still see them as your competitors.

So how do you protect your sensitive internal data and yet, allow your service to be used for the good of the partnerships?

Most of us have business partnerships and collaborations. Good set up is a must. Here is how to work well with business partners.

First, boundaries need to be set with business partners.

Before you go into the partnership, the data access boundaries need to be set.

This all has to go into the data governance and accessibility authorization processes and policies.

Here are a few things to consider.

  • Who needs access to what?

    • Maybe you are in a partnership whereby you are allowing 50% of your customer information to be shared with all the brands you are working with. Is this too much or too little? If you’re a small business it might not be an issue. However, if you are a large business, we’re talking about potentially hundreds of thousands of customers or even millions. 

  • What is the cut-off?

    • Normal information about customers or projects, such as name, address, purchase history, and time schedules is nothing to be concerned about sharing. However, you don’t want your future marketing campaigns, exclusivity deals, discounts, and sales initiatives to be leaked. So decide where you cut off the sharing of data and where it is okay.

  • How long?

    • Do you share data for how long the project lasts or for how long the partnership asks? Do you want to share data after the project has been completed by the partnership is still active?

Second, set your API with business partners.

Your API is like the waiter in a restaurant.

It takes requests from customers, retrieves information from your database, and brings it to them.

For example, a customer or a B2B partner might want to know when your next task or project will be completed so they can begin the next stage with you.

Your APIs should only give them information about the specific projects they have searched or requested for.

It should not be giving them information about projects that do not concern them, such as financial reporting.

Finally, trust your business partners.

Every B2B relationship lasts by its trust.

Your data is like gold, it’s incredibly valuable as it shows all your skeletons, all your triumphs, and your future plans.

Setting the access and scope of data right from the beginning of the partnership will ensure the trust is embedded into it.

Every partnership is a little challenging, to begin with.

If you know you can trust the partners to respect your boundaries and yet still be cooperative, everything occurs much more smoothly.

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This blog occasionally uses affiliate links and may contain affiliate links. Additionally, Melanie Redd is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Also, for more on my disclosure policy, click HERE.

© Melanie Redd and Hope Ministry, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Further, excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Melanie Redd and Hope Ministry, LLC, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

How to Work Well with Business Partners


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