The world is changing fast! It’s becoming easier than ever, at least technologically speaking, to partner with best of breed solution providers to deliver functionality that will delight your clients. From boosting speed to market for feature sets and new products, to meeting immediate client needs, most companies realize they need to work with an ecosystem of trusted providers. And, it can be an exciting and hopeful time as firms first embark on the journey working with their chosen few providers.
However, once the initial excitement fades partnerships between companies can become complicated. There may be competing interests, a lack of understanding of goals and a limited commitment from executives to make the relationship succeed. And then, there is the balance of power between two partnering companies potentially based on who is bigger, who has more clients and resources, or who really brings the USP of the “joint” proposition to the table.
Partnering for Success
As a provider of best of breed analytics to some of the biggest capital markets solutions, FINCAD has a proven history of successful long-term partner relationships. While there are many factors that have driven the success of our partner program, in this blog, we hone in on three ways to avoid the pitfalls mentioned above and build high-quality growth relationships.
1. Understand Each Other’s Goals
See the forest and the trees! It’s imperative for both partners to have a common view of the long-term goals of the partnership, a window into the strategic direction of both companies and clarity around the short-term objectives. While a process to manage the flow of information for this purpose may initially be set up enthusiastically, it can lose momentum over time.
In addition to smart channel / account management, one way that we have found useful in keeping the information flowing is to have periodic product roadmap sessions where both partners discuss their goals, get feedback and potentially inspire the other partner with their direction. For larger partners, it’s also important that key executives keep a channel open and maintain periodic contact with key partner executives in order to have a pulse on their partner’s growth strategy.
2. Become Your Partner’s Champion
A big part of cultivating a solid relationship with a partner is being a strong advocate both externally and internally within your organization. At FINCAD we have often recommended partner solutions for problems they are better suited to solve. This approach has helped us build trust not only with clients, but also the partners we work closely with.
Within FINCAD, the partner team strongly advocates for product enhancements requested by partners and promotes feature sets that can be useful to clients of both firms. We also do joint marketing through co-branded case studies, whitepapers, webinars, and support at partner conferences, which can provide forums to promote the joint solution and each partner’s brands.
3. Become an Extension of Your Partner’s Team
In addition to the technology, we’ve found bringing experts to the table in support of either sales calls or professional services engagements benefits our partners immensely. It helps build trust, and enables both companies to get to know each other better and form strong relationships at all levels.
FINCAD has often coordinated with multiple project teams at large institutions while assisting our partners with their implementations, especially when the project requires financial modeling and integration into complex workflows. And FINCAD's team of quantitative and software implementation experts, many of whom hold PhD’s, are often active participants in demo sessions or deeper technical sessions regarding analytics to help in sales cycles.
Partnering with FINCAD
While the above is a short list, it is one that has stood the test of time. In fact, these practices have driven some of our biggest partner relationships that are as active today as they were over 10 years ago when they began.
Partnering with FINCAD means establishing a strong relationship with a proven industry leader that is focused on providing leading derivatives analytics solutions to meet the market's evolving demands. It also means working with a partner who will always be in your corner.
For more information on partnering with FINCAD, check out our Partnership web page or contact us.
