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WHY PARTNERSHIPS
DRIVE GROWTH AND
FUTURE-PROOF YOUR
BUSINESS
Real partnerships can bring in expertise at
speed and scale

By Pierre Romagny

Originally published in Independent

Online.

From telecommunications to retail and

banking, firms are under increasing
pressure to expand above their core
offerings, develop new business
models, and find new customers.

This is, in part, because of our era of

exponential digital change. It’s also due
to the fact that many firms have
reached natural growth limits in their
primary field, meaning they need to
spread opportunity and risk across
multiple sectors to enhance stability and
profitability.

How strategic partnerships drive

business growth in the digital
age

One key move is building real

partnerships to bring in expertise at
speed and scale. This is an area many
businesses know is important: Oliver
Wyman recently interviewed more than
30 experts and executives at banks and
ecosystem organisations across the
world, most of which were in Africa. We
asked them, from 1 to 10, to rate the
importance of partnership. The average
answer was 9.3. It’s clearly a priority,
then.

As one respondent put it, “growth via

partnership is probably the single
biggest agenda for both our consumer
and wholesale business”. Another said
“partners are the lifeblood” of the
“platform organisation”.

Ignoring partnerships is too much of a

risk in the Digital Age. Today, banks
know they must offer customers
products beyond the traditional
options — whether that’s financial
planning, insurance, consumer goods
and services, content, or any of the
myriad other options.

To do so, a bank could build out its own

solution, sure but that can be costly,
time-consuming, susceptible to scope
creep and, ultimately, failure. It can be
far more effective and cost efficient in
the long run to partner with an
organisation that has established
expertise, assets, access and reach.

Implemented properly, partnerships

can be rewarding, drive innovation and
foster growth. One thing that makes
properly structured partnerships so
powerful is the fact the partner stands
to gain just as much as your business if
the product succeeds and will also lose
just as much if it fails. They’re invested.

Unfortunately, far too many

partnerships flounder. According to the
2020 World Fintech report, only 6% of
partnerships between banks and their
partners — whether fintechs or other
members of the financial services
industry — deliver the expected results.
Given the fact there’s little evidence of
success, can partnerships ever succeed?
I believe so — but only if the right
elements are in place.

Eight steps to successful

partnerships

How can partnerships, as essential

enablers of new business models, be
allowed to thrive? Businesses must
codify the demand for partners,
formalise engagement models, have a
clear partner value proposition, define a
partner strategy, adopt a partner-ready
organisational structure, embrace
continuous learning, and digitise
partner capabilities.

Drilling down even further, there are

eight key action points that can have a
big impact:

Move from vendor to partner: To be

effective, partnerships must move
beyond a vendor-client relationship.
Vendors are invested in your success
only to the extent that you keep giving
them business. Genuine partners will
work with you to co-create solutions
that will help you both grow.Evaluate
and intentionally plan: First articulate
why you need partners, then work to
understand which type of partners will
meet your needs, and how you would
meet theirs. Then you must proactively
look for the fit-for-purpose partners
rather than being opportunistic.

Evaluate and intentionally plan: First

articulate why you need partners, then
work to understand which type of
partners will meet your needs, and how
you would meet theirs. Then you must
proactively look for the fit-for-purpose
partners rather than being
opportunistic.

Formalise engagement models:

Define how to manage the relationship
with different types of partners — and
involve the partners in the discussions.
You must also put the right capabilities
in place, such as people, budgets, tech
and expertise.

Have a clear — two-way — value

proposition: By the time you’ve
selected a partner, you should
understand what they bring to the
table, yes, but have you also made it
clear what your partners will get out of
the relationship.

Define a broad partner strategy:

Don’t approach partnerships simply as
an opportunistic way to solve specific
challenges — treat them as a strategic
enabler. For instance, articulate how
they will contribute to generating
shareholder value, and have a plan to
track this.

Adopt a partner-ready organisational

structure: Partnerships don’t work on
cruise control; they need to be
proactively managed, and your
organisation needs to have the
capabilities to do so — that often means
dedicated teams.

Embrace continuous learning: When

was the last time you asked for blunt
feedback from partners on what you
could be doing better? You do it with
your customers, so you should also do it
with your partners — and often.

Digitise parts of the process: There’s

no sugar-coating it; managing
partnerships is a lot of work. Digitise all
processes that you can, from scouting
to on-boarding, and from contracting to
tracking outputs.

If you looked 10 years into the future,

the most successful business models
would be built off successful
partnerships. If you adopt a
wait-and-see approach, you’ll risk
getting left. I recommend ensuring you
get partnerships right now — and
building the capabilities to do so — so
that you’re ahead of the game
tomorrow.

Read the full article, here.

Financial Services Harnessing Risk

Industry Transformation

Retail and Business Banking

Author

Pierre Romagny
Partner

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