Getting the Value from Supplier Marketing Relationships

Blog

Are you getting the best value from your supplier or vendor relationships?

The reality is, you probably don’t know, but if any of the following resonate, then I would argue that possibly you are not…

The reality is, you probably don’t know, but if any of the following resonate, then I would argue that possibly you are not…
You’re busy juggling a multitude of vendors, all with different initiatives and offerings
You’re in danger of a reactive relationship because of time restraints and resources, therefore, are at risk of the competition becoming preferred vendor partners
You have marketing resources, but they don’t have the time to drive multiple vendor relationships because they’re too busy doing your marketing
You’re probably losing out on precious wallet share that could be funding your GTM campaigns

Strengthen those relationships, ensuring you are at the forefront of mind

Know your goals and requirements

It sounds obvious, doesn’t it? How often have you mapped out what you want to achieve from each vendor relationship? You may have specific challenges, but are you clear on which initiatives and value-added services will address those challenges? Also, looking toward your business objectives and key priorities, how can those relationships help address those challenges through value-add?

Clarity on the desired outcomes of each relationship will help you communicate expectations and strengthen you as a partner in a way that goes beyond a transactional relationship.

Build strong relationships

Left unmanaged, vendor relationships can quickly become dormant, so establishing and building collaborative relationships is key and will help elevate your position within the vendor ecosystem. The more engrained you can become in the vendor’s products, solutions and future developments, the more authority it can give you and the easier it becomes to build trust within your community.

Partner first value-add

It’s not uncommon these days for vendors to offer a variety of platforms and solutions enabling communications both ‘through’ and ‘to’ their partner communities. As I’m sure you’ve experienced, many vendors provide access to online training resources, such as technical learning, employee upskilling, marketing assets, and tools, to drive uptake and campaign delivery.

From a marketing perspective, there’s a key role reversal that’s been taking shape over the last few years, shifting from a vendor to a partner-first model where partners are demanding a more personalised experience from their marketing. This relates to the types of communications you receive from your vendors and the types of marketing campaigns and assets you can access that are directly relatable and relevant to your ideal customer profile (ICP), giving them a genuinely bespoke user journey.

And whilst we’re about that bespoke marketing experience, are you taking advantage of your vendor’s partner marketing teams and their concierge services to help you go to market more effectively? Do you know if they even exist? Plus, are you creatively utilising MDF funding from the vendor in line with a clear campaign plan, or do you forget you even have it available? Staggeringly, 60% of vendor MDF goes unspent yearly because many don’t have the skills, resources or time to turn these funds into sales-qualified leads.

Dedicated Resource

Just as you are juggling a multitude of suppliers or vendors (sometimes as many as 20), they are servicing thousands of partners of all shapes and sizes and will have programs in place to manage that demand. Herein lies another issue—many will ask you to sign up for dedicated portals for billing, porting, etc., and probably another for marketing materials, campaigns, and MDF. Times that by twenty, and that’s a lot to get to grips with and manage effectively without a dedicated resource managing those relationships.