Is it BS or Progress? Evaluating potential partner relationships

What measures do you have in place that evaluate long-term fit for your mission - with growth potential?

More often than not, people accountable for driving relationships have ‘happy ears’ when it comes to prospect conversations and management. If you’ve been seeding, nurturing, and developing partnerships for an extended period of time, perhaps you’ve grown out of it, but most people genuinely struggle to not get caught up in the positivity of initial discussions.

The pleasantries of early interest are nice for sure, but transitioning discussions into value-driving business transactions takes critical work - at the details level.

Can you see a path to value creation for both organizations? If not, why not?

Do you have the right business mechanics in place to create a raving fan? Asked differently, will the actions of your organization easily align with the potential partner’s needs? Will it be easy for them to invest in a continued relationship?

How about lifetime value? What’s your view on that? What measures do you have in place that evaluate long-term fit for your mission - with growth potential? Will this relationship align with and support your organizational goals?

Your team should only move forward with those that create the most value - for your mission and the partner’s - in both the short and long terms.

Try this as a test…

Ask three questions to effectively evaluate prospective relationships:

path to value creation;

easy to invest;

lifetime value.

If you don’t get good answers, trust your instincts to cut your pipeline accordingly.

If support is needed to help your organization evaluate your relationship pipeline, contact us at info@pachydermos.com to inquire about a qualification workshop.

#missionbasedorganizations #nonprofits #lifetimevalue