PRM a new Partnership Portal

It is a well known fact that the market place is in a continuous change not only by technological advances but also by external factors such as COVID19.

Enterprises must always be in search of updating their business model in case they want to be competitive and survive. In this type of mode the existence of proper partners is more important nowadays than never before.

To prove this point in any industry and any market place at least the 35% of Company’s Turnover is through Partners. In specific industries such as automotive or manufacturing the Partners contribution on Sales may exceed 75%. Henceforth, Partner Relationship Management (PRM) should be considered as important as CRM.

A first misconception is that PRM is confined to existing Enterprises that are interested to develop their network. PRM is also key to Start Ups where the proper partnering will lead to a successful go-to-market strategy and business launching, which is critical for the companies survival.

The PRM professionals know that the challenge we face is to connect the Proper Opportunity with the Proper Partner. Whether the Company is a Start Up or Long Lasting, the Partners employed must fulfill the Business needs of the corporation and be able to assist in the Company’s growth whether through sales, new customer services and any business part that will add value.

The second error during a PRM project, is the notion that the bigger the Partner, the better it is. This error leaves key aspects of successful partnering such as capabilities, culture and eagerness unanswered. To further elaborate in this issue, we will use a current project we work on as an example.

It is a great example as the specific case is a Start Up created from four C-level executives with many years (20+) of working experience and market credentials.

The specific team is specialised, with a tremendous business culture and passion to succeed. Such Team characteristics make the Partnering selection specific and picky.

To elaborate further, the Start Up is using Phy-gital technologies (combining Physical and Digital world) in the Restaurants, Cafe and Bar industry. They have developed a proprietor technology that gives the possibility of Ordering and Payment through digital tools, while the physical space in the restaurant, bar and coffee shops is actually redesigned .

The specific advancement is very critical in the COVID era we live right now and will continue to be also in the post Covid era.

The specific ordering and payment functions are connected with Big Data, AI, Geolocation and CRM, providing the opportunities to the Business owner as follows:

Allocate Human Resources in more efficient way
Information of consumer trend changes as they appear in the market and
Offline or online communication with store customers for loyalty creation.

At the same time the customer (App User) will be able to identify Restaurants, Bar and Cafes of their like in any geographical location he/she is. In addition, he/she can enjoy offers and price offs.

In a market place such as the Greek, with strong concentration in the Ho.Re.Ca industry, it is paradoxically very difficult to identify the correct Opportunity-Partner matchmaking.

However, since we are working almost for a year in the specific project we are really proud of the fact that we are at the final stages of a matchmaking that will change the industry forever, creating amazing opportunities for the stores owners and the consumers at the same time.

Lefteris Papaioannou is a business consultant and specializes in PRM (Partner Relationship Management)