Key Findings

Grow From the Right Intro: Business Partnership Trends in 2014

Grow from the Right Intro

85% of business leaders feel

partnerships are important

CEOs across all business sectors agree that strategic partnerships are critical for any company looking to compete on a global scale.

Grow from the Right Intro

45% of companies struggle to

keep their partnerships active

But finding the right strategic partner for long-term growth remains elusive.

Grow from the Right Intro

The Grow from the Right Intro report by the BPI

Network and CMO Council, in conjunction with Powerlinx, explores the challenges facing businesses in

partnering and best practices for overcoming these obstacles.

Key Findings:

How important are strategic partnerships and alliances to your business?

Companies are seeing increased value in establishing and growing globalpartnerships. More than half of respondents feel that these strategic alliances are extremely important to their business. Notably, no one reports that partnerships were unimportant or nonexistent.

Extremely important Important

Growing in importance Not important

Don't partner

Key Findings:

How well does your company develop and leverage business partnerships and strategic alliances?

While more than half of respondents feel that their companies develop and leverage partnerships well, only 8 percent feel their companies do it extremely well. Furthermore, 42 percent of respondents feel their companies are ineffective at developing partnerships.

Extremely well

Quite well

Not very well

Poorly

Not at all

Key Findings:

What percentage of your partnerships do you believe have been successful?

Only 1 percent of companies enjoy complete success in their partnerships, and nearly half rated their partnership success at less than 60 percent. The difficulties of acquiring and retaining partners are key factors leading to their lack of success.

100 percent

80-99 percent

60-79 percent

40-59 percent

Key Findings:

Do you have a sense of how much you invest annually in partnering?

The range of budgets for sourcing and maintaining partnerships is vast. While the majority of respondents spend under $500,000 annually on partnerships, the majority of big spenders devote over $5 million on partnership development each year.

42%

20%

8%

7%

6%

4%

12%

Less than $100,000

$100,000 to $300,000

$300,000 to $500,000

$500,000 to $1 million

$1 million to $3 million

$3 million to $5 million

More than $5 million

Key Findings:

In what areas would effective partnerships most benefit your company?

Respondents highlight increased market share and market access as the most significant benefits of partnering. In fact, increasing revenue and customer base are the main drivers, with expansion of geographical reach feeding into the former two.

68% 66%

32% 27% 26% 23%

13% 12% 9%

4% 4%

Acquiring new customers Increasing revenue

Expanding our geographic reach Extending our product line

Gaining access to new technology/IP Adding our sharing resources

Boosting our operational effectiveness Upgrading our products or services

Financing our business Improving our supply chain performance

Other

Key Findings:

How do you rate your ability to identify, qualify and secure partner introductions?

While all respondents see value in partnerships, only half feel their companies effectively perform the actions necessary to identify and secure those partnerships.

Extremely good Quite good

Not bad

Poor

Key Findings:

What types of partnerships, opportunities or introductions would most benefit your company?

Strategic partnerships that allow access to new customers and new technologies are the top concern for those surveyed. New customers result in increased market share and revenue growth, while new technologies can increase efficiency and improve offerings.

57% 55%

42% 39%

29% 14% 13% 12%

8% 6% 5%

1%

New customers Strategic

Technology Marketing promotion Distribution/channel

Consulting Merger or acquisition

Outsourcing Finanical

Supply chain Business sale

Other

Key Findings:

Do you have a formal partnering strategy?

Only a third of respondents have a formalpartnering strategy, but many are taking steps to create formal partnership plans. In fact, a quarter of respondents are in the process of developing a formal strategy.

Yes

No

In development

Not sure

Key Findings:

What channels, networks or resources are you evaluating or using to advance your business development process?

Respondents often turn to their peers for advice on sourcing partnerships. On the other hand, Respondents rely less on intermediaries like brokers as they feel the lack of personal networking is less effective in determining key alliances. 41%

40% 34%

31% 25% 25% 24%

15% 11% 10% 9%

6%

Industry associations Conferences and expositions

Professional organizations Peer-based executive affinity networks

LinkedIn groups Business development consultants

Social media networks Strategic sourcing services

Business information services Brokers and/or intermediaries

Online marketplaces Other

Key Findings:

Would you be interested in a cloud-based platform that automates the process of making the right business introductions through intelligent B2B matchmaking on a global scale?

Three-quarters of respondents would or might use amatchmaking platformto create business partnerships, especially if they feel the partnership will allow them to maintain control over the relationship-building aspect of acquiring partners.

Yes

No

Maybe

Want to learn more?

Download the Full Report at http://plnx.in/rightintro

Thank you for reading!