For many of us, our partners (providers, vendors, etc.) are a key part of our business success.
To scale your business, you have to let go of part of it — usually to a partner or a service provider. To get the most value out of them (and keep them over time), you need to manage them just like you manage your own staff.
To do that, you need ongoing communications about what is going right, wrong and future plans. I suggest a weekly phone call (15-20mins) every Monday end of day. You can review last week, this week and provide an oportunity for them to give you feedback. Do it over the phone, or in person if convenient.
For many of you, you might be trying to conduct these relationships via email. Bad idea. Over time, email threads leaded the relationships hanging by a thread. After each call/meeting, send out a follow up email.
If you invest the time to do this, you’ll find your partners’ performance improving right away. It also helps them feel more connected to you and dialed into what’s going on.
