The importance of partnerships
By improving their management systems, companies are increasingly making intensive efforts to shape positive relationships with customers in the logistics chain. This is of particular importance for companies operating in the B2B market. Close cooperation between suppliers and customers in this market, based on partnership ties, allows for the rapid diagnosis of changing needs and expectations, depending on their current and projected organizational, technological, and marketing development. Partnership relations involve a process in which the customer and supplier create strong, extensive social, economic, and technical ties over time.
Repeat transactions often transform into long-term connections, where mutual relations are regulated by contracts. If the parties are satisfied with the fulfillment of the provisions contained therein, such cooperation can turn into close partnership relations. These can lead to many mutual benefits, such as: improvement in the quality of products and service, shortening of order fulfillment cycles, preferential pricing, streamlining of communication between the supplier and the recipient (faster and more complete exchange of information), and joint research and development work. The above benefits influence the mutually positive perception of partners. In some cases, the partnership between a supplier and a customer can transform into a strategic alliance, based on the joint achievement of specific long-term goals.
Building partnership ties with a supplier allows B2B market buyers to transform commercial cooperation into various types of alliances and achieve a number of benefits:
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time savings related to the selection of supply sources
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reduction of risk associated with choosing a new supplier or purchasing a new product (brand)
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faster and more effective flow of market information
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joint resolution of technical and sometimes organizational problems, which allows for greater efficiency in the use of resources in process improvement.
In many sectors of the B2B market, a trend can be observed where institutional customers are limiting the number of suppliers they work with. Such a reduction in supply sources means that customers only work with suppliers whose reputation in the environment and image in their opinion are positive. This cooperation develops, often leading to close ties between the supplier and the recipient. One of its aspects is the close alignment of the partners’ logistics systems. It is significant that sales processes in the B2B market are often characterized by close cooperation based on personal contacts. It even happens that a customer is attached to a person (a so-called account manager). It may also happen that a company’s human resources do not allow for serving new customers at a level that would not shake the company’s image. For this reason, companies try to ensure that this does not affect relationships with existing customers, who could feel a decrease in the level of satisfaction with the quality of service offered to them. For some companies, the development of contacts with new customers may be a strategic decision to ensure an acceptable level of contact. An acceptable level of service for both groups of customers is certainly an element of competitive advantage. The development of mutual cooperation should be based on the synergistic use of the partners’ strengths (i.e., capabilities, resources, market position). Through such mutual synergy, partners strive to achieve mutual benefits, creating so-called “relationship value”. These benefits determine the development of further cooperation, the consolidation of trust, and open communication, which tightens the bonds between partners. This can further promote mutual acquaintance between cooperating companies and their employees, as well as processes of mutual learning, and sometimes the interpenetration of organizational cultures. Thanks to close cooperation, relationship marketing contributes significantly to offering both increasingly higher technical quality and pre- and post-sales service. It also allows for greater use of modern technologies to conduct communication between the supplier and the customer. The intensity and success of mutual cooperation depend on the clear definition of its goals and scope between the partners. Close cooperation between the supplier and customers contributes to:
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shortening the product innovation cycle by involving the customer in the development of new products that provide the opportunity to satisfy their individual needs
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flexible response to buyer needs (related to assortment, quantity, and delivery time) depending on market fluctuations
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individual service related to the sales process and post-sales services (technical and information support).
Close contacts between suppliers and recipients contribute to the creation of many product innovations. An example of supplier-customer cooperation can be the joint development work of the Thyssen Krupp Steel research and development center with industrial recipients in the field of new steel applications (for example, with car manufacturers in the field of lightweight structures). Building lasting and effective links between suppliers and customers often requires commitment and mutual contact from a number of people from various departments on both sides, for example, marketing, production, quality control, logistics, IT, and finance. These people have dual responsibilities in the company: in addition to carrying out various operational activities related to the core business, they fulfill important marketing activities, consisting of creating and developing contacts with customers, responding to needs signaled by them (these are so-called part-time marketers).
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 3/2008.