About Bridge

Company

What We Do

Management Team

Our Thought Leaders

Strategic Partnerships

For Added Value

Global Presence

Developed & Emerging Markets

Why Bridge?

5 Reasons To Partner With Us

Your Experienced Trusted Advisor

Customer Case Studies

Business Challenges Solved

Our Customers

Well Known and Global

Testimonials

What our customers are saying

White Papers & Data Sheets

Excellent Resources

Order Management & Optimization

Fluent Commerce

SaaS Order Management

IBM

Order Management & B2B Integration

Magento

Order Management

Akana

Enterprise API

Commerce Solutions

Ultra Commerce

E-Commerce Solution

Mirakl

Marketplace

Bridge Products

Bridge Rabbit

Subscription Order Management

Bridge Eagle

Process and Transaction Monitoring Tool

Bridge Coral

Enterprise Commerce Integration Platform

Yantra Commerce WMS

Increase warehouse efficiency

Spare Parts Logistics

Streamline Your Spare Parts Logistics

Business Strategy

Omni-Channel Fulfillment Strategy

Ensure profitable fulfillment

Inventory Visibility Strategy

Reduce carrying costs

Delivery Experience Assessment

How well do you deliver orders?

Solution Support

Consulting

Strategy, design, implementation

Performance Testing

Don't let peak loads slow you down

Managed Services

On-site and hosted

Education

Product Training

Solutions

Order Management Systems

And related solutions

Warehouse Management Systems

And related solutions

Enterprise Application Integration

iPaaS, ESB, EDI, MFT

Industries

Retail

Deliver well

Manufacturing

Industrial Distribution

3PL

Activity Based Billing

Development Services

Custom Development

Custom Software and Applications

Elastic Stack Development

Enable Real-time Analytics

Offshore Services

Quality Off-Shore Resources

Data Services

Data Warehousing

For Business Intelligence

Key Value Alignment – Using Strategic Partnerships to Reduce Risk & Cost

August 30, 2011 by The Bridge Solutions Group Team

Recently I have been talking to friends and clients—some IT techies, some business users, and senior level management — about their implementation lifecycles. Out of my discussions, a few key pain points have become very clear. Many companies’ decision- makers do not have the context, resources, or time to make a fully educated decision when it comes to some of their most important IT investments. Many of them feel that they were sold a truck, and received a compact car, while others feel that they were sold a luxury vehicle, when what would have best served them was a reliable station wagon. Ignoring the funny imagery of your IT sales people as used car salesman, there are ways for you to minimize your risks, receive significantly less biased information, and reduce the pain of a misconceived product implementation.

This article will detail ten (10) such benefits that can be derived from a good Value-Added Partner (VAP).

Before we start the list, let’s define a Value-Added Partner. A value-added partner is a third-party company that has deep knowledge about the industry, the product(s), and the latest technologies, and is asked to assist in the planning, pre-sales, or sales cycles to make sure that the goals and needs of both companies are aligned.

  1. Sales teams benefit from VAP’s because they are not restricted to only one source for implementation, price quotes, etc. Very often sales people are pressured heavily to sell the product company’s implementation team. These teams can be very strong, but they almost always come at significantly higher costs.
  2. Sales teams can utilize the VAP’s cross-product relationships to identify synergies with other products or functionalities which the customer is already using. This can lead to significantly greater ROI for the customer, and it often streamlines a sales cycle quite a bit.
  3. VAP’s should always have the latest industry research and trends available to them, and they cull through the millions of pages of facts and data to provide you with the information you need to make an informed IT decision.
  4. A true VAP should have standing relationships with your potential product’s sales and support teams (usually all the way into upper management) so that they can help direct and facilitate discussions and concerns to the right people. They will help you identify opportunities, keep their ears to the ground and provide feedback regarding the pulse of the project and the client.
  5. A VAP should be available throughout your implementation. Typically those companies that also specialize in implementing, installing, or supporting the product will have the most vested interest in the overall project’s success.
  6. Because VAP’s (typically) receive no direct commission from the sale, their primary concern is with the potential implementation project, and the success thereof.
  7. VAP’s can be much more flexible with their pricing schedules, and by maintaining relationships with many implementation partners, they can help you find the right resources to bring your project to the finish-line on time, and under budget. I must stress that I don’t mean the discount firms. I mean proven firms with implementation experience that won’t use fresh college grads to handle your entire complex implementation!
  8. There’s one more group of people (the VAP’s) just dying to take you out to a ‘free dinner’! This is a joke, but not really; It does usually come with the added benefit of more open channels of communication amongst intercompany leadership.
  9. A VAP is much more likely to view your enterprise holistically, and they may be privy to other tools or products (reporting, visibility, etc) which are usually addressed as an afterthought to the sales cycle.
  10. A VAP is, by definition, someone who adds value to your product experience. True partners will go above and beyond to help you fill your needs, wherever they maybe. If you are having trouble hiring resources, deciding on a mobile strategy, or positioning a key change within your company, a VAP will help you bridge your gaps successfully.

By providing information, research, and guidance, VAP’s can make sure that expectations are realistic, that the customer is making an informed decision, and that the sales team is focused on the truly important aspects of the product for the customer. Bridge Solutions is dedicated to being a Value-Added Ppartner for our existing clients, as well as new and potential clients. Our focus on this concept shapes us to the very core of our company- our Mission Statement. Excerpt from the mission statement:
“Our focus is on enabling and unlocking value in your core business processes. We not only provide IT solutions, but partner with our clients to create and harmonize their competitive advantages. Your IT solutions are there to support your core business, and our team is there to make this possible. By maintaining strong relationships with major technology providers, we ensure that we can bring you the best advice possible about your IT challenges. Whether it’s a matter of making the software work to fit your process, or determining how to change your processes to best utilize the software, we can help you find the most effective balance between people, processes, and IT within your organization.

Through our strong leadership team, our intensive and comprehensive training, and our industry experience, Bridge Solutions will always bring you the skills, advice, and resources that you need to enable your enterprise at every level.”
Bridge Solutions looks forward to an opportunity to partner with your IT group to ensure that you get the best solution for the least cost possible. If your company is in need of a value-added partnership, or your sales team could use some of the benefits listed above, please contact us.

You can email us at: contact@bridgesgi.com or call us at 1.877.245.4347

Filed under: Blog, Supply Chain