Valentine’s Day saw an ocean of red roses, love hearts and chocolate as we celebrated the important relationships in life. In Melbourne, it was followed by the Taylor Swift tsunami of sparkles, joy and friendship. When a relationship is strong, there is nothing more satisfying than getting to know each other, discovering new things and creating new memories together.
But time slips by and sometimes the romantic evenings evolve into Saturday nights in tracksuit pants with Netflix and a bag of Doritos. When you’ve known each other a while it’s easy to default to what’s easy and low effort, but there are risks. Perhaps the relationship isn’t as strong as you think and you need to take some urgent action.
Here are some warning signs that your corporate partnership might be on shaky ground.
Your main contact is downgraded
The partnership may have started with a big fanfare, an outsized cheque and a handshake from the CEO. But you might find that over the years you’ve been passed down from CEO to Head of Marketing and now you’re speaking to a junior HR officer who’s simply organising the staff volunteering days. It’s a warning sign that you’re losing contact with the people that have budget and approval status. You’ll also struggle to build multiple pillars of activity
If you want to keep the connection to the CEO you need to involve your own CEO and board chair. Peer to peer relationships are important if you want direct access to the ultimate budget holder. A regular check in call or personal invitations to events from your leadership will help keep the senior level connections warm. That junior HR officer is unlikely to have the authority or interest in helping you build out more and valuable pillars of activity in your partnership. If you’re trying to grow the partnership, a good question to ask is ‘who else do we need to include in the conversation?’ Then you can invite others to be part of a coalition and tap into their expertise and budgets.
Losing curiosity for each other
Maybe you’re not speaking as often as you once did. Familiarity can breed complacency and you can take each other for granted. If you’re not showing up in their social media feeds regularly then you’re probably not giving them enough inspiring content. Or maybe it’s been a long while since you’ve given them a public thank you or shout out. Make sure that you’re calling them regularly just to check in rather than make another ask. Otherwise you’ll turn up like the adult children who only phone when they want to borrow the car or bring their laundry.
Every partnership manager should schedule a rediscovery session at least once a year to see what’s changed in their world and uncover new opportunities. Stay curious and be genuinely present in their work lives and they are less likely to be enticed by a new bright shiny partnership elsewhere.
Words and actions that don’t align
This could be a big warning sign. Your corporate partner tells you that they’re committed to you, or they’re just in the process of renewing your partnership but mysteriously nothing has happened for a while. They stop showing up to events or your calls go unanswered.
It could be a sign that your values and objectives no longer align. It’s a feature of corporate life that CEOs turn over every three to five years and business priorities change. Renewal is a challenge and an opportunity in partnerships. If it looks like the words and actions don’t match, it’s time for an honest conversation at leadership level about mutual expectations. There could be big internal changes or restructures underway in the corporate that they’re reluctant to make public yet. Or maybe they’ve simply got a big business initiative underway that is squeezing time for your partnership. Either way, you need to get to the bottom of the situation as quickly as possible.
Some relationships last a lifetime and some don’t make it past the lifespan of a Taylor Swift friendship bracelet. It’s best to identify the warning signs early so you can make the choice to invest or shake it off.