Fulfilment (capability) refers to the quality of logistical deliveries and the tools used for this; such as quality control, inventory management, customer contact, touch points etc. Loosely translated: The more process support the partner receives to deliver the right product on time, in the Effectively manage right form; the less the commitment of the partner. This is remarkable at best and a reason for me to delve further into it.
How do suppliers do that now, support with fulfillment?
Suppliers work with Partner Relationship management systems. A supplier often has many different portals where partners can retrieve all the desired information. In addition, as a VAR you are often obliged to participate in a partner program. This provides advantages such as discounts and targeted support, but can also oblige partners to arrange matters properly which costs extra money. These agreements are recorded in a contract.
In addition, there are Partner Account Managers who manage the relationship and also have to stimulate sales. Lee, Gilliland et al. (2011) have already investigated that an effective Partner Relationship Management system must be supported by contracts and relationships.
Figure 1: Research model
Importance of the relationship for partners
I have conducted research with two ICT suppliers and multiple partners. The partners achieved on average between 50 and 95% of the turnover together with suppliers. This could be a turnover of tens of millions to 6 billion euros. This also emphasizes the importance of the relationships for partners.
The Effect of Relationship on Fulfillment Effectively manage
Further research showed the following: the relationship has a positive effect on the increase of fulfilment. The better the relationship, the higher the level of fulfilment. Partners also need the suppliers to serve the customer to satisfaction. If a vendor does not help you commercially albania phone number library with this and has no mechanism, whether or not via the distributor who can provide a piece of professional services, then it does not fit. Fulfilment does not, however, give the necessity to maintain the relationship according to the partners. There are sufficient alternatives. Nevertheless, a good relationship is necessary to achieve the desired level of fulfilment. Trust is part of that. Even if the fulfilment is not up to par, the relationship is still what one relies on.
The Impact of Contracts on Fulfillment
The contracts also have a positive effect on the increase of fulfillment. The contractual agreements ensure that a higher level of fulfillment can be delivered. For example, the generations of computer and its advantages SLAs in contracts ensure that the end customer is ultimately satisfied with the delivery. Nevertheless, all respondents state that the relational contact is the most important.
Relationship between fulfillment and customer satisfaction
In addition, fulfilment has a positive effect on the relationship performance indicators. The respondents within the research unanimously indicate that fulfilment has a direct relationship with the end customer satisfaction and in many cases also on affective or calculative commitment. In other words; the relationship or contracts cause an increase in the partner performance, but this is due to the increase in fulfilment. If one were to succeed in keeping the fulfilment level the same, it is likely that the effect between the governance mechanism and the relationship performance disappears.
Improve or strengthen relationship Effectively manage
But is a relationship dependent on one person or can you influence it? How do you measure the value of all those relationships and what are the KPIs that are also measurable and the steering mechanism in it? In the literature there is a lot of attention for performance contracts on which a partnership of trust can be built. But what are the right KPIs to improve or strengthen the relationship between the search engine optimization mails supplier and its partners? These are almost impossible to derive from the literature, which requires more information from practice.
Our experience shows that partners deserve attention! Who within the specific partner do you need for which information, which content is necessary for sales and what co-selling possibilities are there? Through targeted support and relationship maintenance, 100+ partners can be supported. This supplemented by physical sales training for activation is a path to success!
