Strategic alliances and partnerships now characterize the way most companies do business. Effective partnerships require a clear endorsement from top management to mobilize people—and may require a total mindset change on the part of both partners, a reversal in the basic nature of your relationship with retailers—from adversarial to collaborative.

The goal of partnerships is to increase sales and profits. When both parties commit to each other’s success, everybody wins—and wins big.

In choosing partners, common goals and values are imperative. Our partners must share five commitments.

1. Both parties must be dedicated to a consumer-focused approach, making every effort to give consumers what they want, when they want it.

2. We must share a common goal of driving costs from both sides.

3. We must support each other’s business visions and strategies, with no conflicting strategies.

4. Partners must play an integral role in each other’s business success.

5. Both parties must be committed to sharing information and agree on who acts upon information and when.

When we started strategic partnerships 10 years ago, we knew we had to make customer service our number one priority, and we set out to do so by vastly improving our systems and technology and internal operations to get products to customers faster.

To improve our service, we now offer a wide range of services to our retail partners, helping them to make better purchasing decisions and control inventory and costs. By handling orders, invoices, and other transactions with our retail customers electronically, we are making these relationships more productive. Improving delivery performance and working on systems to provide merchandise “floor-ready” allows our retailer partners to unpack shipments and place them directly on the selling floor with no delays.

All the changes we are making are aimed at providing preeminent customer service. We want our retail partners to say, “Of all my suppliers, Levi Strauss & Co. works the hardest for me.” These changes improve our ability to partner with retailers.

In our partnerships with retailers, we have created a new organization made up of knowledge workers. These people match up function-to-function to look at opportunities, troubleshoot problems, and analyze our working relationship, from shipping to marketing to technology to product development to customer satisfaction.

Keys to Success

Strategic partnerships hinge on four success factors.

1. Shared commitment to serve the ultimate customer. In each area of our shared business, we look for ways to maximize opportunities for both of us.

2. Collaboration. Dedicated teams of people work together to come up with one combined business plan to ensure cohesion in marketing, sales promotion and other areas.

3. Shared information. Our retail partners know the consumer’s needs and wants. Their insights help us track trends and create products that consumers will buy. We have technology that can help retailers make purchasing decisions based on their inventories.

4. A consumer-focused approach. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve the shopper’s experience.

We view these relationships as a requirement of doing business. They pay off for both parties. Maximizing opportunities presented by alliances will position us for success. SME

Bob Rockey is former president of Levi Strauss North America and current CEO of Duck Head. 800-933-0680.

ACTION: Use these keys to improve your partnership.