Economic downturn means relationship upturns

There's nothing like a good recession to get business relationships going. As vendors get hungrier, client organisations doing more with less, those out of work looking to network to their next job, networking and partnering are definitely on the rise. Its in times like these when we all feel a little more vulnerable that we are more likely to reach out for that contact or opportunity that last year you would have let ride. In terms of client/vendor relationships the onus on negotiating an equitable value exchange has never been stronger. As Len Rust reports in his latest newsletter, the days when organisations just followed the crowd on the latest technology trend are over. Identifying true value exchange requires more than the client telling multiple vendors what they want and waiting for the competitive response. More often than not it is the process of negotiating the intangibles where most of the true value is exposed. Our experiences with Value Network Analysis and Partnership Scorecards invariably identify the intangibles being where most of the value now lies .... a veritable untapped resource waiting to be mined!

We should also thank Len Rust for his unsolicited plug for Optimice in the newsletter. Its nice to be recognised from time to time .... helps you keep going in a recession :)