Are You Relevant? Evolving Vendor Relationships into Strategic Partnerships
Account Management is more than just a service provided by a vendor. It’s a strategic partnership that helps an organization achieve its short and long-term employee health and wellness goals.
In this webinar, employers, consultants, and account management leaders discuss the value of building transformative relationships with vendors. Here are their key takeaways for what it takes to establish and maintain innovative and collaborative account management relationships.
1. Build Your Collaborative Network
Identify and connect with key stakeholders across organizational boundaries, including internal teams, consultants, and external partners. Create opportunities for collaborative sessions where participants can respectfully challenge ideas and demonstrate mutual value. Position all parties as thought partners who can help discover, refine, and reinvent solutions as conditions and needs evolve.
The work we do is hard enough, but to do it all by yourself makes it that much harder. Find like-minded partners in your vendors and consultants to become your tribe.”
– Crossover Client
2. Create Space for Strategic Dialogue
Establish trust and clear communication guidelines before engaging in strategic discussions. Rather than presenting rigid plans, create space for open dialogue where different perspectives can emerge. Demonstrate accountability for commitments while encouraging inclusive participation, recognizing that the best solutions often arise from diverse viewpoints.
We create spaces where people feel comfortable with peers in the room, where no one holds back ideas out of concern for others’ feelings or because they doubt the value of their contributions. When we focus on the goal state and build collaboratively, with more voices in the room, we consistently end up with something unexpected and much better than what we could have planned for at the beginning.”
– Crossover Client
3. Balance Vision With Flexibility
Look beyond traditional formal processes to engage in meaningful conversations that reveal strategic thinking and alignment. Seek partnerships that balance strong vision with flexibility and genuine collaboration. Involve the right subject matter experts from all sides to maintain focus on long-term objectives and shared goals.
We are really truly seen as an extension of [our client] and her team, and not every vendor can show up that way. Some people believe in their core competencies and they want to execute a certain way… Who’s going to be a good fit that can really be a partner? That doesn’t mean you just do what [your client] wants, but you have a voice and you’re also willing to have that dialogue.”
– Katie Penza, Partner at MercerWELL
4. Leverage Data for Informed Decisions
While data provides essential insights, recognize that it should inform rather than dictate decision making. Gather information from all participants including internal teams and vendor partners to create a comprehensive analytical foundation. Use this collaborative approach to drive productive conversations that lead to solutions balancing metrics with practical application in unique environments.
You can get data to tell you anything you want or prove whatever point you’re trying to make. What’s important is that you continue to monitor the data and stay agile as it changes, so you’re always making the best decision.”
– Crossover Client
5. Bridge Strategy and Implementation
After establishing strategic alignment, create a seamless transition from concepts to execution. Bring together strategic thinkers and tactical specialists who can transform discussions into tangible solutions. Demonstrate how complementary capabilities create a continuous value delivery system that turns collaborative planning into measurable results for employee health and wellness programs.
I can give the blue sky as to how I imagine it, and how I want it to feel like… Then we get to sit together with the rest of the team, who are much more versed in how that execution will actually happen versus how it happens in my brain.”
– Crossover Client
For more information about our ongoing webinar series, visit https://crossoverhealth.com/webinars