Making the Power of Two Work for You

In this article, the authors present a tested process to transform traditional customer/supplier relationships into superior collaborative ones. It starts by managing the drivers, not the outcomes, of the business relationship. Instead of the classic procurement approach of cost lowering and combative negotiation, companies would do better to identify a few key partners ¿ their so-called Pairs of Aces ¿ and then focus on managing the network of interactions between them, addressing perception problems and fulfilling expectations, all designed to make themselves more attractive partners to do business with. Investing time in this process saves, and makes, money in the end. Smart companies have learned that by collaborating this way, they can outperform the competition and unleash the Power of Two.