| 1.
Cutting Yourself Too Good of a Deal. Focus on
jointly making money from customers instead of from your partner. It's
all too easy to generate grief and bickering when you attempt to do otherwise.
2. Lack of an Exit Strategy. Whoever best plans for the end of a partnering will best benefit from the partnership. 3. Failure to Use Deal Sheets. A Deal Sheet is a non-binding outline that walks you step-by-step through a transaction. One of its key uses is to control your partner's lawyers. 4. Misuse of Lawyers. The function served by lawyers is to look after the many details that can turn around and surprise you. You don't want to under-use or overuse them. 5. Failure to Plan and Then Keep Your Eye on the Ball. Think through your plan before you start. Determine where you want to go, how you will get there, and what you'll do when you do get there. 6. Negotiating From an Ivory Tower. You have to communicate with your people. Don't forget to involve and consult with your line managers and technicians. They know things you don't and can't know. 7. Misplaced Haste. Attempted shortcuts are more than likely to cause delays, or bad deals. 8. Ignoring Details. Details will have a disproportionate impact on the amount of value you capture from a long-term partnership. Make sure you have someone with a firm grasp of the details at the bargaining table and later at the helm. 9. Trapping Yourself into Awkward Positions. Making commitments or creating expectations while thinking on your feet can only lead you into trouble. 10. Impairing Your Ability to "Get Up and Walk." Stay uncommitted until the deal closes. Keep your alternatives open, alive and in play. 11. Ignoring the Foreclosure of Other Opportunities. Whenever you participate in a partnering, you forgo other opportunities. Be aware of what options you may be foreclosing. 12. Wrong Deal, Wrong Partner, Wrong Reasons. A partnering should leave you continuing to provide your contribution to the value chain that distinguishes you from your competitors. *Summarized from: Corporate Partnering: A How-To Handbook, an executive's guide to key partnering practices, available directly from the Corporate Partnering Institute by calling 1-800-948-1700 or ordering it online by (Clicking Here)! |