Collaboration is key to business, especially in today’s global economy. But no matter how complex global collaboration becomes, there are still a few basic principles and best practices that retail businesses can live by.
In fact, there is a theory known as the Tuckman model which provides guidelines for each step of partner agreements. At gicom, we believe that these steps should be digital and optimized. Let’s discuss how gicom can help retailers at each step of this pivotal process.
Step 1: Forming the Agreement
New relationships are scary – especially when the potential partner is critical to your ability to meet customer expectations. That’s why the “forming” phase of Tuckman’s model, when partners meet for the first time and begin discussing goals and expectations, is so crucial for business agreements.
During this phase, gicom ensures that its customers have the best negotiation position by equipping them with a comprehensive understanding of all facets of the agreement. For example, the Agreement Documentation solution empowers retail businesses to make sense of current market and historical data by storing all previous documents in one standardized location.
Step 2: Braving the Storm
The next step in Tuckman’s model is called “storming.” This phase includes any potential conflict or debate that arises when the partners try to come to an agreement. At this stage, gicom’s Agreement Negotiation Workbench can play a major role in the outcome of the negotiations.
With this solution, gicom customers can review key figures and run scenarios to test the profitability and agility of various conditions within the agreement. Agreement Negotiation Workbench also stores all agreement details in one dashboard for follow-up discussions – reducing unnecessary back-and-forth.
Step 3: Establishing the Norms
The third step is “norming,” which occurs when partners begin to reconcile differences and agree on the terms of the potential agreement. At this time, documentation must be signed and stored for future processing. Retail businesses can rely on Agreement Documentation to reduce media breaks at this stage.
Media breaks occur when contracts are created in one place, like Microsoft Word, and shared via email. This can create version errors and inconsistencies if someone shares an older version or if a key executive is left off the email list. With gicom’s solution, all key players always have access to the most recent version of the agreement.
Step 4: Playing Out the Agreement
The next step is where the efforts of the first three step are realized. In the “performing” stage, the new partners work together as they agreed to in the first three stages. During this stage, a partnership can flourish or fall apart. It’s key that all parties have a strong understanding of the agreement and can work together to make real-time changes if supply or profitability are at risk.
In the example of a promotional agreement, this is a stage where gicom’s close partnership with SAP is important. gicom is integrated with SAP’s Promotion Management for Retail solution (PMR), which gives retail businesses the tools they need to manage promotions and increase budgets accordingly during campaigns.
Step 5: Wrapping Things Up
The final step in Tuckman’s model is known as ‘adjourning.’ This is when the agreement ends, the partners review their successes and any mistakes and all claims are settled. gicom’s Real-Time Margin solution allows retail businesses to automatically settle all contract components including discounts, bonuses and more.This solution also enables real-time monitoring of claims and alerts negotiators to deviations on the KPIs in the agreement. Real-time margin optimizes agreements and improves margins every time.
See How gicom Can Optimize All Five Steps
The innovative product suite from gicom considers all aspects of agreement lifecycle management, from the first interaction between potential partners until settlement and renegotiation for the next year.
To see how gicom can boost your profits and optimize your agreements contact us today.