Partnering to Grow in the Digital Era

For many companies today the most important goal is growth. One of the big opportunities for achieving growth is digitally partnering with other companies to seamlessly find new customers or to offer more products and services to existing customers. We found that companies which added more reach (new customers) and range (new products and services) via digital partners have significantly more revenue growth. Companies who added both reach and range via digital partners grew at 9.8 percentage points above industry average, while companies who do not partner grew at 7.7 percentage points below industry average.¹ Therefore the stakes are high to get partnering right to grow in the digital era.

What is Digital Partnering?

Digital partnering is increasing reach and range via digital connections. These connections make it possible for partnerships to become plug-and-play, with less overhead than in the past – think of digital marketplaces and app stores that offer products and services by many partners with a single sign-on. This means you can have more partners and develop a variety of unique value propositions seamlessly, while focusing on what you do best.

Companies which added more reach (new customers) and range (new products and services) via digital partners have significantly more revenue growth.

Bayer is a great example of growing via digital partnering. Bayer’s subsidiary The Climate Corporation, a digital agriculture company,