Table Of Contents
This episode features a discussion with:
- Role: Chief Executive Officer, Modus Advanced, Inc.
- Drinking: Coffee
- Role: President of Modus Advanced, Inc.
- Drinking: Water
- Role: Marketing at Modus Advanced, Inc.
- Drinking: Water
The team talks Partnership Accounts. How they started and where they are now. See their conversation below.
What Are Partnership Accounts?
Our term “Partnership Account” started simply. When an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) spent more than $100,000 USD with us on rubber related products, they became a Partnership Account. That definition doesn’t do today’s partners justice.
To identify a Partnership Account today, we ask three questions. Do they:
- Buy multiple products or leverage multiple processes?
- Spend more than $100,000 annually?
- Call us first for engineering support?
If they answer yes to all three questions, you’re dealing with a partnership account.
How Did We Develop Partnership Accounts?
Partnership Accounts evolved organically. In the beginning, we had one spectacular account. We started small with them, supplying just one particular product line. Over the years, we built relationships with their engineers and purchasing managers. Those relationships naturally steered the conversation to other products and services we could offer them. That is standard for any client/vendor relationship, but here something extraordinary happened.
After years of promising and delivering, this client understood that we were committed to their company’s health, and they were committed to ours. When we both realized this, they started to search for excuses to do business with us. They pushed us towards more processes and jobs. This included aspects of the business that we hadn’t even considered. In return, we accepted their challenges and took on every new opportunity we could.
Building that relationship took both of us to uncharted territory and that meant risk. This client had enough faith in us that they trusted us with projects neither of us had approached before. And we valued that relationship enough to take a risk and venture into new territory. On the other side of that uncertainty was a success we couldn’t have reached alone. That’s what a real partnership looks like. As the business grows, our goal is to take that same approach with all of our partners.
How We Work With Partnership Accounts
Internally, it’s obvious who our Partnership Accounts are. We are so focused on those accounts that every employee hears about them on a daily basis. Every time we view a purchase order or pick up the phone, “Partnership Account,” is the first thing we see.
From production to engineering to marketing, our partners are our priority. In practical terms, this means their requests go straight to the front of the line. If a partner needs design assistance, they have access to our full engineering team. If they need a replacement part tomorrow, we do everything we can to produce it rapidly.
We offer a wealth of value to every customer, but the real value in Partnership Accounts is mutual growth. Each pushes the other to be better and more successful than before. If we are brainstorming entering into a new process, we may pick up the phone and call one of our partners to learn how it would impact their business. And that goes both ways—we expect to be a sounding board for our partners as well.
These relationships give us more data to make better decisions for all of our clients. The relationships we build with them give us more context for their business and lets us solve their problems more efficiently. The stronger the relationship, the better we can use our resources.
What should you expect as a Partnership Account? Expect to:
- Get our best service
- Priority manufacturing
- Quick-turn prototyping and production
- Engineering team access and support
- Push towards success together
Not Just Another Vendor
It’s easy to say you’re not just a vendor. It even works well as a marketing slogan.
At Modus, we actually live it.
We have structured our entire company to make sure we are not just a vendor. Soon we will start production in Carlsbad, California. A large reason we chose that location is because of how close we will be to one of our marquis accounts. Bottomline, we go the extra mile everyday to deliver on our promises!
We are more than willing to build our infrastructure to support our Partnership Account. We have had their back through the most difficult times, and we will continue to invest in them in every way we can. If you want to know more about what it means to be a Partnership Account or how to become one, email Trevor directly at tglavin@modusadvanced.com.
At Modus Advanced, Inc., we continue to work with all of our clients to bring the best products to the market. Contact us to learn more.