Delivering Value in Every Interaction as a BRM

by Ibrahim Jackson, Regional Director, Leading Edge Forum

In many organizations, BRMs are forced to do a balancing act to deliver value, as different business disciplines have varied expectations of what drives value. In this article, I discuss how to enhance your interactions with business leaders to strengthen the realization of value. When there is sufficient demand, the development of products and services is valuable to providers. However, for customers, business partners, and associates, value is driven by strategic intent and harvested by capabilities and solutions from providers. Successful BRMs understand when these interests converge, and they understand individual stakeholder interest and where value exists for each stakeholder. Just as importantly, they are also able to recognize where value does not exist, and they can articulate their perspective in both business and provider terms. Value truly is in the eye of the beholder, and it is up to the BRM to have 20/20 vision, providing clarity on how value will be discovered, delivered, and harvested.

Discovering Value

First, begin by understanding where your business leaders are headed. Are their drivers based on soft or hard results? Strategic direction or economics? It is important to recognize value may include financial benefits as part of a larger value realization effort; compliance, market penetration, the protection of intellectual property, and building brand recognition may also be valuable to the organization. Furthermore, business strategy may act as corrective lenses in this situation, in which provider activities create the highest value to set your course and priorities. In order to avoid wandering aimlessly towards an ambiguous end goal, leverage this and focus teams on initiatives with the highest potential for increased benefit. Additionally, in order for conversations and interactions to be considered valuable, successful BRMs frame engagements with stakeholders by strategic intent, with a focus on specific business goals and objectives.

Avoid thinking to yourself about what success looks like. Instead, communicate with your business partners and peers to collectively establish a success statement or story, so you all know the end goal for a fact! Keep each other honest and respectively share in accolades as well as criticism. When your favorite team goes on the field, there is a collective intent to win! Between management, coaches, players, and fans, all stakeholders understand their role in driving to success. Although wins are never guaranteed, neither are losses. Regardless of game day outcomes, BRMs perform to win by staying connected and driving strategic agendas and marketing results.

It is also imperative that BRMs counsel business leaders on their accountability and responsibilities in order to achieve value. Additionally, BRMs must educate their provider organization on leading and enabling initiatives so business units gain as much value from their provider’s offering(s) as possible. Both business and provider areas have a level of commitment and responsibility to drive success on behalf of the organization. This symbiotic relationship requires trust, confidence, and dedication throughout each value stage, and in order for these qualities to develop, everyone must be on the same page every step of the way.

Delivering Value

A common misperception is that value can only be delivered upon completion of an initiative. I would challenge this way of thinking and argue that value is delivered during multiple phases of a BRM’s interaction with business associates and provider teams. The experiences of stakeholders before, during, and after initiatives are under way drive overall perception of whether value is being achieved or suboptimal. Therefore, establishing appropriate expectations for stakeholders (both business and provider organizations) will strengthen trust, confidence, and support to maximize value realization. With your business partners, you can ensure that you all remain on the same page by conducting periodic pulse check sessions. On the other hand, expressing gratitude and constructive feedback to your provider team can make for a win-win for all of you, as relationships strengthen with open and positive communication.

Harvesting Value

Once value is achieved, the BRM’s equity among stakeholders heightens. This is a perfect time to foster deeper relationships with your business partners by expanding or scaling your capabilities into other business disciplines or departments. Allow your accomplishments to make you a “Go To” person for driving value on behalf of your business and provider stakeholders, because in today’s ratings and reviews society, satisfied business partner testimonials can spark heightened desire for your provider organization’s offerings. Although this surge in demand can be a positive “problem,” BRMs must continue to shape demand and be mindful of resource capacity in order to avoid setting unrealistic expectations and/or generating diminished returns.

Conclusion

BRMs play a significant role in facilitating business value discovery, achievement, and harvesting. Shepherding various lines of business and provider teams requires a unique set of collaboration and analytical skills to be successful. While society continues to move at a rapid pace and it sometimes seems like there is an insatiable appetite for provider capabilities, take the time to understand your stakeholders. After all, the BRMs of the highest caliber recognize that to add value at every interaction, they must engage, understand, follow up and follow through.