It seems to me that a lot of the opinion out there on the corporate / SME dynamic is really focussed on the benefits to the corporate – bright-young-digital-things bring the much reverenced Innovation into staid and fusty old companies etc etc…
It needs to be mutually beneficial, but I’ll leave the business side of the discussion to one side for right now.
So what does the SME want from parchment-and-quill-bearing corporates?
I think it’s quite simple really. Clarity, Pace, and Real Work.
(If I were better educated, I’d probably come up with a clever acronym like Clarity on how to get to Real Orders with Pace, and talk about harvesting opportunities, sale-cycle-seasons and idea fertilisation etc. I’ll avoid I think.)
So, some corporates have taken the stance of creating and branding formal SME onboarding programmes. Some of these rather feel like box-ticking, and I know can be hugely onerous on the SME. How many SMEs have the time to formally document a Health & Safety or Human Rights policy (which has little relevance to a B2B SaaS company)? These can at least though give a clear process for an SME to aim at to get on someone’s radar… but that’s not enough.
Clarity in this context is about clear routes to real work.
Because this is what less mature companies need – real work. Because traction and track record is every bit as (and likely more) important to them as it is to bigger companies.
However they engage to attract them, corporates need to champion smaller companies into their organisation, and, in some cases, protect them (both from unrealistic or indecisive buyers, and, from time to time, themselves).
So, how to achieve this?
Solve for an actual business problem or outcome; not an abstract concept, and certainly not "to try out the technology"
Up front, create a clear, mutually agreed path from pilot to implementation, agreeing the data points and timescales that matter
Understanding the pressures (and personalities and cultures) on / within BAU business operations in a corporate is key.
Understanding the pressures (and personalities and cultures) on / within the young company is key!
Engaging with operations / product teams directly, not "just" corporate R&D / innovation / data labs is critical - it cannot be overstated enough that building a shiny concept in isolation rarely leads to more than a pilot
Measuring and articulating the impact properly is key, because that enables business owners who successfully pilot a new offering to build the business case they need to justify investment in a full-scale implementation
Move quickly. Timing can be disproportionately important in a corporate. Funding is very often skewed to the front end of the financial year - time moves on, targets get squeezed, innovation dies..
Move quicker. Timing can be disproportionately important to a young company - time moves on, funding gets squeezed, company dies...
Making this work requires effort and open eyes on both parts. However, both sides can benefit hugely from putting these yards in. Keep targeted, and keep talking.