By Elizabeth DiMartino, Senior Director, University Partnerships
Great partnerships are built, not born. To build a successful, world-class partnership takes intentionality, deep dedication and a lot of hard work. Throughout Bisk’s more than five decades of building innovative, effective and mutually beneficial university partnerships, we’ve learned a few things along the way about what makes a great partnership.
We Use Words That Matter
Calling our university clients partners is not just rhetoric. It’s how we see our relationships AND how we want to be seen by them. We are “all-in,” and we value creating deep, transparent and long-term relationships with incredible university partners. These relationships are crafted for mutual benefit — which is the definition of a true partnership — and which is why we don’t use words like client or customer. From the very beginning of every relationship, we strive for mutual benefit and deep appreciation for the unique value each partner brings to our business.
We Listen And Learn
We aspire to truly know and understand our partners at a deep level. To do that, we listen and learn as much as we can from our partners. Our university stakeholders are incredible experts in academia— business leaders, scientists, doctors, innovators — and they come to us with knowledge and proficiency that we need to build innovative and mutually beneficial relationships. We listen so that we can understand the needs and desires of our partners. We listen so that we can learn how to uniquely position each partnership to maximize its potential. And we listen so that we can reach today’s learners with courses, content and curricula that resonate.
We Go Deep
Today, the accelerated rate of change in the world makes it challenging to keep up. It’s important to stay informed and dive deep into not just our partner’s business, but the competitive landscape and the new global market. That’s why we back all our partnerships with thorough research, and we closely collaborate with our team of experts before we consider any new program. Going deep means investing the time and resources required for an understanding of the market, our partners, the learner’s needs, the educational outcomes and the fiscal impact.
We Communicate Openly and Often
Effective, long-term partnerships require not just frequent communication but honesty and transparency. In fact, communication is often named as one of the most crucial factors in successful partnerships. Transparent communication helps us ensure that our goals are aligned from the very beginning with those of our partners. Honest communication ensures we are communicating not just our successes but our opportunities for growth and development. These principles build trust and collaboration between our organizations and become key differentiators for partnership success.
We Root for the Home Team
We don’t just cheer for the home team; we consider ourselves part of the team. We are committed, invested and loyal to our university partners. Success is not “ours” or “theirs” — it is shared collaboratively between our business and our university partners. To make a partnership work, we believe it is critical to see ourselves as an extension of the home team and not just a service provider. We watch their games, and we cheer their successes. We amplify their messaging and share their aspirations. And we could not be prouder to don our partner’s colors on game day — or any day.
Every partnership is unique and important to the success of your organization. Including these five key elements when building your partnerships will ensure mutual success.
Contact Elizabeth DiMartino if you’d like to become one of our remarkable partners and head here to learn more about what we do and how we do it.
