An introduction to Partnerships

Since this is my first post in a new series about working in partnerships with Caxton, I thought it would make sense to kick things off with a little context and try to explain what my role actually entails.

Head of Partnerships is a title that tells you very little about what I do.

There are tons of different types of partnerships out there; corporate partnerships, strategic partnerships, public/private partnerships.

There are also loads of different definitions of what ‘partnership’ actually means. A lot of people these days throw around the term partnerships when what they actually mean is sales.

Spoiler alert: I’m not one of them!

So I guess the first thing to establish is our definition of partnership.

Ultimately the best way to summarise it is that, whether the partnership is based around our Caxton currency cards, international payments or something else, the main focus is always on mutual benefit.

Most of my particular partnerships are B2C (or B2B2C) so it’s actually a three-way mutual benefit; so that means us (Caxton), our clients, and their clients too.

Our aim is to work with companies who share our values in providing excellent service. If we can save our clients - and their clients - money while delivering that excellent service, then everyone benefits from the partnership.

Hopefully that helps you understand a bit more about what I do. Here are a few of the things I do day-to-day in order to achieve it:

Networking

The most important part of my role is finding the right kind of people and companies for Caxton to work with. So good networking opportunities are absolutely vital.  

So far this this year I’ve been to more than 20 different networking events. They take place in all sorts of different places, from a private members club in Soho to the London Transport Museum to Twickenham Stadium. Some are good, some are terrible – and the frustrating thing is that you never know until you try. My advice for anyone new to networking is pretty simple: turn up, be yourself, and focus on helping others.

Speaking to potential partners

Once you have generated some new conversations from a networking event or through some other marketing activity, it’s time to explore in more detail how a partnership might work. Increasingly, I find these initial meetings are taking place online so I spend a fair amount of time on Teams speaking to potential partners.

As many of you know, I’m a keen talker. But I find the most important skill at this stage is to listen. Ask questions, find out what challenges they’re facing, and explore ways of working together to help each other.

Looking after existing partners

It’s not all about new business. Once a partnership is established, it’s up to me as the Head of Partnerships to keep those partners happy.

Am I communicating regularly?

Am I constantly learning more about our partners and how we can help them?

Are we as a company doing everything we said we would?

Are we making sure our partners are doing the same?

Are we still looking for new opportunities to enhance and grow the partnership?

If the answer to any of these questions is NO, I’m either not doing my job properly or it may be a sign that this partnership isn’t the right one.

Getting creative

I’ve worked really closely with our account managers and marketing team over the past few months to explore some of the ways we can develop our partnerships. We’ve already started working on some exciting joint marketing activity with our new partners and during that process I’ve found our team to be extremely flexible and open to new ideas, which is great for being creative with future partnerships opportunities.

As I mentioned, I love to talk and I’ve always got plenty to say about partnerships. So I’m going to be writing here on a monthly basis so if you have any suggestions for me then please drop me a comment or a DM anytime.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in hearing more about the world of fintech I’d recommend following Caxton CEO Rupert Lee-Browne’s newsletter.

Thanks!