Nurturing Your Relationships

with Your Stakeholders

Jeremy Jarrell
AUTHOR • MENTOR

www.jeremyjarrell.com | @jeremyjarrell
linkedin.com/in/jeremyjarrell
Overview Invest in your stakeholder relationships
Involve your stakeholders in the entire
execution of your program
Manage dissent from your stakeholders
 Even after they’re
established, your stakeholder
relationships must continue
to be nurtured.
 Perils of Ignoring Your Stakeholders

Stakeholder relationships Unexpected developments

will wither and weaken will upset your stakeholders
Without proper stakeholder
relationships, opportunities
to further your program may
be missed
Strong stakeholder relationships are
crucial to the long-term success of
your program
Involving Your Stakeholders in the Process
“I have great news!”

Vivek
 Detailed Responsible Information
Stakeholder strategy party Frequency to relay

Effects on
Customers Focus groups Jessica Monthly
insurance

Benefits to
Vendors Focus groups Vivek Monthly
vendors

Vision and
Program Schedule and
strategy Chris Monthly
teams budget
sessions
 Detailed Responsible Information
Stakeholder strategy party Frequency to relay

Effects on
Customers Focus groups Jessica Monthly
insurance

Benefits to
Vendors Focus groups Vivek Monthly
vendors

Vision and
Program Schedule and
strategy Chris Monthly
teams budget
sessions
 “Absolutely!”

Chris
 Create a Vendor Portal for submitting bids and
scheduling repairs

Benefits Ideas Concerns

More streamlined
bidding and
scheduling
processes

Increased
customer
throughput

Increased
business
Seek feedback from your actual
end users as early as possible in
your program lifecycle
 “What ideas do you have that
could make this offering even
more valuable to you?”
Vivek
“I think this sounds great and
I’m excited to see what your
team puts together”
John
 Create a Vendor Portal for submitting bids and
scheduling repairs

Benefits Ideas Concerns

More streamlined Offer training to

bidding and vendors
scheduling
processes Archive winning
bids
Increased
customer
throughput

Increased
business
Handling Dissent Amongst
Your Stakeholders
“I’m still not sure that I
understand how this
streamlines the
estimation process”
Rick
 “The customers will use their
app to take photos of the
damage to their car”
Vivek
 Create a Vendor Portal for submitting bids and
scheduling repairs

Benefits Ideas Concerns

More streamlined Offer training to New portal will

bidding and vendors expose vendors to
scheduling significant risk
processes Archive winning
bids
Increased
customer
throughput

Increased
business
 “Thank you, Rick,
for bringing this up”
Chris
Always encourage
stakeholder feedback,
even if it’s not the feedback
you want to hear
 Create a Vendor Portal for submitting bids and
scheduling repairs

Benefits Ideas Concerns

More streamlined Offer training to New portal will

bidding and vendors expose vendors to
scheduling significant risk
processes Archive winning
bids
Increased
Place a ceiling on
customer
repair costs
throughput
Vendors not
Increased liable for unseen
business damage
Refrain from committing to
a specific course of action
until you’ve fully considered
its effects
 “Before we wrap up today,
I’d like to share our plan for
keeping you informed”
Vivek
 Vendor Communication Strategy

Recurring monthly Review progress and Regular email

web conferences answer questions reminders
 “Your engagement both
before and after the
delivery of this program
will be a critical part of
Chris making it a success”
Wrapping Up Identify your most important
stakeholders
Develop strategies to effectively
engage with each stakeholder
Listen to and address the concerns
of each stakeholder
How do you keep your
program on track
throughout execution?