How to Tap into Your Vendor Network: The 2025 Guide to Profitable Partnerships

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day business of sales and marketing, and even easier to fall into a rut, doing the same things because they’ve proven successful. But what about shaking things up a bit?  

Seven years ago, we explored how businesses, particularly in print, could better leverage their vendor networks to tap into new profits. Today, as we navigate a world where strategic partnerships are more critical than ever, it’s time for a refresh. 

Then (2018): Unlocking Hidden Potential with Your Vendors 

In 2018, the core idea was simple yet powerful: invite your vendors to join the conversation. As a graphic designer in the print industry, Joanne Gore recalled the joy of exploring paper swatch books and understanding how different stocks impacted the final outcome. The advice then was to leverage vendors’ intimate knowledge of their own products and services to educate and inspire customers and prospects. 

The recommendations included: 

• Hosting educational seminars or workshops focused on paper 
• Extending beyond paper to ink and other substrates 
• Tapping into web-to-print software vendors 

The vision was clear: produce a printed keepsake using your company’s capabilities and your vendors’ products. This creates a win-win: vendors gain exposure, customers gain knowledge, and your business solidifies its role as a “trusted print advisor” and earns more business. 

Now (2025): Strategic Partnership in a Complex World 

While the fundamental benefits of leveraging vendor networks remain true, the landscape of strategic partnerships has evolved. Today, it’s not just about inviting vendors; it’s about becoming an “indispensable partner”. 

Our recent JGC MeetUp, In the Driver’s Seat: How to Become an Indispensable Partner highlighted significant challenges:  

• More than half of strategic partnerships fail due to unrealistic expectations, failure to agree on objectives, and a lack of trust or communication. 
• A staggering 73% of marketers consider managing partners a major challenge, especially if not data-driven. 
• Despite growing reliance, 39% of companies still lack a formal partner management strategy. 

These statistics underscore a shift: successful partnerships in 2025 demand a more deliberate, strategic approach. 

So, What’s Changed?  

In 2018, the focus was largely on leveraging vendor expertise for customer education and sales enablement. While still vital, today’s emphasis is on the nature of the partnership itself. 

The JGC MeetUp identified “Red Flags” that indicate struggling partnerships:  

• Occasional or unclear communication 
• Shifting deadlines 
• A transactional rather than strategic focus and  
• Acknowledged but unintegrated feedback 

Conversely, “Checkered Flags” (or wins) define an indispensable partner in 2025: 

• Open, consistent, and proactive dialogue 
• Following through and taking responsibility 
• Seeking shared success and long-term alignment 
• Actively listening and adjusting as needed 

Top 5 Qualities of a Strategic Vendor Partnership 

Furthermore, the top 5 qualities of a strategic partnership have become paramount. To foster robust and mutually rewarding collaborations, it’s important to focus on the following key qualities in your strategic vendor partnerships:

1. Mutual Trust & Transparency: This quality involves sharing information, challenges, and opportunities openly to foster long-term success
2. Shared Goals: A strategic vendor partner understands your business objectives and aligns their efforts to help achieve them 
3. Proactive Collaboration: Partners who embody this quality bring new ideas to the table, flag risks early, and co-create solutions 
4. Value Beyond the Contract: This goes beyond the Statement of Work (SOW), with strategic partners offering added insight, connections, and long-term thinking
5. Consistent Performance: Reliability in delivery, quality, and communication is crucial for building confidence and stability in the partnership

Cultivating these qualities transforms vendors into indispensable partners, moving relationships from transactional to strategic and ensuring consistent performance and long-term alignment.  

But What Hasn’t Changed?  

Despite the increased complexity, the fundamental premise from 2018 holds true: tapping into your vendor network remains a powerful way to “shake things up a bit” and drive profits. The benefits are timeless. 

The idea of producing printed keepsakes as a tangible representation of these collaborations also remains a powerful tactic. 

In 2025, the path to tapping into your vendor network for profits means elevating these relationships from transactional exchanges to strategic partnerships. It’s about consciously building trust, aligning on shared goals, and fostering proactive collaboration that delivers value far beyond the contract. 

By embracing the qualities of an indispensable partner, you not only unlock hidden profits but also build a resilient, supportive ecosystem that drives awareness, engagement, and growth for everyone involved. 

What’s the #1 task you’d love to hand off to AI? 

Get the answer to this question and more in our recent webinar, The Power of AI: How to Boost Your Marketing Efforts

Visit and follow JGC on LinkedIn, and while you’re there, find and watch more webinars to help you generate awareness, engagement and growth.