Why is Licensing Relationship Management So Important?

The licensing business is changing. 

No matter what role you're in, you've probably noticed it too. From e-commerce to streaming, a new brand is born practically every day. 

Each one attracts a group of fans hungry for licensed products. As a result, there are now more licensees to choose from, each with their specialty. Licensors can be as picky as they like, and partner loyalty is rare. 

A brand can become valuable almost overnight. After only a few months on the market, licensing teams can face stiff competition for partnerships. Partnerships aren't about loyalty anymore. They're about relevance. 

Like most things: blame it on the internet. Licensing teams know that they no longer have to wait for information to come to them. With the right tools, they can find everything that they need on their own. 

This is where Licensing Relationship Management comes in. Because today's licensing programs require more than just emails and handshakes, a new technology category has emerged.

LRM technology makes it possible to manage the full range of licensing duties required to form healthy and happy partnerships. It's not just 1s and 0s—it's relationship management done right.

The importance of Licensing Relationship Management in organizations can't be overstated. 

When it's done well, it helps every part of the business run more smoothly. It allows your team to focus on the work that matters (a.k.a, the work they love), free from the distractions caused by repetitive tasks or disjointed workflows.

It empowers them to deliver results that actually impact your business' bottom line. And it gives your employees the power to see how their work contributes to the brand licensing company's strategic goals. So why is LRM so important? Here, we break it down.

Save Time, Earn Money

With the right LRM, you can feel confident that your programs will be executed on time. Every time. Without costly hiccups like referencing the wrong style guide, overdue product approvals, or worse.  

You can map your licensing program's journey from the start and clearly define deadlines. You can also toss your old financial management software. With a clear LRM plan, you can dedicate your resources and assign specific tasks to your team to make sure your programs move down the pipeline quickly.

Become an Expert in Your Own Customers

LRM helps businesses learn about their customers, including who they are and why they decided to partner with you. Data insights also help you spot trends in your customers' performance histories.

This gives you the tools you need to anticipate customer needs better (what we like to call the crystal ball effect) and, as a result, fulfill them. 

Using LRM can also provide a strategic advantage. Well-organized partner data helps companies select the best-licensing partners and decide if they want to work with them for future products. 

Get Organized

LRM helps businesses become more efficient by organizing and automating certain functions. From product approvals to payment reminders, LRM automates and streamlines the processes that take up the most time and prevent licensing pros from being their most effective.

Ace Your Interactions 

LRM software helps you optimize your customer interactions. By streamlining the most complex partner interaction processes, LRM gives you the time you need to gather quality data and avoid the mistakes that cause partner friction. Important anniversaries, team member names, and preferences can all be stored. Everyone on your team will be an expert in every client and equipped with the information they need to build customized strategies. 

Wrangle Your Data 

The primary function of analytical LRM is to assess partner data better to monitor deal progress and anticipate partner wants and needs. In a nutshell, It scans through facts and figures to make sure your partners are happy. Analytical LRM frequently uses pattern recognition and data mining. The methods save time and make it possible to get up to the minute data at all times. 

Become a Super Communicator

Working together isn't always fun. With more efficient licensing relationship management processes, you can reduce collaboration tension, increase transparency, and ensure accountability. When everyone has access to the same data and assigned tasks, you'll never have to worry about pointed fingers and cross-departmental confusion.  

Collaborate Like a Champion

Collaborative LRM is when companies share customers' information with outside companies and businesses. By pooling their data, some businesses can create an even better customer experience by obtaining data they otherwise would not have access to. It's an excellent fit for markets where innovation and new product development are paramount to success. The additional data creates very detailed pictures of what consumers are currently responding to.

Repeat Your Successes

Licensing relationship management helps you identify your internal team's strengths and confirm your external partner's value. It also helps you optimize your workflows for future business.

Using the data and learnings from old programs, you can see where your team is doing well, who is meeting expectations, and where there's room to do a little better. You can also decide, for example, if the apparel manufacturer or textile factory you did a deal with is worth working with again. 

LRM is a game-changing tool that allows companies to increase partner satisfaction and efficiency to boost profits and foster growth. LRM's customizability makes it easy to modify for any business type-from the high-rise executive to the home office startup. 

Companies need to assess their goals when considering which LRM solution to use. Is your company growing as quickly as you hoped? Do you run into the same bottlenecks? How important are returning partners? As a licensing professional, the future of your business relies on LRM.